The people and government of Anambra State have celebrated the legendary goalkeeper, Emmanuel Okala, as he marked his seventieth birthday anniversary.
Governor Obiano had earlier called the legendary former national goalkeeper to wish him a most rewarding birthday celebration.
Okala manned the goalpost for Enugu Rangers International Football Club in the years after the Nigeria-Biafra war, and helped to lift the spirit of the Eastern Nigerian people.
A statement signed by Mr. C. Don Adinuba, the State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, said Mr. Okala was the goalkeeper for the Green Eagles of Nigeria, when the team won her first continental trophy as the gold medalists at the 2nd All-Africa Games staged in Lagos in 1973, and was the first ever winner of the African Footballer of the Year Award in 1978, as adjudged by the African Sports Journalists Union.
The statement also recalled that Mr. Okala also won five National League titles, four Challenge cups and the 1977 African Cup Winners cup in 1977 with Rangers.
Born in Ogbe-Otu, Onitsha, in Anambra State on May 17, 1951, the legendary goalkeeper started playing as a left-winger before playing in goal where he conquered the world, and retired from the national team, Green Eagles, in 1980, after winning the gold medal in the African Nations Cup played in Lagos Nigeria.
Mr. Adinuba, who noted that Mr. Okala has always identified with his beloved Anambra State, where he serves as a Senior Special Assistant on Sports to the Governor, said the celebrant enjoys the regular stipends paid to ex-Rangers players by Governor Obiano, and was ever present when Anambra State hosted the Nigeria Police Games in 2020.
