By Okey Maduforo Awka
Ex- Rangers Players have commended Gov Charles Soludo for the payment of monthly allowance of N100,000.00 to all former players of the team.
The players also expressed gratitude to the governor for taking care of the medical expenses of one of their colleagues late Kenneth Abana since March this year noting that without Soludo’s assistance Abana the late footballer would have died long before now .
According to former Commissioner for Information and Manager of the team Bar Jeo Martin’s Uzodike who spoke to reporters shortly after Abana was laid to rest at his country home in Agu – Ukwu NRI in Anaocha local government area;
“Since March this year Gov Charles Soludo have been taking care of late Kenneth Abana until death and he started paying them allowance of N100,000.00 each to members of the team irrespective of state of origin ”
Uzodike further explained that ;
“Former governor Mr Peter Obi started this with little stipends and later former governor Willie Obiano continued it but Gov Charles Soludo increased it to N100,000.00 each and it doesn’t matter the states they come from because the Rangers International Football Club was the team for the old Eastern Nigeria and now that the zone has more states the governor has continued to pay them the allowance ”
Uzodike also noted that in the history of the country it is only Soludo that has chosen to celebrate our heroes adding that this is against the common practice of the old where heroes are celebrated at death .
“We have had cases of our sports men and women who worn lourel for this country spending their youth age bring glory for the country and when they are off the pitch they are forgotten ”
“But with what Soludo is doing today it provides great impetus for our younger generation to represent our country at any field of endeavour and we encourage our other governors to borrow a leaf from what he has done”
Late Kenneth Abana died at the age of 74 and was the player that scored the first home goal for Rangers and the first away goal for the team in far away Niger Republic.
Abana was nick named Magician by late radio commentator Earnest Okonkwo for what he called the banana shots , scoring from impossible angles .
