Players of Unicem Rovers of Calabar are living and working in the most inhuman condition imaginable for professional footballers.

Our investigations revealed that the Club has been abandoned by sponsors of the team Unicem as well as the Cross Rivers State Government.

Players who are registered for the current campaign of the Nigeria National League, NNL, go about the streets of Calabar begging fans and well wishers food to eat while others rely on friends and family members to send them resources to help keep body and soul together.

It is on record that the Professor Ben Ayade administration in the government of Cross Rivers has seen civil servants always smiling to the bank due to the administration’s prompt payment of salaries but such prompt response to solving the salary issues doesn’t extend to the only professional football club in the State and it beats the imagination of right thinking Nigerians because this is one of the states with abundance of talents in the Country.

Allnigeriasoccer.com contacted some key players in the team who wish to remain anonymous and the tales were pathetic.

Players have not been paid salaries for more than two years now and the management led by Moris Enoch have stopped the feeding of the Players.

The former Technical Adviser of the team, the late ex Nigerian international, Ene John Okon was owed salaries running into 18 months and he was not paid a kobo until he died in March this year.

Another former Coach, the European trained Duncan Effiwat was also not paid for the entire duration he worked until he returned to the United Kingdom.

The players want Governor Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers State as well as the Nigeria Football Federation to come to their aid so that the backlog of salaries and bonuses they are owed can be cleared.

The players say they have dependents who are looking up to them.

All attempts at reaching the Chairman of the Club has failed but we hope to establish contact with him to get his reaction to this development.

Most clubs in the Nigeria national league are operating on shoestring budgets but the case of Unicerm Rovers is worse.

The Camp where players are kept is more or less a replica of World War Nazi concentration centres and the players don’t have a bus with which they travel for their away games.

They hire 18-seater buses for games which is not good enough.

Only recently the players were attacked by armed bandits on their way to honour one of the NNL games and virtually all of them in the traveling party lost their phones.

This is to say their welfare in other areas besides the salaries also need improvements.

Calabar Rovers used to be the pride of Cross River State indigenes all over the world but neglect from both the Donald Duke and Senator Liyel Imoke administrations as well mismanagement of funds by officials and shady MOU entered between government of the State and Unicem, the so called sponsors have left the playing staff at the receiving end.

Ferdinand Mbum

Photo Credit : thenff.com