Nigeria Misses Out Again -By Patrick Omorodion

The Confederation of African Football, CAF’s club flagship competition, the Champions League was founded in 1964 but it took 39 years before a Nigerian league champion, Enyimba of Aba could etch their name on the trophy.

And when Enyimba did the unexpected in 2003, they won it against a north African side, Ismaily of Egypt. The first leg held at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba on November 30, 2003 and the Aba Elephants won 2-0 through goals by Emeka Nwanna in the 28th minute and Ndidi Anumnu in the 49th minute. The Egyptians hoped to erase the advantage at home in the second leg on December 12, 2003 on a cold night inside the Ismailia stadium but it became a very tough assignment as Enyimba were determined to make history.

The host had the luxury of being granted an early penalty by the Seychelles referee, Eddy Maillet which Hosny Abd Rabo converted effortlessly in the 27th minute. That however, was all they got as the game ended 1-0 and Enyimba were crowned champions for the first time on a 2-1 aggregate. Before then teams from that part of the continent had given Nigerian clubs nightmares in the competition.

Before Enyimba’s feat, the closest Nigerian clubs came to winning the competition were in 1975 through Rangers who lost to Hafia of Guinea, in 1984 and 1996 through Shooting Stars of Ibadan who lost to Zamalek on both occasions and Iwuanyanwu Nationale of Owerri who lost to Entente Setif of Algeria in 1998. When Nationale metamorphosed into Heartland, they again got to the final in 2009 but lost to TP Mazembe. The Aba Elephants, as Enyimba are known, did the unthinkable after that first win, by retaining the title the following year, 2004 to become only the second team to win the trophy back to back.

TP Mazembe were the first side to perform the feat in 1967 and 1968. After Enyimba equalled their record, the DR Congo club did it again in 2009 and in 2010. It was a surprise that Enyimba performed the fest before any north African team which were tormentors-in-chief of Nigerian clubs in the 1980s. And till date, the only north African side who have joined the back to back winners are Al Ahly of Egypt who have gone ahead to become the most successful club side in Africa with 11 titles. They have won the title back to back thrice, in 2005 and 2006, in 2012 and 2013 and again in 2020 and 2021.

In fact they would have gone back to back to back if Wydad Casablanca hadn’t won the 2022 edition because currently they are the defending champions of the competition after they, incidentally beat Wydad on a 3-2 aggregate this year. Unlike most CAF Champions League winners that are privately run clubs, Enyimba are a government run team. The club’s rise was mainly because of the Abia state governor at the time, Orji Uzor Kalu, now a Nigerian Senator who ‘opened’ the state’s vault for the management of the team.

Unfortunately he ran the club through a sole administrator in the name of Chairman and so professionalism was downplayed as long as the ego of the governor was massaged. Rather than build on the success of the Champions League, as is with every business run by government, personal interest began to overshadow the essence of the club’s existence. And it showed glaringly after the exit of Kalu as Abia state governor as his successors were not too keen in sports and therefore maybe saw the funding of the club as a drain on the government’s scarce resources.

The team lost their steam as most of the good players from different parts of the country and even neighbouring countries exited and their invincibility became broken. However, after their drop in form, they picked up again and on a few occasions won the Nigeria Professional Football League to represent the country in the continent but each time, floundered because the sting was no longer there. In CAF’s record, Enyimba are rated highly, that may have accounted for their inclusion in the eight clubs chosen to pioneer the new competition, the African Football League with an unprecedented prize money in CAF’s club competitions.

Enyimba joined seven other teams namely reigning champions Al Ahly of Egypt, Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca, Tunisia’s Espérance, South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, Tanzania’s Simba FC, DR Congo’s TP Mazembe and Angola’s Petro Atlético. With eight participants, the competition automatically began from the quarter-finals and the Nigerian champions were drawn against Wydad Casablanca, they too former Champions League kings. The only difference between them and Enyimba being that they have won it three times but not back to back like the Nigerian side.

It baffles one why the Enyimba management didn’t know that they needed a landing permit to fly a an aircraft into another country and make early preparation to get it instead of waiting till the day of the flight for the return leg? They should not use the delay in travelling to Morocco as an excuse for their woeful outing last Wednesday because the match was already lost at home in Uyo. Enyimba needed a miracle in Casablanca to beat the host who knew that it was theirs to lose Again Nigeria has missed out being a leader in this new competition.

It happened in the Nations Cup. Nigeria couldn’t win it until 23 years after the inaugural edition in Sudan. The country is still struggling to win the CHAN, the competition for league players on the continent. Enymba are however, consoled by the $1m prize money they are entitled to as quarter-finalists. In today’s Nigeria, that is a lot of money.