An experience too rough to forget. It was a USA ’94 World Cup qualifier between the Super Eagles and Red Devils of Congo. Venue was Pointe Noire, not Brazzaville, the capital city.
The moment the Eagles landed at the Agostino Neto Airport, Pointe Noire, everything went awry. Sole Administrator of NFA, Amos Adamu, lost his bag. It contained cash and other valuables. That also was just the beginning of many more sad developments.
The trip to Pointe Noire was tough. The Nigerians were at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja but could not board the Cameroon Airlines flight scheduled to take them to Brazzaville. The flight was delayed for 24 hours until Chief of General Staff, Augustus Aikhomu, hired an Okada Air flight to facilitate the journey to Pointe Noire.
Flight Commander, Captain A.E. Inameti, suddenly lost touch with the control tower after sighting the runway. I was on the flight and we hovered around the airport awaiting clearance which almost did not come. When we touched down, Adamu was not prepared for what awaited him.
The delegation moved to Hotel Zamba Azur. Later in the day, the Eagles wanted to have a feel of the field. There were no vehicles to take them there. Adamu, the Leader of delegation , was broke. The Nigerian Embassy had to hire cabs to save the situation.
When they got to the stadium, there was delay. The Congolese Division Two final between V. Club of Pointe Noire and Leopards of Dolise, was on going. The team had to wait for the game to end.
In the process, some fans mingled with the Nigerian players. Skipper Stephen Keshi was carried shoulder high while Rashidi Yekini, Aloy Agu and Okey Uche signed autographs.
On match day, the home crowd was happy that the referee was Gabonese, Pierre Alain Monguengui. As he stepped into the arena, the fans reminded him of the French connection between Congo and Gabon.
” Monguengui, Monguengui, la Francophonie”, they chanted. I found this rather disturbing. However, the Gabonese was not carried away by the tactics of the spectators. And he had to pay for it. The Nigerians were not spared.
As play progressed, Keshi seemed to have handled the ball in the 18 yard box. The referee ignored calls for a penalty. And hell was let loose. One of the Assistant referees, was almost blinded as fans poured sand in his eyes. Players and accompanying journalists were not spared either. Sam John of the Daily Times was stoned.
Leader of the Nigerian community in Pointe Noire, Alhaji Lawal, lost all foodstuff in his shop which was looted by rampaging fans. Infact, Alhaja Adetona, the woman who prepared food for the Eagles was about to be beaten when she moved to Lawal’s house.
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The Nigerian Ambassador to the country, George Adetuberu, escaped just as they stoned his official car. It was also vandalized. Second Secretary at the Embassy, Jonathan Shamaiki, was not surprised. He knew the Congolese would do anything to survive their troubled economy.
Shamaiki said: ” These people have not received salaries for six months, things are difficult for them”. It was dashed hopes indeed for Professor Flaurent Balande Mio, had taken over from dictator, Col Denis Soussou Nguesso. Much was expected of the teacher turned politician.
Nigeria defeated Congo 1-0. I love Congolese ‘soukouss’ and bought two of their cassettes. The music vendor disappeared with my change. We rushed back to the airport as Aikhomu ordered the team back to Lagos immediately. At their airport, we met no one. Honestly, no immigration or any kind of checks.
We boarded and flew out that night. It occurred to me that Pointe Noire is French for Black Spot. Yes, thousands of slaves were shipped from the port town in the past to the Americas. And it remained a black spot for us all that all through our two-day trip in December 1992.
