A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has warned that Victor Osimhen and his Super Eagles teammates need motivation as they prepare to take on the Palancas Negras of Angola in the quarter-final of the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, on Friday evening.
In a lengthy post via his X account, Omokri also urged Jose Peseiro’s side not to be intimidated by Angola.
Nigeria head to the game after beating Cameroon 2-0 in their last game, while Angola won 3-0 against Namibia.
“The Super Eagles should not be intimidated by Angola. However, they should have a realistic assessment of our opponents at today’s #AFCON face-off. The Palancas Negras (Black Sable Antelopes) are not a weak team. Therefore, our boys need motivation,” Omokri tweeted.
“I said this before, and it went viral. Let me repeat myself. Corporate Nigeria ought to step in and incentivise our boys by pledging dollars (paid out in Naira equivalent) for goals against Angola. I don’t want to mention names, but we have enough dollar billionaires to ginger up Victor Osimhen and the boys.
“It seems that the Angolans read my post from last month because they are already doing what corporate Nigeria is not yet doing.
“For example, the Angolan Diamond Trading Company has pledged $250,000 to their team, while the Angolan Investment Bank has pledged $6000 to each player and official. This is predicated on their (God forbid!) defeat of a particular team today. Their government has also offered the team free land if they do well today, and an Angolan rapper has pledged to pay them $12,000 if they do the needful today. Angola has been trying to overthrow us as Africa’s top oil producing nation. Don’t let them topple us at #AFCON2023.”
