As the Super Falcons continue their march towards continental glory at the WAFCON tournament in Morocco, I finally found time to drop my calculator and pick up my pen.
After all there is never a wrong time to talk about Enyimba.
August is the month club football returns in full force. Pre-season activities begin, transfer rumours gather momentum and supporters start dreaming again.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Premier Football League board is gathered in Ibadan for its annual general meeting, discussing matters that should have been properly settled since the beginning of time.
But while they sat around the table, something else caught my attention: the preliminary draws for the CAF interclub competitions held on Thursday.
Coincidentally, this was the same day Enyimba’s media team failed to read the room and posted a throwback picture, asking supporters to share their most memorable moments as fans of the People’s Elephant.
The responses were almost unanimous.
“When Enyimba used to compete and win on the continent.”
Not when we unveiled a new jersey.
Not when we posted beautiful training pictures.
Not when we won the social media engagement trophy.
The memories that still move Enyimba supporters are the nights when the club carried Nigeria’s flag across Africa and made the rest of the continent respect Aba.
Nigeria’s Representatives on the Continent
Four Nigerian clubs will carry the green and white flag into CAF competitions this season. Before dreaming of trophies, however, they must first survive the preliminary rounds and prove that they belong among Africa’s best.
Rangers International have been drawn against Benin Republic champions AS Sobemap in the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
It is a proper West African contest between two domestic champions whose leagues are still trying to catch up with the more organised and commercially successful competitions elsewhere on the continent.
Should Rangers overcome the first hurdle, their task becomes significantly more difficult. They will face the winner of the tie between ASN Nigelec of Niger Republic and Algerian giants MC Alger.
There will be no free passage.
Rivers United, Nigeria’s second representative in the Champions League, have been paired with FC San Pedro of Côte d’Ivoire.
The Ivorian side may not carry the biggest name in African football, but Finidi George and his players cannot afford to underestimate them. Continental football has punished bigger clubs for entering matches with an inflated sense of importance.
In the CAF Confederation Cup, Shooting Stars will return to continental competition after a 27-year absence.
Their reward is a meeting with Tunisian giants CS Sfaxien.
That is the kind of fixture that reminds you that CAF does not organise welcome-back parties. After nearly three decades away, Shooting Stars will be thrown straight into battle against a club with genuine continental pedigree.
El-Kanemi Warriors have been drawn against UDIB of Benin Republic. On paper, their opening fixture may look more manageable, but the mountain waiting in the next round is Raja Casablanca.
Should the President Federation Cup winners reach that stage, they will have the opportunity to test themselves against one of Africa’s most recognisable clubs.
And even if the journey ends there, they will at least have competed. They will have travelled, learned and given their supporters a reason to follow continental football.
That is more than can be said for the People’s Elephant this season.
The Mindset of a True Elephant
After Enyimba’s poorly timed Throwback Thursday post, supporters who have lived through the club’s highest and lowest moments did not need a long journey down memory lane to choose their favourite period.
For many, it was the back-to-back CAF Champions League triumphs.
For others, it was simply the era when Enyimba were regular participants in continental competitions and African opponents genuinely feared drawing the club.
Some supporters selected the club’s most recent league title, which is understandable. Others mentioned smaller moments that made me realise how much expectations have fallen among certain sections of the fan base.
People now celebrate crumbs because they have gradually forgotten what the full meal tasted like.
That is what prolonged mediocrity does. It slowly changes the standard until supporters begin treating ordinary achievements as evidence of progress.
The Throwback Thursday responses should serve as an eye-opener to Enyimba’s administrators—assuming they care enough to listen to the supporters.
Fans were not merely being nostalgic. They were indirectly passing a verdict on the present state of the club.
The CAF draws are another reminder that Enyimba may be slowly surrendering its position as Nigeria’s number-one football club.
The recently released CAF club rankings already reflect that decline. Enyimba are ranked 45th in Africa and sit behind Rivers United among Nigerian clubs.
Yes, Enyimba and Rivers United may be the only Nigerian teams inside the continent’s top 100, but there is nothing particularly comforting about that.
Enyimba’s position is likely to fall further because the club will not compete in CAF competitions this season. While Rivers United, Rangers, Shooting Stars and El-Kanemi gather ranking points and continental experience, Enyimba will be watching from home.
That is how reputations disappear.
Not in one dramatic collapse, but gradually—one missed continental season, one poor campaign and one lowered expectation at a time.
A true Elephant must recognise how far the club has fallen, but recognition alone is not enough.
Supporting Enyimba does not mean clapping for everything the administration does. It does not mean pretending that the club is progressing simply because the media team posts attractive pictures and motivational captions.
We are pro-Enyimba, not pro-administration.
The responsibility of a genuine supporter is to demand that the club lives up to the standards created by those who came before. It means asking difficult questions, challenging mediocrity and holding the people in charge accountable wherever possible.
Enyimba have history.
But history is not a permanent shield against failure.
A club may inherit a glorious past, but true legacy can only be sustained through consistency. If Enyimba want to remain Nigeria’s biggest club, they must return to the continent and prove it repeatedly.
The trophies in the cabinet will always be respected.
But football does not stand still because Enyimba won the Champions League more than twenty years ago.
The rest of Africa has moved on.
It is time for the People’s Elephant to wake up and start moving again.
EnyimbaEnyi
