The Confederation of African Football, CAF’s club flagship competition, the Champions League was founded in 1964 but it took 39 years before a Nigerian league champion, Enyimba of Aba could etch their name on the trophy.
Before Enyimba’s feat, the closest Nigerian clubs came to winning the competition were in 1975 through Rangers who lost to Hafia of Guinea, in 1984 and 1996 through Shooting Stars of Ibadan who lost to Zamalek on both occasions and Iwuanyanwu Nationale of Owerri who lost to Entente Setif of Algeria in 1998. When Nationale metamorphosed into Heartland, they again got to the final in 2009 but lost to TP Mazembe.
Unfortunately he ran the club through a sole administrator in the name of Chairman and so professionalism was downplayed as long as the ego of the governor was massaged. Rather than build on the success of the Champions League, as is with every business run by government, personal interest began to overshadow the essence of the club’s existence.