Bendel Insurance FC: Gov. Obaseki and his social mantra for football development
Bendel Insurance Football Club, also known as the Benin Arsenal, is a football club based in Benin City, Nigeria. The club plays in the Nigeria Professional football league. They were originally known as the Vipers of Benin. They play their home matches at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, which has a capacity of 20,000.
Founded in 1972, Bendel Insurance FC has won the Nigeria Premier League twice - 1973, 1979; won the Nigerian FA Cup twice - 1972, 1978, 1980; won the CAF Cup once - 1994; and the West African Club Championship thrice - 1993, 1994, 1995.
In 2022, Bendel Insurance FC of Benin was crowned champions of the Nigeria National League following their 2-1 win over Doma United on match-day three of the Super 4 tournament. This brought the Benin Arsenal back to the Apex league- the Premier league. They needed at least a draw in the final match of the tournament to lift the title, after their closest challengers, El Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri, were beaten 2-0 by third-place Bayelsa United in their last match. But Insurance got the job done with all three points, thanks to goals from Austin Ogunye and Ebenezer Odeyemi in either half.
Ogunye opened score with a header before halftime, but Doma restored parity midway into the second half, before Odeyemi sealed the win with 15 minutes left on the clock.
Insurance finished the Super 4 with seven points from three matches to emerge winners, ahead of Bayelsa United and El-Kanemi with four points respectively, while Doma finished fourth with a point.
Presently Insurance is toping the abridged premier league as a result of their superlative performance without conceding a loss. They've succeeded in maintaining a gap from their closest rival - Ramo FC.
This feat however wouldn't have been possible without the encouragement the club had enjoyed so far from the present government of Edo State under the leadership of Gov. Godwin Obaseki.
Prior to the coming in of Obaseki, Bendel Insurance FC had been squalouring in the Nigeria National League (NNL). They were in the NNL for eleven years before they got promoted to the Premier League in 2018/2019 season. This was after the revamping of the club by governor Obaseki. But at the end of 2019, they were relegated back to the NNL.
The state government did not feel discouraged by the relegation, instead, a committee was set up to look into what transpired that brought about the relegation and what step to take to return the team back to the apex league. More motivational packages were introduced, and the salary of the team as usual, were paid as at when due, and a befitting camp was put in place for the players.
In 2022, the team topped their group and gained promotion back to the Premier League.
The team will always be grateful to the Deputy Governor of Edo State - Comrade Philip Shaibu, who has worked tirelessly in ensuring that the club gets its due at real time.
Apart from drawing government interest on Sports development in the State, he helped in facilitating prompt payment of salary to the club's officials and players, he ensures bonuses are being paid as at when due, players and officials now travel with flights, thereby averting fatigue associated with long distance traveling on road, and many more. All these were achieved as a result of the cooperation that existed between him and the state governor - Godwin Obaseki, who made the DG the deciding factor in Edo sports development.
To make the team feel more confident in the field of play, the deputy governor of the State- Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu enlisted as a player in the team, thus, becoming the first deputy governor to play professional football in Nigeria. His fatherly presence in the team, brought about 'we feeling' among the players.
The coming in of Gov. Obaseki and his Deputy Philip Shaibu was indeed a great blessing to sports, especially football in Edo State. It is a case of "when the righteous rule, the people rejoice."
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