It was yet another occasion for the Super Eagles Supporters Club to claim a feather in their cap as they were over the weekend honoured by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for their relentless and outstanding contributions to the growth and development of football in Nigeria.
The educational pressure group, represented by its’ sports department was led by Comrade Umar Afkawa, the National Sports Director (NANS), Dominic Ernest, the National Chairman of Sports Committee (NANS), Obinor Nkemdilim the SUG Vice President (YabaTech) and Oke Oizamisi former Action and Mobilization Committee member (NANS) Zone B while the recipients of the awards were the National President of the SESC, Dr. (Barr) Johnson Amaowei Dagana, The B.O.T Chairman, Olusho Oladejo, the National Deputy President, Musiliu Alao Jimoh, the PRO, Olutoye Orishabiyi and a few other Executive members of the club.
Speaking on behalf of the SESC, Olutoye Orishabiyi, the National Public Relations Officer disclosed that they were indeed overwhelmed by the recognition from a reputable group as big as NANS, the student body in Nigeria.
“Today is more or less a milestone. Getting an award from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is a plus and not just that, it is equally a motivation and as well a challenge. We cannot afford to go back on the standards we have set instead we are to leverage them. We have been doing a lot in the sporting industry and that we are going to do more is non-negotiable. We will come up with more innovations and ideas in the coming days ahead”, the PRO affirmed.
On his part, the National President, Dr. (Barr) Johnson Amaowei Dagana who presided over the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the SESC which was going on concurrently at the time, chose the occasion to extend the olive branch to other members of the club yet to come to terms with the reality of the wind of change blowing around the club.
“We believe that a family working together will achieve together. We are one big family. The former president, Vincent Okumagba has contributed a lot to the club, there is no need for anybody to raise eyebrows, issues of acrimony should be put aside, there will be no need for litigations and as I said before, elections have been held and winners have been declared and we should work as a family without division to get to the next level”, Dagana pleaded while accepting and thanking the members of NANS for their visit and awards.
The NEC meeting was held to deliberate on crucial issues within the club and the preparations for all the upcoming football events and plans were perfected on how to gather support for the Super Falcons going into the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia & New Zealand, the Super Eagles World Cup qualifiers, the AFCON in Cote D’Ivoire and many other competitions involving the various national teams of Nigeria.
The club plans to mobilize about 100 Nigerians from all over the world to come to support the Falcons at the World Cup.