Daily Trust Saturday

‘My partnershi­p with Lokosa will wreck Rangers in Aiteo Cup final’

- David Ngobua What is your assessment of your opponents Enugu Rangers? Are Pillars under any form of pressure going into this important final? How confident are you that your partnershi­p with Junior Lokosa will work against Enugu Rangers? How will you des

Kano Pillars forward, Nyima Ngwagua has said his partnershi­p with Junior Lokosa in the attacking line of the ‘masu gida boys’ is potent enough to destroy Enugu Rangers in this year’s Aiteo Federation Cup final. The former Lobi Stars striker told Trust Sports that the match against Rangers will be tough but Pillars are motivated to win their first Federation Cup trophy.

How happy are you with Pillars’ qualificat­ion for this year’s Aiteo Cup final? First of all, I thank God for this opportunit­y. I am very very happy. Actually, this is my first Aiteo Cup final and the second for Kano Pillars as a football club. It is an exciting moment for all of us in Pillars.

We are expecting a very tough game. I am expecting hard tackles. I know with the motivation from the government and people of Kano State, we are ready to scale the last hurdle in this prestigiou­s competitio­n.

We are not putting ourselves under any form of pressure. If we think too much about the match, we would certainly come under unnecessar­y pressure. We shall go there and try to finish the good work we started. For me, it is another match that must be won. However, we are not under pressure to deliver the cup.

It is always encouragin­g the way people talk about my partnershi­p with Junior Lokosa who is my friend on and off the field of play. Having played together for some time now, we have built the necessary understand­ing that has resulted into goals for our club. Don’t forget Lokosa ended the league season with 19 goals to emerge the Highest Goals scorer. I am sure if the league had not ended abruptly, he would have scored more goals. Apart from the assists, I also scored 5 times in the league and three times in the Aiteo Cup. This means, we have the capacity to deliver against Rangers. However, we are not getting carried away because no final match is a stroll in the park.

We have a very cordial relationsh­ip. We joined Pillars at the same time and since then, he has been my roommate. And as I always say, when you are playing for one another, you end up doing the right thing at the right time. When you know the person playing next to you is not just a team mate but a friend and a brother, you play better. You work for each other and the whole team spirit is what has been working for us.

Every game is tough because every team wants to win but looking back, I will say our first match against a non profession­al side, Ngwa United of Abia State was the toughest. They took the lead twice and we had to fight back before we finally scored the winning goal. It was a very difficult match for us.

It was a very difficult match. As you are aware, any match between Kano Pillars and Enyimba is said to be the NPFL version of El Clasico. The match lived up to expectatio­ns. Although they were coming into the game on the back of a home loss in the Confederat­ion Cup, we knew they would give us a good fight so we prepared very well. It was sweet revenge for us considerin­g that Enyimba had held us to draw in Kano in the league.

This is my second season in the club and I have observed that Pillars have massive fans who are passionate about football. They are always there for us. It is always a thing of joy to play for an ambitious club. When you are playing for a club with ambition, you are motivated to put in your best. As players we also want to win, everybody is self motivated. Pillars don’t like staying long without trophy. The zeal for success is very high.

I believe whatever happens, God knows why. In as much as we don’t know tomorrow, we all felt disappoint­ed that the league was cut short like that. The remaining matches would have changed things. However, like I said we thank God for everything. Lobi Stars were lucky to be there. I believe if we were there, we would have been crowned champions as well. We have since moved on from that disappoint­ment.

For now I am playing for Pillars so that is the club I adore. I don’t want to be distracted. I am a profession­al so at the moment, my loyalty is hundred percent to Kano Pillars.

My role model is French and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry. I followed him keenly in his days in Arsenal. I drew a lot of inspiratio­n from him. In addition, I like Arsenal because they play beautiful football.

When I was in Lobi Stars, I used to dread my present team mate, Joel Djondang. I usually found it difficult playing against him. It is interestin­g that I am now in the same team with the central defender who made things difficult for me.

Yeah, by his Grace impossibil­ity is nothing. If I was asked some years back, I wouldn’t have said by now I will be playing for a big club like Kano Pillars. However, God has done it for me. The God I serve is taking me higher and higher and I believe that one day, I will play for the Super Eagles. I am waiting for my time. And as I wait, I keep wishing those who are there success. Once it is my time to play for Nigeria, God will open the door. It is actually a turn by turn thing. I always pray for home based players to be given more chances in the Super Eagles. There are a lot of talents in the league.

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Nyima Ngwagua

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