Nigeria’s Envoy to Cameroon, Ambassador Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin on Monday stormed Garoua to garner massive support for the Super Eagles ahead of the 2022 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Cup cracker in Cameroon.
Local reports monitored in Abuja said that he declared the mobilization drive as part of his diplomatic offensive aimed at garnering massive support among over 5 million resident Nigerians in Cameroon for the 28-man Super Eagles squad ahead of the forth-coming AFCON soccer fiesta scheduled to run from January 9 to February 6, 2022 in Cameroon having twice been postponed –once due to climactic conditions and once due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Daily Spokesman’s correspondent in Cameroon reports that high-pitch moves by Ambassador Olonisakin’s have gathered instant momentum in Garoua, venue of Nigeria’s Group D matches located in Cameroon’s far northern region, the home base of CAF’s longest serving president, Issa Hayatou.
Captain Ahmed Musa-led 28-man squad of the Super Eagles which are featuring in the twice-delayed biennial international men’s football championship of African organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was last October 10, 2021 full of praise and gratitude to Ambassador Olonisakin for mobilizing unprecedented support that enabled his team clinch a 2-0 victory over Central African Republic in a second leg 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Douala.
Local reports corroborated by Sports Village Square in Cameroon, said yesterday that Olonisakin’s latest trip to Garoua, with capital at Maroua where he met with the Governor Midjiyawa Bakary of Northern Region of Cameroon was ‘’well-timed and primarily-primed as an equivalent of a military show of force’’ to rein in every possible support for the Nigerian national team in the Group D widely nick-named the Group of Death featuring seven-times winners Egypt alongside Nigeria, Sudan and Guinea Bissau.
The province of Garoua, also known as Extreme North Region making up about 66, 090 km of the northern half of the Republic of Cameroon is Cameroon’s fourth most densely populated. As widely envisaged, if the Super Eagles tops the group, they will play an additional match there before moving southwards as the tournament progresses.
In an exclusive interview with a correspondent of Sports Village Square, in Garoua, Olonisakin remarked that he was in the Northern city essentially to sensitize the people about the Super Eagles and gather sufficient support to propel the national team that has been tipped to win the Africa Cup for the fourth time.
He expressed appreciation to the Governor of the Northern Region for his brotherly support to matters relating to the collective interests of the Nigerian community in the region bordering Nigeria’s Adamawa State on the south and the west. Garoua is Cameroon’s third largest port with a large fishing and cross border trade community that attracts a huge tourist attraction.
His visit also gave the envoy an opportunity to assess the status of accommodation facilities for the Nigerian contingent as well as for supporters clubs making arrangements to throng the city to cheer the Super Eagles to victory in their matches, pointing out that nothing was being left to chances.
“In competitions like this, there is no team that is a pushover. Surprises can be sprung up. So we take each match and each team as they come.
We are preparing for the Egyptian team as a strong side, the same will be the case for Sudan and Guinea Bissau.”
“I met with the Nigerian community on Sunday to sensitize them on the need to give the Super Eagles a rousing welcome and to support the team in all their matches.
“We hope to top the group and play a fourth match in Garoua and also move ahead to get into the semi-finals. That means, we are playing about five matches in Garoua”, said Olonisakin.
Emphasizing the need to reach out to the Nigerian community in Garoua, Ambassador Olonishakin said it was to prepare it as a comfortable haven to plan and garner huge support for the national team.
Daily Spokesman spoke to a member of a high-powered team raised by the envoy for the tournament. He noted that Ambassador Olonisakin , Nigeria’s immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has declared to them that the assignment is an ‘’all-out influence operation that takes no prisoners’’.
He said, ’’this is a diplomatic version of a war which the retired army general has declared in this crucial AFCON tournament. He has mobilized the committee to reach out to every Nigerian community in Cameroon starting from Maroua, the capital of Garoua to other parts of Cameroon. His immense goodwill among various ethnic, cultural and business groups including youths and students in Cameroon has been phenomenal.
‘’It important to add also that the involvement and gallant efforts of his wife, Her Excellency, Dr. Omobolanle Olonisakin, has been outstanding particularly within the women’s wing of the entire Nigerian community. It’s an incredible chemistry. From all indications, Super Eagles will be at home in Garoua’’, he said.
