One of the finest footballers to emerge from the ashes of the 30-month Nigerian Civil War, Christian Chukwu, passed away last Saturday, April 12, 2025.
He answered his final summons after battling with health challenges, one of which was prostate cancer. The disease tormented him for some years. When it was spiraling out of control, billionaire philanthropist and football enthusiast, Chief Femi Otedola, raced to his rescue some years back and flew him to London for medical attention. That singular gesture added a few more years to his life until his defensive skill(s) failed him when the ultimate terminator waltzed its way into his territory.
Christian Chukwu burst into limelight barely four years after the Civil War that ended in 1970 when he joined the leading football club in the present-day South-East, the Rangers International Football Club of Enugu. He established himself as a brilliant central defender and, in no time was given the responsibility of captaining the squad. His mates included goalkeeper Emmanuel Okala, Dominic ‘Alhaji’ Nwobodo, Dominic Ezeani, Mathias Obianika, Ernest Ufel and Stanley Okoronkwo.
His ability to marshal his teammates from his defensive position soon earned him the sobriquet of Chairman from the late ace radio commentator, Ernest Okonkwo, and it stuck to him like a leech throughout his playing career at the club and national levels that spanned close to a decade and half.
For the period that he starred for the Rangers, he inspired them to clinch the National League Division One Trophy for a record five times and five times as winners of the prestigious Challenge Cup. It is on record that Chairman Chukwu never flirted with any other club other than the Rangers International throughout his playing career.
In 1975, he led the Rangers to win the African Clubs Soccer Championship silver medal. He also inspired the club to the 1977 triumph in the
African Cup Winners Cup Championship. At the national level where he also captained the Green Eagles, he was part of the bronze medal winning team led by Coach Father Tiko at the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations Tournament staged in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that featured iconic players like Kunle Awesu and Baba Otu Mohammed. The duo were crowned as the best wingers at the tournament.
His soccer career came to an apogee when he led the Green Eagles to the first-ever victory in the Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Nigeria in 1980. Chukwu missed the opportunity to crown his career with a World Cup appearance when the Green Eagles fell to their Tunisian counterparts in one of the crucial African qualifiers for Argentina ‘78 through an own goal scored by his co-central defender, Godwin Odiye… a howler that retired him from the national squad and consigned his illustrious career to the dustbin of infamy.
For those who followed his career in the 70s, Chukwu was in the same class as some global central defenders that were a delight to watch. He was to his club and country what Bobby Moore was to West Ham/Fulham and England; Franz ‘Kaiser’ Beckenbauer to FC Bayern Munich and Germany; Michel Platini to AS Nancy/Saint Etienne and France and, back home, Ismaila Mabo to Mighty Jets and Green Eagles. All the players listed here were admirably calm and composed on the ball. They played with vision and so it was never easy for attackers to sweep past them. They themselves were natural sweepers. I have never stopped comparing Beckenbauer with Mabo. If Beckenbauer was nicknamed Kaiser or the Emperor, Mabo too had Field Marshal as his epithet or ‘Idi Mashal’ by his illiterate admirers. ‘Idi Mashal’ is a homophone for Field Marshal.
Upon retiring from active football, Chukwu decided to embrace coaching as the next level of his career. In 1986, he attended the Brazilian Coaching Academy and immediately followed up a FIFA/Coca Cola Coaching Course in 1987. Two years later, he went to Germany to obtain a Higher Diploma in West Germany. In 1992, he attended a CAF Higher Diploma Coaching Course and another Higher Level CAF/NFA Coaching Course in 2002. Twelve years later, he was on attachment with the Bolton Football Club of England.
His coaching career began in 1982 when he was appointed as the head coach of the club that brought him fame, the Enugu Rangers International. He was at the helm for two years. In 1984, he was pulled to the national scene to work with the U-17 National Team that won the maiden FIFA/KODAK World Cup Championship in South Korea.
He was recalled to the Rangers International Football Club and served between 1986 and 1988. When Clement Westerhof was contracted to handle the Super Eagles in 1991, Chukwu was made his assistant and together, they led Nigeria to its maiden World Cup Finals appearance at the USA ’94.
After the World Cup assignment, he was hired to coach a Division One club, Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC of Owerri between 1995 and 1996.
In 1997, his exploits attracted a club outside the shores of Nigeria. He served as the chief coach of a Lebanon-based Division 1 Club, Safa FC for two years.
Between 1998 and 2000, he was engaged by the Kenyan Football Federation to handle the senior national team, the Harambee Stars during which he led the team to the 1998 SECAFA Cup Final. After the tour in Kenya in 2000, he returned to the Rangers International FC and served for two years.
Having garnered more experience within and outside the country, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) engaged him to handle the Super Eagles between 2002 and 2006. His tenure was a bag of mixed fortunes of successes and failures.
In 2003, he led the Super Eagles to clinch the Unity Cup in London and also a bronze medal in the CAP Cup Tournament in Tunisia in 2004. His performance at the 2006 Nations Cup Finals staged in Egypt was a disaster. His loss at the group stage signaled the end of his romance at the national level.
His accomplishments have earned him a number of honours. Among them are Member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR) for his achievements in football; Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) for the 1980 Nations Cup feat; Sportsman Award by Enugu Rotary Club and State Sportsman Award by Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN).
Chukwu’s passing has further depleted the squad that brought glory and fame to the country by winning the first AFCON for Nigeria in 1980, four years after a bronze medal triumph in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His comrade in the 1980 squad, Charles Bassey, also exited the scene last Saturday, aged 71, after a protracted illness like his Chairman. He was three years his junior. The first AFCON trophy was won about 45 years ago, meaning that most of the players who are still alive must be hovering around 70. How time flies! Those who have gone before the Chairman did not make it to the 6th floor, except Moses Effiong, 66.
Midfield maestro Mudashiru Lawal was the first to bow out. He did not make it to 40; he died at 36. Tunde Bamidele died at 44; Eyo Martins at 46; Aloy Blockbuster Atuegbu at 55; Best Ogedegbe at 55 and Okey Isima at 57. Recall that Eyo Martins was murdered. He escaped the protracted illness that has been a lot of the set 80. The surviving members include Segun ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami, Justice Adokiye Amiesimaka, Felix ‘Owoblow’ Owolabi, Emmanuel ‘Man Mountain’ Okala, David Adiele, Arthur Ebunam, Johnny Orlando, Henry Nwosu, Frank Onwuachi, Henry Onyedika and Shefiu Mohammed.
Many Nigerians have called for the immortalisation of Christian Chukwu. He should not be given the Sam Okwaraji treatment. The patriot par excellence gave up the ghost while starring for Nigeria against Angola during the Italia ’90 World Cup Finals qualifier duel on August 12, 1989 at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. All that the federal government could to immortalise him was the erection of a miserable-looking bust that welcomes you to the stadium, now in desuetude, where lost his life. The federal government can do better for Chairman Chukwu. For instance, Muda Lawal is remembered today in his hometown with the Ashero Stadium renamed Muda Lawal Stadium.
As we grieve at this end, may his Maker grant his gentle soul eternal and his family as well as millions of Nigerian soccer buffs the fortitude to bear the painful loss.
Rest on, our Chairman. When you arrive at the other end, the god of soccer should assign to you a role befitting your status.