For the second successive year, the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos will host the grand finale of the President Federation Cup competition, which is scheduled for Saturday, 28^th June.

The compact but dainty facility by the waterfront hosted last year’s grand finale, in which El-Kanemi Warriors defeated Abia Warriors to emerge winners of the men’s competition while Rivers Angels edged Naija Ratels 1-0 in the women’s version. The venue is also the site of the former King George V Stadium, which was later renamed Lagos City Stadium, and later known as Onikan Stadium.

Lagos State has hosted a total of 60 grand finales of Nigeria’s oldest Cup competition, which was known variously in the past as Governor’s Cup, FA Cup, Challenge Cup and Federation Cup.

Of the 60 Final matches, 18 were staged at the King George V, between 1945 and 1962. The venue was then renamed Lagos City Stadium, and continued to host the final matches until 1972, when the clash between Mighty Jets and Bendel Insurance was stalemated at 2-2 and had to be replayed. The replay was taken to the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, and that was the first time the Final was played outside Lagos.

The National Stadium, Surulere, which was built in 1972 to host the 2^nd All-Africa Games that Nigeria staged in 1973, commenced hosting of the grand finale in 1974, as there was no competition in 1973 due to the 2^nd All-Africa Games and the maiden edition of the National Sports Festival.

The National Stadium, Surulere hosted a total of 22 Final matches, with the last Final there in 2002, when Julius Berger defeated Yobe Desert Stars 3-0 to emerge champions.

Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos hosted eight Final matches (2007 & 2009, and 2011-2016). The grand finale has also taken place previously at the Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi (1989 and 1994), Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi (1992 and 2008), Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna (1993, 1997, 2003 and 2019), Rancher Bees Stadium, Kaduna (1998), Sam Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City (2004 and 2021), Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt (2005), MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta (2006), Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano (2010), Agege City Stadium (2017) and the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba (2018 and 2023).

This year’s grand finale will see surprise packets Abakaliki FC of Ebonyi taking on Kwara United FC of Ilorin in the men’s final, while Cup holders Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt will tackle Nasarawa Amazons of Lafia in a much-anticipated women’s final.

el Kanemi Warriors won the 2024 Federation Cup after beating Abia Warriors 2-0.

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Determined to keep the legacy of their father in supporting one of the oldest football club in Nigeria, the family of late Mr Israel Menson Ehimiaghe (nee Bamawo) recently donated the of One Million Naira to Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin City.

The Ehimiaghes see their gesture as an attempt to support a club that their late father worked for and supported during his life time. Prior to his death in December 1979, Ehimiaghe was the branch manager of the now defunct Bendel Insurance Company in their office in Auchi.

One of the children of the late super supporter of the Benin Arsenal, Cornelius Ehimiaghe stated: “my father was a Bendel Insurance Football Club supporter through and through. I grew up to hear the slogan nobody can win us, only Bendel. When my late father was alive, there were commemorative clothes, T-shirts, caps, and paper flags that celebrated our winning the 1972 and 1978 Nigeria Challenge Cup. Though I could not read properly in 1978, there was a pictorial football magazine that covered our 1978 FA Cup victory over Enugu Rangers. After my father’s death in 1979, I more or less inherited all these football memorabilia, as well as his transistor radio.”

“Furthermore, I recall that after we won the Nigerian league in 1979, my late father scouted a street football in Auchi, got the permission of the player (Aminu Momoh) parents, drove the player to Benin City in his 504 Peugeot car, and introduced the player to coach Alabi Assien. After a brief trial, the young midfielder was employed by Bendel Insurance FC. My father used to plan his travel to Benin around the weekends that the Benin Arsenal had their home matches.

“The last of the matches he watched his beloved Bendel Insurance FC play was the semi-final match of the Africa Cup Winners Cup against Cannon Sportiff of Yaoundé, at the Ogbe Stadium in Benin in November 1979. The match ended in a goalless draw which meant that the Benin Arsenal failed to make it to the final due to a dubious offside goal by Onguene Manga, two weeks earlier in Yaoundé. A few years ago, I told coach Alabi Assien that my late father would not have died on 12/12/1979, if the Benin Arsenal had triumphed over Cannon Sportiff. Without fear or favour, my late father would have negotiated with the angel of death to come and pick him up a few weeks later, after Bendel Insurance FC would have won the 1979 Africa Cup Winners Cup. The rest is history.”

“Growing up without a father in the austerity/structural adjustment ravaged 1980s was very tough. Our grandparents, some of my mother’s “super cousins,” Barrister Charles Adogah (SAN) and late auntie T.M. Faleye were very supportive. My elder brother and I had to also put in some odd jobs shift in order to ensure that we did not go to bed hungry. I started working in the civil service in Bendel State before I was eighteen years old. I never one day dreamt of going to the university. However, after more than five years in the unemployment queue, my mother got a nursing job in UNIBEN. This ensured that we just managed to survive the almost wasted 1980s.”

As part of following the footsteps of his late father, Cornelius Ehimiaghe also paid a courtesy visit to coach Alabi Assien, had a few minutes chat with the Management and coaching staff of Bendel Insurance FC, where he commended their efforts in steering the Benin Arsenal from relegation waters. The Ehimiaghes also donated two hundred thousand Naira to the supporters’ club of Bendel Insurance FC. “Win, lose or draw, we are proud of our “UP BENDEL identity.”

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