CELEBRATION IN BENIN AS PHILIP SHAIBU HANGS BOOT.

Captain of Bendel Insurance FC, Rt Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu has finally hung his boot as a professional football player at the age of 52.


It was all joy and celebration at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on Friday evening as the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Shaibu started the game, leading the attack of the Benin Arsenal in his team’s last match of the Nigeria National League (NNL)


The attack line of Bendel Insurance was a deadly one with the presence of Comrade Shaibu on the pitch as he kept his markers at bay for the duration he spent on the field putting together a few beautiful passes from the final third of the football pitch, none of which resulted in a goal.


At the half-hour mark, Shaibu was subbed off and replaced by Taiwo Oripelaiye. Bendel Insurance took the lead 10 minutes after Comrade Shaibu’s substitution after Tanimu Benjamin converted his spot-kick into the bottom left corner of the opposition’s goal. The penalty came after a Bendel Insurance player was upended in the 18-yard box.


The half-time break was a mini fanfare as the Deputy Governor gave out 40 signed match balls to the spectators, in appreciation to fans of Bendel Insurance. The 40 match balls symbolise the iconic jersey number 40 Comrade Shaibu wore as a veteran player at the club.


Comrade Philip Shaibu started his career back in his undergraduate days at the University of Jos, where he captained his faculty and also represented UNIJOS at the Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA). Com. Shaibu also represented Federal Capital Territory at the NISFON U-20 games, where they got to the quarterfinals. He went on to play for Foreign Affairs FC, FCDA FC in Abuja, and later played the defunct Water Corporation FC of Akure and the Nigeria Prison Services FC, his last team before his move to Bendel Insurance where he spent six years as a player.


The deputy governor will surely be missed as a player of the club for his contributions on and off the pitch but he promised to continue showering support for the team. According to the digital deputy governor, since he started playing for the Benin Arsenal, they’ve never lost a game he played in, drawing only one while winning the rest.


Despite the victory which puts the club top of Group B1 with 49 points, Bendel Insurance had secured promotion to the top flight league of Nigeria Football, the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), with two games to spare.