FIRST EVER JRB – JIMO RAUF BADAMOSI FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT TAKES OFF
History was made today in Ibagwa-Aka, Igbo-Eze South LGA Headquarters, Enugu State as the much talked about statewide football tournament took off on a brand new ‘Rauf Badamosi Stadium.’
The competition which is being sponsored whole by the philanthropist extraordinary, Jimo Rauf Badamosi to mark the take off of the state-of-the-art stadium, single-handedly built by him, will bring together the seventeen local governments of Enugu State, in the competition. Today’s event, brought together ‘who is who’ in sports in Enugu State.
Among the dignitaries were, the Enugu State Commissioner for Sports, Barr. Loy Ekweremadu, the Igbo-Eze South LGA Chairman, Barr. Ugo-Fedinand, the Traditional Ruler of Ibagwa-Aka Ancient Kingdom, HRH, Igwe Hyacinth I. Eze, Ambassador Simon Ejike Eze, former Chairman of Igbo-Eze South LGA and also the immediate past Commissioner for Transport, Hon. Dr. Peter Andy Omeje.
Others are Barr. Tony Ugwu, Hon. Dominic Ezema, many other traditional rulers and distinguished personalities.
The take off of the march saw the Igbo-Eze South side mesmerizing the Igbo-Eze North with a barrage of goals. Within the first twenty minutes, they consecutively scored four unequalized goals.
Not even a penalty awarded to the visitors could be converted as the Igbo-Eze South goalkeeper bravely and miraculously saved it. Several injuries marked the march as the visitors painstakingly struggled to get an equalizer.
Five minutes to second half, the home team scored another goal making it five. However, an equalizer later came through a defensive error by the home side bringing the score to five goals to one against Igbo-Eze North at the final whistle.
From today, Ibagwa-Aka will be joining big cities like Enugu and Nsukka in hosting state, national and international football tournaments, courtesy JRB. Great thanks to our own JRB. It’s a miracle that some of us who witnessed Ibagwa-Aka football exploits in the seventies and eighties are joining in making history today.
By High Chief Nkem Ossai (Odenammuo)
