30 Years After Atlanta ’96, Uba Sani Rewards Amokachi, Lawal, Babayaro
Thirty years after Nigeria’s historic football triumph at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has redeemed a long-standing promise to members of the gold-winning team by allocating plots of land to three Kaduna-born members of the squad and naming streets after them.
The beneficiaries are former Super Eagles stars Daniel Amokachi, Garba Lawal and Emmanuel Babayaro, who were part of the Nigerian team that stunned the football world by winning gold at the Atlanta Olympics.
Amokachi disclosed the development on Monday while inspecting the ongoing reconstruction of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, expressing gratitude to Governor Sani for fulfilling a promise that had remained unfulfilled for three decades.
According to the former Everton and Club Brugge striker, several promises were made to members of the Olympic-winning team by successive federal and state administrations following their historic achievement, but many of them were never honoured.
He said Governor Sani had now distinguished himself by not only allocating plots of land to him, Lawal and Babayaro, but also directing that streets be named after members of the Atlanta ’96 squad who had yet to be immortalised.
Amokachi commended the governor for recognising and rewarding former footballers and coaches while they are still alive.
