Former president of the initially 15-member West African Football Union (WAFU), Chief Jonathan Boytie Ogufere, has expressed his heartfelt condolences over the recent death of former national team captain and coach, Christian ‘Chairman’ Chukwu.

 He remarked that the erstwhile Enugu Rangers’ defence stalwart will ‘be dearly missed’. In a personally signed letter of condolence, Ogufere described Chukwu, who died on Saturday, April 12, in Enugu after a brief illness at 74, as a ‘hero of our time and a friend’.  

 The nonagenarian recalled with nostalgia how he nearly recruited the young Chukwu for his P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu, adding he was impressed with how the ‘Field Marshal Christian Chukwuemeka ‘Chairman ‘ Chukwu (MFR), conducted himself throughout his career as he led both the national team, the then Green Eagles and his beloved Enugu Rangers to many conquests.

“I join numerous others to mourn the transition of the legendary Christian Chukwu, a hero of our time and friend,” the Ugbugba of Okpe Kingdom wrote.  

 “As one of the young academicals discovered after the end of the Civil War in 1970, I tried to enlist into my club, the P & T Vasco da Gama Football Club of Enugu but he was fair and frank in informing me that he had already joined Enugu Ranges Football Club, and I respected that attitude. From the rivalries between the two clubs, his exploits as a central defender were very visible.”

He continued: “Christian Chukwu emerged at the national level as a trustworthy and formidable captain of the national team who led by example.

“He was one of the heroes during the Golden age of Nigerian football when I was one of the Board Members of the Nigeria Football Association under the chairmanship of Chief Sunday  Dankaro as Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1980 for the first time where Christian Chukwu as captain of the Green Eagles was declared the best player of the tournament. He led the national team in several battles, which endeared him to millions of football lovers.

“After his playing days, he showed his talents through coaching in Nigeria and abroad.

“I express my sincere condolences to the family he left behind, the football family and the country in general. He will be dearly missed.

“May the good Lord grant his noble soul eternal rest,” he noted.

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Remo Stars are coasting to what will be their greatest moment ever, a win of the Nigeria Premier Football League title, as they recorded a 1-0 win over Shooting Stars in Ibadan in a match played behind closed doors.

In doing so, they achieved their sixth double of the season, having earlier beaten Shooting Stars in the first stanza of the league.

They maintained the seven-point lead over second-placed Rivers United, who also beat Sunshine Stars 1-0 in Port Harcourt.

After a ding-dong affair, Alex Oyowah scored the vital goal for Remo Stars from a right-wing cross from Ismail Sodiq.

In another match, Ikorodu City continued to work tenaciously to obtain a continental ticket as they held El Kanemi to a 1-1 draw.

SUNDAY RESULTS

• El Kanemi 1-1 Ikorodu City
• Niger Tornados 1-1 Bayelsa United
• Heartland 0-0 Kwara United
• Plateau United 1-0 Akwa United
• Rivers United 1-0 Sunshine Stars
• Shooting Stars 0-1 Remo Stars
• Bendel United 1-1 Nasarawa United

SATURDAY

• Katsina United 0-0 Abia Warriors
• Enyimba 2-1 Kano Pillars
• Lobi Stars 2-4 Enugu Rangers

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Top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation and the Nigeria Premier Football League on Thursday paid a condolence visit to the family of deceased NPFL match commissioner, Mohammed Sani Abdul, who died on Wednesday, 9^th April 2025, on his way back to Maiduguri from Jos, where he had gone to commission an NPFL match.

Abdul, who was also an auditor at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, had served as match commissioner at the game between Plateau United and Kwara United in Jos the previous day.

Gbenga Elegbeleye, 2^nd Vice President of the NFF and also Chairman of the NPFL, was led to the family house of the late Sani Abdul, located inside the Staff Quarters of the University of Maiduguri, by Member of the NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of the NFF Match Commissioners’ Appointment Committee, Babagana Kalli.

After commiserating with the family and praying for the repose of the soul of the departed, Elegbeleye presented a cash donation of the sum of two million naira to the family. The Association of Match Commissioners of Nigeria also contributed the sum of five hundred thousand naira.

Elegbeleye expressed gratitude to all those who accompanied him to the family house of the deceased and affirmed the commitment of the NFF and the NPFL to supporting the families of individuals who lose their lives in the course of service to the game.

The eldest son of the deceased expressed appreciation to the gesture by the NFF and NPFL, and especially thanked  Kalli (who is also Chairman of the Borno State Football Association) for the support provided to the family since the passing of their beloved father.

Also present were the chairman and members of the board of NPFL side El-Kanemi Warriors FC, members of the Club Owners Association and supporters of El-Kanemi Warriors FC.

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