The remaining members of the
victorious squad who have yet to be
given houses have called on the
government to fulfil its promises to the
squad
Stand-in captain of the victorious squad of
the Tunisia 1994 Africa Cup of Nations,
Austin Eguavoen led three other prominent
members of the team to the office of the
Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi on
Monday to discuss the house pledge the
late General Sani Abacha promised them
which is yet to be redeemed.
Eguavoen was in company of Samson
Siasia, Victor Ikpeba and Ben Iroha on
behalf of the other aggrieved members to
see the minister and begged him to
intervene on the players’ behalf for the
Federal Government to redeem its pledge.
Eguavoen in his address to the Minister
stated that "It is not our doing that the
1994 squad actually changed the face of
Nigerian football. 1980 squad, you cannot
just put them aside too, they did it before
us, they won the Nations cup right here in
Nigeria led by Christian Chukwu and then
we followed the same feat in 1994 outside
Nigeria that was what makes it a little bit
different. And we thank God the present
squad won the 2013 as well, it is a record.
"Sir you know records don’t lie. The past
president, the present president, sports
administrators; when any of our team does
well, male or female they show
appreciation. Sani Abacha also suit after
Shagari did his own in 1980 by promising
largess including houses.
"We are a discipline side; we did not make
noise about it. After all these years, even
some journalist kept asking us, what about
your houses? We are patient believing that
somehow some day that pledge will still be
redeemed. But the difference is that a
couple of us got their own houses, it’s not
their fault neither is it our own fault,
because it was a matter of choice. You
could chose in any location where you
want your own house.
"Majority of us chose Lagos and some
chose Abuja. I think Finidi George chose
Port Harcourt. So the guys that chose
Abuja got their houses. It was approved
actually, but for our own in Lagos, we went
there couple of times but for some reasons
we could not get them. But we are still
hopeful that some day we will get it.
"And I remember two years ago, the
president of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele
Journathan had a meeting with different
industries and luckily I had to speak on
behalf of sports men and women and I
reminded our president. At that point in
time we had just lost Uche Okafor and
Rashidi [Yekini] is gone and lately
Thompson Oliha. And then one of the
words that I used on that day was that
now Rashidi is gone, Okafor is gone, the
kids are supposed to be the beneficiaries
of these properties. And I think the
President ordered somebody to follow up,
but to an extent nothing worked.
“If our sports men and women today see
that government pledges something and it
is not redeemed, definitely a lot of them
might have a second thought. I think it is
only wise that you use your good office to
try; though we are still appealing because
it is not a right because we are more than
thousands of sports men and women in
this country, it is a privilege. Having
announced it I think there should be a
follow up," Eguavoen stated.
The Sports Minister however assured the
members of the victorious Super Eagles
squad that he would personally discuss
their grievances of not receiving the
houses promised them with President
Goodluck Jonathan.
“When I met Victor Ikpeba in Ilorin last
week he mentioned this issue to me. We
also met at another event and he reminded
me and we agreed to have this meeting
[Monday]. One thing that I must say that
will delight you based on what you said
was that when the unfortunate incident of
the death of Thompson Oliha was
announced, the Federal Executive Council
that we had immediately after His
Excellency, Mr President said he heard it
on radio that people were saying that the
promise he made to the Super Eagles
squad of 1994 was not honoured and that
government is a continuum. Even promises
made by government in 1960 is still
promise made by government in 2013.
That is to tell you the direction that the
mind of Mr. President works on this kind of
thing.
“I must commend you for that and I can
assure you that I will treat this matter with
all the seriousness that it deserves. I
believe it is the right thing to do.
Government has announced it and
government should keep its promise.
“I can assure you that we will make
appropriate representations to Mr.
President and I believe that he is going to
respond accordingly. We will also keep you
informed of progress being made. I want to
thank you for the commitment you have
shown and your dedication to our country.
By the grace of God all of us will always
look back to the time we have served and
be proud of that moment," Abdullahi
assured.
source: www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4093/nigeria/2013/08/06/4168333/tunisia-94-nations-cup-squad-beg-fg-to-redeem-house-pledge

Nice one from Eguavoen. It's high time government gave them.