Rangers became a rallying point for the people, a situation that made its players, household names in the land, especially the eastern parts.

The team’s exploits in the field of soccer accentuated its popularity. Rangers, therefore, became a household name in the country. It was a clear indication that both sides love the game. There were reports that at the peak of the civil war, both warring sides agreed on a ceasefire to enable them to listen to radio commentary of a game between between Santos FC of Brazil and a Nigerian select side at the King George V stadium, Onikan, Lagos that featured the legendary Pele. The team, according to reports, lost the cup narrowly.įootball has remained one of the strongest unifying factors in the land. The team became the new symbol of resilience, and never-say-die spirit of the people, which was why it reached the finals of the FA cup in 1970, the same year it was founded. The team was, and is still, based in Enugu. Late Justice Ikpeazu was first chairman of the team and, probably, its founder. It became a rallying point for a people that needed a link back into the nation. The team competed with the avowed entrepreneurial spirit of the people as the fastest way of bringing them back to the larger polity. Rangers Football club was an avenue for the people of South east to quickly reintegrate into a nation they left for fear of mass extermination. There was another club that rose from the ashes of the Nigerian civil war in the east and became a rallying point for football buffs from that zone. You could not but know that names of such clubs as Calabar Rovers, Sharks of Port Harcourt, Mighty Jets of Jos, Shooting stars of Ibadan, Stationary Stores of Lagos, Kano Pillars and a hand full of others.

Local football clubs had a rather imposing presence and the local league had great follower-ship. Anyone who grew up in the eastern parts of Nigeria, in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s would certainly be caught by the football bug. The boy simply goes to his friends or locks himself in the room and searches for live streaming of matches on his computer. we oscillate between news, movies and christian programs. There is no debate about the channel to watch on television whenever I have the luxury of time. When the spirit hits me, I raise my flag for Chelsea Football club, if the coach gives Mikel Obi opportunity to make the line up. But he is in the wrong company because his mother is even more antithetical to the game than me. I am not a football buff, which is why my son, who has caught the bug, occasionally dons the jersey of Manchester United, may see me as ‘ old school’.

The return of the rangers