The Chairman of the Imo State Football Association, Barr Ifeanyi Dike has hailed the Nigeria national team, the Super Eagles, for their win against Angola and dedication of the victory to late Samuel Okwaraji.
Dike commended the resilience and dedication of the Eagles to defeat the Angola team in the ongoing AFCON tournament in Cote D’Ivoire last Friday.
He praised the Nigerian team for dedicating their victory over Angola to late Okwaraji, saying the action was highly commendable and honour to the memory of the late Imo born player.
While he congratulated the team on their victory, Dike charged them to go all out and bring the trophy to sustain the unity of Nigerians across the country.
“I know it is not easy for the Super Eagles now, because the interest of over 200million people rests on their shoulders. However I appeal to them to give it their all and bring the trophy home. They have given Nigerians a new sense of unity and our prayer is that they will be crowned African champions. Imo FA has implicit confidence in our boys and we know they will do us proud.
“As we all know, the late Samuel Okwaraji hailed from Imo state. He gave his best, even to the point of death. He proved the greatest commitment to his fatherland and we must honour his memory.
“Imo FA thanks the Super Eagles for dedicating the Angola victory to Okwaraji. We remain hopeful that this will signal the immortalization of our late brother and AFCON victory for us all as Nigerians”, Dike said.
He regretted that Okwaraji died during a football match between Nigeria and Angola on August 1989 in Lagos while he was trying to give his best to his fatherland.
Dike appealed to the Nigerian government to immortalize the late player, as his octogenarian mother is alive and yet to recover from Okwaraji’s demise.
Okwaraji, though a footballer had qualified as a lawyer due to his exceptional brilliance and quest for knowledge.
Source/Imo FA/Angela Nkwo-Akpolu
