By Gracious Akujobi: Former Captain of Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen has appealed to the Federal Government to fulfill its 19 years promise of providing residential houses to the Super Eagles set of 1994 team that won the Nations Cup.
The late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha had promised to give each member of the team an accommodation at the nation’s capital, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
While seven of the twenty-one member squad who chose Abuja got their portions, and the lone person who preferred Port-Harcourt got his, the rest who chose Lagos were unable to get their own due to Lagos land administration constraints.
Speaking in Abuja when he led representatives of the victorious squad on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, they called on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene to ensure that those who are yet to take possession of their buildings could do so.
He said, “Record don’t lie, past Presidents and even the present President and sport administrators have the culture of appreciating athletes whenever they do the nation proud”
“It was this culture that influenced the then President Sani Abacha to follow suit after Shehu Shagari did his own in 1980 by promising landed property, including houses to victorious Eagles”
“We are a disciplined side, we have not been making noise about the non fulfilment of the promise made to us.We have been patient all these years and we are pleading to Government to please help get our houses”
In his response, the Minister of Sport, Bolaji Abdullahi, said that it is the responsibility of government to honor any player/athlete that has raised the flag of the country high as he commended the ex-internationals for their patient.
He however promised that his administration will do all it could to treat the matter with all the seriousness that it deserves
Among the squad that visited the Minister are , Mutiu Adepoju, Samson Siasia, Victor Ikpeba and Ben Iroha
