Clemens Westerhof has received a house for leading the Super Eagles to 1994 AFCON title but his assistant Christian Chukwu is still waiting
Clemens Westerhof was given his house in May 2019 but his assistant Chukwu is still waiting.
Just regaining strength in Enugu and without any sort of media attention, Super Eagles great Christian Chukwu is crying out over a yet-to-be fulfilled pledge by the Federal Government.
14 years after he captained the Super Eagles to their first Africa Nations Cup (AFCON), Chukwu was the assistant coach of the national team that won the title a second time in 1994.
After their triumph in Tunisia, then Nigeria’s Head of State Sani Abacha pledged a house each for the players and coaches of the squad.
While the then coach, Clemens Westerhof has gotten his house in Abuja, Chukwu who was his assistant and several other members of the squad are yet to receive theirs.
“Between 1994 and today (2020), how many years is it?,” Chukwu rhetorically asked in a recent interview with Complete Sports.
The former defender went on to explain that those who chose Abuja as their preferred city like Westerhof have received theirs while the others who selected Lagos have not gotten anything.
“We know of a fact that some, especially those who accepted to have houses in Abuja, have all collected theirs,” the former Super Eagles coach said.
“But those of us who took the Lagos option after the offer was made to us, are yet to get our houses, and this is 26 years after that historic victory in Tunisia.”
While they were later told that houses in their respective states would be given out instead of in Lagos, Chukwu said they have still not heard from the Federal Government.
“Now, we are being told there’s no house and that they would give us in our respective states,” he also said.
“We had thought we would get them when Babatunde Fashola was Minister for Works and Housing.
“But that didn’t happen. Yes, we have been making efforts and as we speak now, there are still efforts as one of us has been assigned the role of pushing our demand through.”
Tough times
It has not been easy of late for Chukwu who needed financial intervention from Nigerian billionaire businessman to help in his battle with prostate cancer.
A defender in his playing days and nicknamed 'Chairman' for his physical dominance and authority he exuded in defence, Chukwu was also captain of Enugu Rangers and led them to the Africa Cup Winners’ Cup title in 1977.
He started his coaching career in Lebanon in the mid-1990s and was appointed coach of the Super Eagles in 2013, leading Nigeria to a third-place finish at AFCON 2004.
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