It is Easter Sunday.
The most important celebration on the Christian calendar. The celebration that gives every Christian hope and the very reason the faith stands. If Christ did not rise, where then would our hope rest?
And while we reflect on that, it is hard not to think about Enyimba too. About our own hope for survival, and beyond that, the hope for a future that once again matches the size of this club. Not the small things we have now been forced to celebrate, but the bigger things we used to take for granted. If I were to list some of the things that now pass for achievements at Enyimba, a fan who went into hibernation sometime in the late 2010s would swear I was describing an entirely different club. That is our reality now.
The past looks glorious. The present looks troubling. So what does the future say?
For now, the fight for survival remains alive. Samuel “Eshiwe” Okechukwu and Nworisa helped Enyimba come from behind twice to rescue a point against ten-man Wikki in Lafia, and that result has rekindled belief. But belief alone is not enough. With five games left in this battle, three of them at home, the job is still far from done. Away points should always be welcomed, but maximum points at home must now be treated as non-negotiable. Enyimba simply cannot afford another slip.
There is also something worth noting in the identity of the players keeping that hope alive. Yes, Chidera Michael remains the headline act and sits just two goals off the top of the scoring chart, but overtaking the league’s frontrunners will still be a steep climb for a young man who started the season mainly as an impact substitute, often thrown on to rescue games while John Bassey struggled to deliver consistently upfront. Yet with Eshiwe and Nworisa both getting on the scoresheet, perhaps there is reason to say the future is still trying to speak. Eshiwe came through the ranks after playing in the N-Youth League last season, while Nworisa is one of those young talents many have been waiting to see blossom. Maybe, with time, Nelson Sule will also emerge.
Those young names hint at the possibility of a better tomorrow. But they do not erase the obvious problems of today. The manner in which Enyimba conceded those goals in Lafia, especially at moments when the team should have been building momentum, remains a serious concern. That is one problem that must be dealt with once survival is secured. The door has to be opened for the deadwood to leave, and only those truly fit to wear the badge should remain.
But even that will require something deeper. The Enyimba brand itself has to be repaired. Because until the club’s standards are restored at management level, it will remain difficult to demand excellence from the players and coaches below. If the environment stays broken, it will keep attracting the same mediocre choices, the same “bend-down-select” culture, and the same cycle of decline. And if that happens, this current flirtation with relegation will not be the last.
So yes, it is Easter Sunday. A day of hope. A day of resurrection. A day of expectation.
And for Enyimba, maybe that is the message too: survive first, rebuild properly after, and make sure this club never finds itself here again.
Happy Easter once again, and may the earnest expectations of the Enyimba faithful never be cut off.
Enyimba Enyi
