By Emma Njoku, Deputy Sports Editor
IN Nigeria’s football, Chief Felix Anyansi Agwu stands tall following his achievements over the years, He holds the enviable record of Africa’s longest serving and most successful football club administrator.
When he took over as chairman of Enyimba International Football Club of Aba in 2000, the club was struggling to retain its slot in the Nigerian Premier League. Through a dint of hard work and administrative acumen, he turned the team into what people term as the “Chelsea of Africa.”
Within a space of two years, Agwu turned Enyimba into a glamourous side with cult fan followership that cuts across the country and beyond. Since then, the football club has not only dominated the Nigerian domestic football scene, it has also become a major force on the African continent.
It is instructive that barely a year after he began to superintend over the affairs of the club, Enyimba won the Nigeria Premier League for the first time in 2001 and went ahead to retain the trophy in 2002 and 2003. The highpoint of Enyimba’s exploits came in 2003 when the club broke the jinx to become the first Nigerian club to win the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Champions League trophy. Prior to that feat, for over 39 years, several other Nigerian clubs had tried unsuccessfully in their respective campaigns to win the trophy. Enyimba, under Agwu’s chairmanship, successfully defended the trophy in style the following year, 2004. Also, Enyimba lifted the CAF Super Cup in 2004 and 2005. Under Agwu’s watch, Enyimba has won the Nigerian League title eight times and lifted the Federation Cup four times.
For his astute managerial acumen and sterling record of achievements, Agwu, who is a ranking member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee, has been decorated with various awards, prominent among which are two times Africa Football Manager of the Year (2003 & 2004) at CAF Awards and two times Manager of the Year at Nigeria Pitch Awards.
Last year, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, on behalf of the government of Abia State, presented him with the state’s second highest honour during the 27th anniversary of the creation of Abia State, for steering Enyimba through its golden era. A proven achiever and excellent leader of men, Anyansi Agwu, who holds a degree in Business Management from the Abia State University, Uturu, also won the AIT/MTN Nigeria Club Administrator of the