club Akwa United FC may have always
welded into one massive vociferous force
the different political tendencies that lean
on the proverbial regional tripod on which
the state’s politics stand.
It breaks the
language dichotomy represented by the
three major ethnic groups of the state
namely; the Ibibios, Annangs and Oro into
a strong fan base for the leading football
club funded by the state.
To the ordinary Akwa Ibomite to whom
the politics of tongues are directed, Akwa
United knows no language except the
mass support it draws from all persons of
the state and they always look to the
empowerment of their young ones
through the deliberate policy of signing
home-grown players in the Akwa United
first team squad.
A good number of these young football
players who went through the state’s
youth system represented by Akwa
Starlets have moved on to make waves in
the league, setting records and finding
shirts in various cadres of the national
teams.
Some of such players include the
newly crowned leagues’ goal king, Mfon
Udoh of Enyimba International, his close
rival, Emem Uduok who joined Tunisia’s
Esperence from Dolphins of Port Harcourt,
Ubong Ekpai who joined league
champions, Kano Pillars mid-season last
year, Ezekiel Bassey who moved to
Enyimba and Etim Mathew, a defender for
Rangers International.
It is indeed a long
list that can stretch to pages and Akwa
United is already being dubbed the
breeding ground of the league stars.
But the reputation of breeding talents
precedes the present generation of players
as even as far back in history as the
1980’s when Akwa Ibom was part of the
then Cross River State, the likes of Friday
Ekpo, Etim Esim, Christopher James and
others all emerged from the Akwa Ibom
axis to star for Calabar Rovers before
finding fame and fortune in other big
Nigerian clubs on their way to Europe and
the national teams.
That tradition has been kept alive through
the likes of Super Eagles captain and Lille
of France goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama
who was snapped off the Uyo side by
Enyimba International in 2000 and two
years after, he won the league title with
the Peoples Elephants. Enyeama went on
to win two CAF Champions League titles,
a number of Nigeria's elite League crowns
amongst others before joining Israeli club,
Hapoel Tel Aviv.
In the last four seasons no fewer than 15
players groomed by the Uyo side have
found places in the leading teams in the
country including Sharks, Dolphins,
Rangers, Warri Wolves and Kano Pillars.
According to Patrick Udoh while he
coached the team, the decision to harvest
players from their junior team, the Akwa
Starlets is the developmental thrust of the
states sports council dating back to the
era of Christo Davies who supervised the
creation of Ibom Stars which
metamorphosed to Akwa United.
Sunday James, a former team Manager
of the club also echoed the same view
expressed by Udoh and said it has helped
the state sustain a grassroots policy as
players in junior teams and private
academies knew they could make it
through to the top league through Akwa
United.
One of the most known Coaches from the
state, Charles Bassey argued that youth
development was the way to go for any
team to sustain a legacy of longevity for
its players. He however regretted that the
club has been unable to retain the
services of the discovered players for
longer periods owing largely to poor
funding.
This season, Akwa United lost Kufre
Ebong to Warri Wolves, Ezekiel Bassey to
Enyimba International and Godspower
Aniefiok to Kano Pillars. Seventeen others
were said to have been listed by the club
as surplus to requirement but it is not
clear if the possible exit of these players
was on mutual consent as required by the
NPFL regulations for termination of
contract before it is due.
As in the past, Akwa United, under their
new Manager, Zakary Baraje, have
brought in players from non-league sides
to give them top flight baptism when the
season kicks off this weekend.
Some of the players who have come through
include goalkeeper and Flying Eagles
invitee, Daniel Emmanson who will now
duel with Kayode Femi for the
goalkeeper’s gloves.
There are also outfield players, Aniekpeno Udoh, Ubong
Friday, Ibukun Harrison from Akwa
Starlets and Thompson Etikerentse from
amateur side, Christ Ambassadors.
The Seasonal Struggles Akwa united finished 16th on the log,
despite being amongst the top four in the
first eight match days of the season.
Former banker and junior international
star, Coach Patrick Udoh had joined the
club at the start of that season and
immediately went to work, instilling a new
sense of confidence and hope to fans of
the Uyo side after a disappointing season
that saw Justin Tenger nearly lead the
team to relegation in the 2012/13 season.
Udoh had inherited a squad that had been
depleted following the departure of Mfon
Udoh who would go on to end his first
season at Enyimba with 14 goals.
However, his departure at the time created
room for the discovery of fresh legs in the
persons of Ezekiel Bassey, Kufre Ebong
and Aniefiok Godspower who have again
left for greener pastures at other clubs.
Their fine start will turn to a struggle
following financial challenges and the
Promise Keepers could not get past the
round of 64 in the FA Cup, the teams’
worst outing in over a decade. Akwa
United would then finish the season a
notch above relegation zone. Then, they
fired Coach Patrick Udoh.
It is not difficult to reason that the squad
instability is a direct result of paucity of
funds to manage the fame they achieve
through high grade performances which
make them targets for better funded
teams in the league.
Therein lies the essence of the League Management
Company’s message to clubs on
diversification of revenue generating
sources and more urgently trying to adopt
a community ownership model that will
take the club back to the people through
subscription.
Etim is an Uyo-based Sports and Media
Consultant and can be reached on twitter
@Promiseetim25.
Culled from Thisday Newspaper.
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