Ex-Rangers Players Plan Memorial Project

Former players of Rangers International have set up a Central Working Committee (CWC) that will organise a memorial project for the club’s deceased players and founding fathers.

The project, with the theme: “To Uphold the Spirit of Football in Igboland“, is aimed at remembering the positive contributions of the departed players of the club.

Mr Stanley Okoronkwo, the Chairman of the Committee, disclosed this in an interview with theTidesports in Enugu yesterday.

According to him, the project is about recognising the founding fathers of the club and some deceased Rangers players, who had dedicated their lives playing for the club.

He said it was unfortunate that nothing had been done for the families of such people in recognition of their contributions to the club.

The committee chairman described the founding fathers and deceased players as the club’s “Unsung Heroes”.

“The project is all about remembering our dead compatriots and the ones that are living too because if you look into our problems, you’ll find those that are dead, their children are there, school fees is hard to pay, rent is hard to pay.

“Then some of us that are living that they are incapacitated can’t even help themselves. It’s been on for years and these guys are part of what re-instated the Igbos into Nigerian polity.

“For you to let them just go like is unfaithful. So what we are doing is to re-organise our people; talk to our people; carry our case down to the extreme that we can go – let the people know what we are going through.

“We are seeking their support and help; that’s what we are doing.”

Okoronkwo said the association would launch the memorial project by unveiling the logo in November.

As Chairman of (CWC), Okoronkwo is expected to be in charge of marketing and finance, while David Kalu will serve as the committee’s Secretary, and Chairman of the Communications and Administration Sub-committee.

Ernest Ufele, a member of the committee, will double as Chairman of the Sub-committee on Mobilisation, Contact and Security just as Dominic Nwobodo will serve as Chairman of the Protocol and Logistics Sub-committee.

Ufele described the project as a laudable one as it would enable them to use the opportunity to remember what the ex-Rangers players had done for the club in the past 41 years.

“We are making contact both at home and abroad and the response has been tremendous. We also thank Gov Peter Obi of Anambra for the support he has given to us.

“We are soliciting for support from other state governments, stakeholders and corporate bodies to actualise this project.”