Christian Chukwu, former coach of
the Super Eagles and one of Nigeria’s greatest footballers ever, will travel to
the UK for further treatment in the first week of May following the footing of
his medical bills by Femi Otedola, the billionaire businessman.
Otedola had offered to foot the bill of the former captain of the national team
following reports that he was battling with prostate cancer.
The $50,000 cheque was presented
to Chukwu on Wednesday morning in Enugu by Philip Akinola, the COO of Zenon
Petroleum and Gas Ltd, one of Otedola’s companies.
Also present were Ifeanyi
Ugwuanyi, the governor of Enugu state, Amaju Pinnick, the chairman of the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Onochie Anibeze, the renowned sports
journalist.
Otedola confirmed the development
to TheCable.
“The governor just called to
thank me immensely and I spoke with Christian Chukwu too. He will be flown
abroad next week. I told him he will be fine and I will make sure he is
provided with the best health services,” Otedola said.
Chukwu, with support from the
Enugu state government, has already done an initial surgery in Nigeria and has
been recuperating.
Aside captaining Nigeria to its
first Africa Cup of Nations success in 1980, Chukwu also led the Enugu Rangers
FC team that won the Africa Cup Winners Cup in 1977.
He was nicknamed ‘Chairman’ for
his authority on the field as a central defender.
Chukwu also served as assistant
coach of the first team to win a FIFA World Cup trophy for Nigeria – the Golden
Eaglets that triumphed at the FIFA U16 World Cup in China in 1985.
He was also assistant coach of
the team tagged the Golden Generation – the 1994 class of Super Eagles that
qualified Nigeria for its first FIFA World Cup finals.
As assistant coach, he helped
Nigeria win the Africa Cup of Nations title and reached the round of 16 at the
FIFA World Cup in the US.
Between 2002 and 2005, Chukwu was
head coach of the Super Eagles, leading the team to bronze medal at the 2004
Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
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