Good morning, People of the Mountains!
Mountains? What mountains? I know, by now you can tell when I’m being serious and when I’m just messing around. There are no actual mountains in or around Aba, so this has to be metaphorical. Mountain of Fire? Nope, not that one. It’s the Mountain of Relegation staring us in the face.
While that opening line was a dry joke, the relegation threat we’re facing is anything but funny. Ladies and gentlemen, the situation is genuinely worrying. We are in real danger of going down this term, and last weekend’s result made that crystal clear, especially against Kun Khalifat, a side that’s also battling to avoid the drop.
Someone even pointed out to me that it looks like the club has already started planning for life in the NNL. When I asked what he meant, his answer hit hard: “Just look at the calibre of coaches we’ve been hiring lately, top NNL coaches. Maybe we’re simply accepting the inevitable.”
At this point it still feels like a bad joke, like something that couldn’t possibly happen to us. But the truth is we’re running out of games. One more slip this weekend and we could be staring at the bottom four. The scariest part? It still seems like many fans and stakeholders haven’t fully grasped how close we are to the edge.
We can point fingers at poor recruitment. We can criticise the endless changes at the dugout. But at this stage of the season, none of that matters anymore. What we need right now is simple – three points. Enough to drag us clear of the drop zone. The disaster that comes with relegation is something we simply cannot live with.
Enyimba’s downfall (and it genuinely pains me to type those words) has been long and gradual — especially from the moment Mr Governor decided that his cousin, nephew, brother, distant relation or whatever was good enough to run the affairs of the club.
Kanu Nwankwo has a beautiful, enviable football playing resume, yet in administration he has been as horrible as they come. And instead of surrounding himself with competence, he has chosen to bring in people exactly like himself — zero knowledge and expectedly zero success in club administration.
The point of today’s post isn’t to rehash everything that has already been said. It is to sound the alarm bells to those who still aren’t paying attention: Getting relegated will destroy the legacy of Enyimba. Most of us pride ourselves on Enyimba as the only thing we have from Aba to the whole world. Everyone who has contributed to this failure — I have a book in the works for you. You will get every mention you have earned.
Back tomorrow.
‘EnyimbaEnyi
