Having ended 32 years of Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) drought for the Flying Antelope, Imama Amapakabo, the head coach of Rangers International in 2015/2016, has called on the governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to fulfill his promises to the team.
Governor Ugwuanyi in December 2016 during the reception organized for the team at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu, announced a cash reward of N41.5 million and a plot of land at the newly designed Rangers Estate to each of the management, players, and technical crew of Rangers International for winning the 2015/2016 NPFL title.
Nearly six years after that triumphant victory, Imama Amapakabo in an interview with The Athletic NG, says the Enugu State government only rewarded the players and management staff, while himself and other coaches are yet to receive their due reward.
“It’s funny when you try to separate a team,” Imama said. “Because in football, when you talk about a team, you are talking about a contingent, it involves officials, coaches, management and also the players, so you can’t separate one from the other.”
“I believe that the promises that were made by His Excellency, were for the team and not for a particular group (players). In his speech on that day, it was not mentioned that the promises were for some set of persons.
“I don’t know but I think in the wisdom of the governor and the Enugu State Government, they know why they chose to leave us out,” he said.
The Bayelsa State born coach when asked if the technical crew made an appeal to the Enugu State government said the governor in his own capacity knows that he needed to fulfill the pledge he made to the team and not for a certain group of persons.
“When you said if we’ve made an appeal to the governor, I think he is well educated to redeem his pledge, I believe that men should be held responsible for their words.
“He made this pronouncement clear to the world, and after about six years, he was able to make good on his promises halfway, I think it has to be the whole team. But like I said, it is his choice and the choice of his cabinet for whatever it is that they choose to do”.
Imama Amapakabo, whose Rangers played one of the best brands of football during the 2015/2016 NPFL winning season, admitted that he wouldn’t have spoken about the issue while insisting that men must learn to keep to their words.
“No, it is because, ordinarily, I wouldn’t have spoken out about these issues, because it has been nearly seven years and we have moved on with our lives.
“Who files the players, who picks the players, who tells the players what to do on the field of play, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the players, Who drives the players, Who takes the players to point A to B?
“Infact, there are a lot of people that do a lot of things for the players to be able to succeed, football in its totality is not just about what happens on the field of play.
“I think in this time of football, it is on record that the government of Enugu State has been able to reward players without the coaches and officials of the team,“ Imama concluded.
Imama who has coached multiple clubs in Nigeria including Enyimba and El-kanemi Warriors, has been without a club after his contract expired last season with Abia Warriors.
Also speaking to The Athletic NG, one of Imama’s assistant coaches at Rangers International and former head coach of MFM FC and Vandrezzer FC, Tony Bolus, said the team fared well but is surprised at the exclusion of the coaches from the reward system by the Enugu State Government.
“It is funny to know such a decision was taken, I have never seen that practice in any part of the world. The players never recruited themselves, trained themselves or selected themselves on game days, it is the coaches that do that.
“It is funny and strange to me, Rivers United won the league last season, and both the coaches and players were rewarded accordingly.
“I am sorry, but there are some players who did not play more than two matches that season but were rewarded ahead of the coaches who were there from the beginning. It’s absolutely wrong. Let the government come out and do the right thing and give us our own land.
“Imagine if my house is built in Enugu and I am living there, I will have more impact on the team (Rangers) than staying away,” Bolus added.
In November 2022, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi approved the immediate allocation of a plot of land to each of the 36 players who won the 2015/16 NPFL title with Rangers International, a decision that put a stop to a planned protest by the players.
The governor’s approval was contained in a statement by the Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh who disclosed that the Ministry in compliance with the directives, has consequently allocated 36 plots of land to players at the Golf Annex II, Enugu.
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