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By John Egbokhan
Former Vice-Captain of the Flying Eagles team at the 1983 FIFA U-21 World Cup in Mexico Paul Okoku urged Youth and Sports Development Minister Sunday Dare to include the promised scholarships to team members by the federal government in a supplementary budget to be presented to the National Assembly for early adoption.
He recalled that the 1983 Flying Eagles team were promised scholarships by President Shehu Shagari immediately after the Mexico City tournament.
Okoku noted that the presidential proclamation has yet to be implemented by successive governments, causing untold hardship for many on the team.
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In fact, while awaiting the completion of the scholarship, some members of the team, such as Captain Ali Jeje, have died, albeit in the shortage, prompting further calls for the redemption of the presidential statement before others. glorious team members die without reward.
While thanking the Sports Minister for visiting the family of the late Ali Jeje, where he provided financial assistance to them, Okoku urged Dare to deepen the narrative by revisiting the pending scholarship with additional budget at the ‘National Assembly.
Okoku said: “We, the Flying Eagles team for the 1983 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, congratulate the Honorable Minister of Sport for his visionary leadership.
“But it is important to bring to the attention of the Minister the presidential statement by former President Shehu Shagari in 1983, in which he declared that all team members at the FIFA World Cup in 1983 would receive scholarships to study in universities like all of us. were school children.
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“Unfortunately, we have not yet obtained the scholarships, but we have been informed by the National Assembly, which recognized our aspiration, that the Minister of Sports should include our scholarship in a supplementary budget which will be sent to them for adoption, so that the work of our past heroes will not be in vain, ”Okoku added.
The 1983 Flying Eagles team were the first team in Nigerian history to participate in a tournament hosted by FIFA.
They also won the WAFU Cup, beating Ghana in the final in October 1983.
The team also beat Ivory Coast to win the Tesema Cup, to become Africa’s best U-21 team, after both countries qualified for the U-21 World Cup in Mexico.
The Ivorian side was led by Yusuf Fofana, who has become one of the legends of African football.
Vanguard News Nigeria
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