By: Chuks Ogbu 

There is an Igbo adage that says "ekelee onye akidi ya agwo ta ozo" it's  translation to English could mean "if you thank the cook of a local beans meal he/she would make another meal". It goes along way to show how important gratitude is the our forefathers here in Africa.

In Nigeria there is an award given to individuals in who have done exceptionally well in their chosen field of endeavor.

In the world of sports Some individuals have been honoured with the national award for their achievements in the world of sports,  some athletes like Chioma Ajunwa, the National Olympic Football team of 1996 (Atlanta, United States of America) The Senior national Football team on three different occasions (1980, 1994 & 2013)
And so many other athletes.

In 2003 after a back to back to back success in the Nigerian league, Enyimba Football Club Of Aba decided to the their dominance to the continental level. On December the 12th of that very year the were crowned Champions of Africa after a 2-1 aggregate win over Ismaily SC of Egypt. It was a jinx breaking moment in the history of Nigerian football, for the first time in the then 38 year old history of Africa's premier club competition that a side from Nigeria would be winning the title, Infact it was the missing piece in the collection of trophies in Nigeria's cabinet.

The victory brought with it a breath  of satisfaction as many Nigerian football followers  exhaled in joy as one of their own very team earned the right to the title of African Champions. Infact that success was a national victory.

Exactly one year later Enyimba Football Club proved that the 2003 feat was not my any means a fluke by successfully defending the CAF Champions League crown after a 5-3 penalty shootout win over Etoile Du Sahel Of Tunisia after both legs of the game tied at 3-3 aggregate.

It was the first time since the Champions League era of the competition(from 1995) that a team was successfully defending their crown and the second time ever a team was successfully defending it following TP Mazembe's success in the late 60s.
 

But one may pause and ask, Why have the Enyimba FC team of 2003 & 2004 not been rewarded with a national merit award? Or do you think they don't deserve it? 

Now I will tell you why I think the deserve a national award.
The CAF Champions league is the third most important football trophy Nigeria has ever won as a football nation, the only ones greater than the CAF Champions league in Nigeria's trophy cabinet is the Africa Cup Of Nations (won in 1980, 1994 & 2013) and the Olympic Football gold medal (won in 1996). Since the teams and individuals who won these Competitions mentioned above(in some cases teams that finished as runners up)and some other lesser competitions where rewarded with an award then why haven't that Enyimba FC team been honoured with a national award?
Let's don't forget that this is a competition Nigeria has consistently failed to win before then, three teams had came very close to winning but they couldn't (Rangers FC 1975, Shooting stars sports club 1984 & 1996, Iwuanyawu Nationale 1988 & subsequently in 2009 as Heartland FC).

So it is very safe to refer to the  achievements of that Enyimba team  a heroic feat and should be treated as such. 

As a matter of fact, I want to urge  Presidency under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to  invite the history making Enyimba FC team to the Aso Rock Villa and reward them for the feat they achieved, and honour them with a national merit award.

President Tinubu should correct the error the then President of the country  President Olusegun Obasanjo made by not honouring the team but only gave them a mere  handshake (at least we didn't hear of any monetary reward from the presidency back then).

The reason for this piece of article is just to draw the attention of Nigerians and indeed the presidency to the oversight error apparently committed by the then Government and I think it should be corrected as soon as possible because like I said in the beginning "EKELEE ONYE AKIDI YA  AGWO TA OZO"