I recommend Calabar hospitality to the world – Kenya coach

APRIL 12, 2013 BY PIUS AYINOR LEAVE A COMMENT
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Kenya coach Adel Amrouche spent just three nights in Calabar and got swept off by the hospitality of the people of Cross River State. The Belgian shared his feelings with Pius Ayinor
In Nigeria Cross River State is reputed for wonderful hospitality. Their capital city of Calabar is therefore seen as the centre of fun and good rest. While many love their traditional foods, some others love the serenity of the environment. But quite a lot of stories are told about their women. It was not clear which of the stories Amrouche heard before he set out for Nigeria but he was amazed, in any case, by what he saw off the field when his team took on the Super Eagles in a Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifying match.
But whatever story he heard, the Belgian said he was moved by the way the people received him, attended to needs and was essentially touched by the environment. The city turned out so much different from the image he had before he boarded the flight from Nairobi.
[b]“Calabar is a very good place; very good,” Amrouche said [/b]even as he complained about poor officiating in the match the Kenyans played the previous night against Nigeria which ended 1-1.
[b]“It’s such a wonderful place to visit. I am very happy to have met the people of this city. They are friendly and I really love our hotel and the people running it. Calabar is the best city I have seen for a long time in Africa and I recommend it not only to other Nigerian cities but to the whole of Africa and to the world. I was really surprised by what I saw and I love this place. I love Calabar.”
[/b]But what in particular could have touched the heart of this European in less than a week’s visit? Could it have been their food, their reputed women or the environment?
“Their women? No, not really; I have moved around Africa. If you come to Burundi or Rwanda and some other places you will see very beautiful women. I must admit you have very beautiful women in Africa but it is not about them in Calabar; I just like this city. It is about the people and the place.[b] Perhaps I could not really go round to see the inner ghettoes for lack of time but I like all the places and the people I met. It’s clean and example of hospitality to other African countries.”
[/b]But in the midst of the love he professed Amrouche was not happy with the way he was received when he entered the country through Lagos. He complained about nearly everything until he got to Calabar and fell in love.
“Why was the game taken to Calabar,” he queried as he suggested it was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the Harambee Stars.
“I didn’t like it because it was not okay administratively; it is always difficult with such movements in Africa. [b]For the encounter we were assured that we will get a good stadium to train in Lagos but that was not possible. Instead I got a school and my players had to train on sand. We were given the National Stadium to train when they knew that it would cost us about 10 hours of that day – 4hours to go there in Lagos traffic and another four returning and off course two hours to train. I’m not stupid so I turned that down.
“And then they put my team in a ghetto hotel; that was not a national team hotel, its sub-standard.”[/b]
With such complaints one would have expected that Amrouche would pay the Nigerians back when both teams meet again in June in Nairobi but it appears that the three good days in Calabar have helped to calm him and his players. Or would he pay back?
“Why should I do so? That will not be fair. You cannot punish three people for the error of just one person; that is not right. Whatever happened in Lagos was the error of one or a few people and not the Super Eagles of Nigeria or the entire Nigerians.
[b]“The Nigerian players treated us very well; their coach is a nice person and the game itself was played in a very friendly manner and so everything that happened in Lagos was forgotten there. I have assured the Nigerian team that things would be lovely in Kenya. It will be quality hospitality for them.
“We hope to market the game very well and get the crowd in. Playing African champions is surely classy and that is what we are looking forward to.”
[/b]And will they beat Nigeria?
“I can’t say for now. I want to take it day by day until June. It is tough for me to talk about how June would be like while we are still in the month of March. I don’t even know how tomorrow will look like so let’s wait and see.”