Ugbade: Buhari’s N2m gift, a miracle

Captain of the victorious Golden Eaglets of 1985, Nduka Ugbade, is still basking in the euphoria of the redemption of a promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari after 30 years of waiting.
Nigeria had set a world record as the first black nation to win a FIFA tournament when the Baby Eagles, as they were then called, defeated the then West Germany 2-0 in the final in Beijing, China, with goals from Babatunde Joseph and Victor Igbinoba.
Buhari, who was then military Head of State, renamed the team “Golden Eaglets” and promised to reward them – but only a few players got scholarship awards and streets named after them in their states of origin before Buhari was overthrown on August 27, 1985.
On January 21, 2016, Buhari fulfilled the financial part of the promise by giving cash rewards of N2 million to each player and members of the coaching crew.
Ugbade, who was also an assistant coach when Nigeria won the same championship in 2013, said that he does not agree with those who said the N2 million reward is too small.
“It is a very wonderful thing. And something has been proven, beyond every reasonable doubt that miracle still happens. Hope you understand? The issue here is that it can never be forgotten by any of us.
“The greatest gift that the president gave to us is for us to come together again to see each other. For some of us for 29 years, 27 to 29 years, we’ve not been able to see each other. That is the second gift. He gave us N200m each in his heart. Though, some people talk about the gift being very little, that it cannot represent the 30 years, but for me it is not so because it was due to the military then that the gift came from.
“But for the president when he was announcing it, he made a mistake which reflects his heart. His heart gave us N200 million each. That was the true reflection of the heart of the President concerning us. Let me just say in reality, what I actually received, what we received, was N200 million and not N2 million. Because the president could remember that after 30 years, that we can still be honoured, automatically this is a wonderful thing. So, the injustice has been settled”.