The Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, and the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, have urged the Super Eagles to enjoy their boat trip to Benin Republic today.
The Eagles have a date with Benin Republic in the African Nations Cup Qualifiers tomorrow in Porto Novo.
In the past weeks, many followers of the round leather game have expressed concern after the NFF announced that the Eagles will travel for the games via water transportation.
Sanwo-Olu said the national team should relax and enjoy the beauty of Lagos via the Atlantic Ocean.
“I am very sure by the time you are on the trip to Benin Republic, you won’t believe you were still in Nigeria. I assure you of a pleasant experience. Lagos has over 186km Atlantic coast and I am so happy that the eagles will enjoy this together as a team,” he said
Meanwhile, Pinnick added that to make the journey easier, he had already taken the Eagles Manager, Gernot Rohr, on boat trip twice.
“First we travelled by boat within Lagos and spent a night across the sea. Rohr was not ready to come back to town and we also travelled together to Porte Novo, venue of our match. We got there under two hours and it was a very nice journey. The Atlantic is very safe and lovely. I am sure the players will love it. Travelling by boat is no big deal. It is a means of transportation and we should not attach negativity into it,” Pinnick said.
In a related development, Governor Sanwo-Olu announced that Super Eagles co-ordinator, Patrick Pascal, will be a beneficiary of a flat at the Housing Estate inaugurated on Wednesday in Ikorodu because of his exploits with the history making Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold medal team, the Dream Team.
“The 1996 Olympics team made us proud in Atlanta to win the gold medal,” Sanwo-Olu said.
“It is sad that the pledge made to the team by government is yet to be fulfilled but since one of them is here in person of Patrick Pascal, we hereby present him a 3-bedroom flat to show that our heroes means so much to us in Lagos,” the Governor added.
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