BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

It is a return to the place of birth as the Nigeria football cup final, now called President Federation Cup, will be played this Saturday, at the water-front field, the Mobolaji Johnson Arena at Onikan in Lagos.

 It is a return to the place of birth where the cup final match was first played on 7 November 1945.

  Up till 1972, all subsequent final matches, except that of 1961 which was the first to go into replay, were played at the water-front arena.

The replayed final match of 1961 was moved to Surulere, the present National Stadium which was at the time called Temporary National Stadium.

The last final match at the Onikan was that of 1972 on 14 October. That match involving Bendel Insurance and Mighty Jet was stalemated and became the second final match to be replayed.

 The replay was at the then Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, the first time the final match was played outside Lagos.

 Though the cup final later returned to Lagos which hosted the 1974 to 1987 final matches consecutively, they were played at the National Stadium.

 In other instances the venues shifted to the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos and other venues like Lekan Salami in Ibadan (1988), Makurdi’s Aper Aku Stadium and Ranchers Bee Stadium in Kaduna among others.

Whyte Ogbonda is not your ordinary sweat merchant. Even among his colleagues, it is widely acknowledged that the former tactician of Ibom Angels FC of Uyo knows his onions, and more.

On Saturday, Ogbonda will be gunning for his first National Cup title as head coach, having guided unfancied Ibom Angels to runners-up position in 2017 and 2018. On both occasions, they lost to Rivers Angels. The strategist has tasted victory previously, albeit as assistant coach, when Rivers Angels won the trophy in 2014.

“Yes, Rivers Angels have always reached the women’s final of the Cup, and here we are again. Our target is to lift the trophy and bring it back to Rivers State, having lost the opportunity to win the league. As a team, we are indebted to Rivers State government to bring back the trophy. That is the only way we can show appreciation for the government’s huge investment in the team.”

Ogbonda insists that his girls, who include in their ranks Nigeria U20 girls’ forward Blessing Okpe and Flamingos’ forward Peace Effiong, will not underrate Naija Ratels, but will go all out to accomplish victory.

The women’s final will kick off at 1pm on Saturday at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, with the men’s final to commence at 4pm.

Ambitious Abia Warriors became the first of the four finalists in the 2024 President Federation Cup grand finale to arrive in Lagos and Coach Bethel Orji has no doubt that his Umuahia giants will come good on Saturday at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena.

“We are here and we’re highly motivated. We are all elated. I thank God for the turn around in the fortunes of the team, and I am delighted to be playing my first Cup final as a coach,” Orji told thenff.com in Lagos on Wednesday.

A great player and former Cup winner himself, Bethel Orji will be banking on the precision of forwards Samson Obi and Sunday Megwo when Abia Warriors confront the two-time champions by the Lagos Waterfront on Saturday evening.

“We are prepared for the game, physically, mentally and psychologically. The players are in high spirits; they are raring to go.”

Abia Warriors reached the men’s final of the President Federation Cup four days after ensuring they will play in the Nigeria Premier Football League for the 12^th consecutive season, come next season.