Members of the Super Eagles who won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia have shared their excitement after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), gave them three-bedroom apartments, 27 years after their triumph.
Buhari, through the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed the news in a statement on Thursday titled, ‘President Buhari allocates houses to 1994 Super Eagles squad, winners of the African Cup of Nations.’
The statement read in part, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved allocation of three-bedroom houses to the Super Eagles squad that won the African Cup of Nations in Tunis, Tunisia, in 1994, making real a promise by the Federal Government.
“Following a memo by Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, the President approved the allocations in their states of preference, noting that six players and three technical crews received their houses already.”
Reacting to the news, the ex-Eagles stars said they were excited about the development.
“I’m highly grateful and my family is grateful for this. I will prefer a place in Lagos,” former Eagles midfielder, Sunday Oliseh, told The PUNCH.
Emmanuel Amuneke, the scorer of the brace and winner in the final against Zambia, thanked Buhari for remembering the retired players.
“I thank the President for redeeming this pledge 27 years after it was made. This shows that our labour has not been in vain. This will rekindle hope and trust from the young players coming after us.”
“This is what people have been pushing for; 1994 till now is a very long time. It is something that we have been looking forward to,” Mutiu Adepoju told The PUNCH.
“We have to commend the government. Looking at all these years of clamouring, we gave up at some point, but when we saw what happened to the Golden Eaglets when the government rewarded them, we believed that our time will come,” Adepoju added.
Edema Fuludu said, “It’s a good development, the cry had been on for a very long time. For Buhari to have done that, it shows that he has a listening ear and I think that every one of us should be grateful to him. The labour of our heroes past has not been in vain. But unfortunately, we have lost some members from that squad.”
