As the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Nigeria and Rwanda kicks off in Calabar on September 6, residents of the capital of Cross Rivers State hopes the magic, which has made the Super Eagles unable to lose a match at the UJ Esuene Stadium, will still work, writes NICHOLAS KALU
It is not a smelly, blood stained building where animals are butchered, but has come to be known as the Slaughterhouse.
The serene atmosphere of the Udoakaha Jacob Esuene Sports Stadium located in the heart of Cross River State’s capital, Calabar, has been so christened by football lovers and supporters of the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, which has not lost a single game there in the past few years.
The grounds of the facility, simply referred to as the UJ Esuene Stadium, has in recent times served as the venue where the national team consistently beat their opponents, hence it has been termed, “The slaughterhouse of the Super Eagles.”
Built in 1976, the multi-purpose stadium has served as the home ground of the Calabar Rovers Football Club. After its commissioning in the same year, the first match was played there was between Calabar Rovers and Bendel Insurance.
A couple of weeks later, the stadium hosted an international encounter between Enugu Rangers and Tonnerre Yaoundé – a game that featured the likes of Roger Milla, Christian Chukwu and Emmanuel Okalla
Later upgraded to include an ultra-modern electronic video-matrix scoreboard, with powerful floodlights, the stadium has a capacity of about 12,000.
Since then the sporting arena has continued to attract various national and international sporting activities among which are the FIFA Under-21 World Cup in 1999 and the FIFA Under-17 in 2009.
At the moment preparations are in top gear for the sporting facility to host the 19th edition of the National Sports Festival in November this year.
So what is the magic of the Calabar Stadium? The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Patrick Ugbe, says the thing special about it is the people.
“The magic is the people of this state and this city. You see, when you have an ambience of peace and security, you have an environment that is welcoming, when you have that kind of environment, you know all you can do is to excel because you are relaxed. You are not stressed. You are not bothered about other extraneous things that can distract your focus. So you are focussed on the task you have and you just excel. That is what Calabar does.
“That is why the national team has always excelled here. And because again when the national team is playing, you have over 10, 000 people in the stadium that are there to support them, not to criticise them or heckle them or boo them, but there to cheer them. It encourages them and gives them that boost. So the fans in Calabar act as the 12th player that encourages the team to always excel,” Ugbe said.
On how it got its peculiar nomenclature he said: “The people gave it that name. We didn’t give it the slaughter house of the Super Eagles. It came from the people themselves after seeing that, for several years, now, the team has not lost a match in this place and very significant that even outside the country, teams that come to Calabar to play the eagles now come with fear. They now see Calabar as the slaughter house. Nigeria never loses a match here, so they come to play with fear which again also helps psychologically to ensure victory for the team.
With the hosting of the sports festival almost upon them, Ugbe expressed confidence that the stadium, whose facilities are being upgraded as well as new ones added would be ready to give the country the best festival ever.
According to him: “We are sure it would be ready. The facilities that are being added apart from the main bowl and the tartan track that has been renovated and relayed with a brand new class one track, are the swimming pool that is being renovated to a ten lane Mitre Technology Pool. Also there is the basketball courts that are being redone and then for me among others. For me, the icing on the cake would be the multi-purpose ultra-modern indoor sports hall that is being constructed there. It is one design that has never been seen in this country. When it is completed, it is one that we would all be proud of as a people and as a state.
“The facility is one that would host all indoor games. It would have basketball, volleyball, handball, five aside FifPro footsal, and badminton and also attached to it are two glass back international standard squash courts as well. Of course added to it are other facilities and amenities as different gyms for boxing, weightlifting, wrestling and so on. So it is a well fitted indoor sports hall that we are having.
Ugbe said a proper maintenance culture over time has been one of the main reasons it has continued to remain relevant in the scheme of things as far as sporting activities are concerned.
His words: “The stadium is one of the oldest in the country. It falls in the generation of the National Stadium in Lagos, Ogbe Stadium in Benin, Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, but today because of the way we have maintained it, it stands out among all those other stadiums. Because we have a good maintenance culture, we have constantly attracted events here. The national teams have made it their home and we are very proud of our maintenance culture. Don’t think that it is now that we would throw that away.”
Manager of the Stadium, Mr Omara Coco-Bassey believes that Calabar being the home of football as the game was first played in the country in a secondary school, Hope Waddell Training Institution, just a stone throw away, it was only natural that the National Team always get their best results there.
“You know this is where football was first played in Nigeria. In a secondary school which is nearby, Hope Waddell. So, Calabar has always been a home of football. So, it is not a surprising thing that you see even the national team, they prefer coming to Calabar Stadium to play their matches. Besides you know this is a tourist state and the people are very warm. Again you see that it is a smaller stadium, so you realise that any time any match is being played, the stadium is filled to capacity.
“It has been favourable for the national team. The people too are very receptive and very willing to support. The major thing is that since they started playing here, it has been very favourable and one thing I realise with the Calabar people is that they are very patient. Like you know if they play in Lagos and after some minutes if they don’t score, they would start booing them, but rather here they would be saying, “All we are saying is give us more goals”. They are patient with the players. They understand. It makes you feel comfortable when the people have confidence in you that come rain come shine, you are going to deliver so it makes the players even more relaxed. So it gives them the confidence that when they come here, they will win and since they have not been failed before,” the stadium manager said.
On measures to keep the facility in top condition especially as they host the sports festival, he said, “It has always been our culture to keep the stadium in good shape all round. In 2009 apart from the national stadium, this was the only stadium that had a natural turf to play. Other stadia because of poor maintenance, Jack Warner said they should go on astro-turf. So it is not a new thing for us. We would make sure the facilities are kept in place and it has always been our culture. There is no way the thing would go down.
“The grass has just been replanted. After 2009 we regrassed the pitch. Now because we are hosting the National Sports Festival, we are regrassing again. The tartan track you are seeing is just two months old. Everything is new. We are getting set and you know what matters most is the playing turf. As you can see people are still working on the turf and we would make sure it is up to standard and what the national team would not have any complain to play on.
As the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Nigeria and Rwanda kicks off in Calabar on September 6 it is hoped the magic which has lasted for so long would continue to ensure victory for the Super Eagles.
