Celebrating Ndi-Igbo

Daniel Amobi Amadi Anyiam (November 26, 1926 – July 6, 1977) was a Nigerian football player and coach who was the national football coach of the country from 1954-1956 and again from 1964-1965. Prior to training as a coach, he was a player and was the first captain of the national team in 1949. He was also the first coach of Enugu Rangers and was selector for the national team after the Biafran War. A stadium in Owerri is named after him. He went to C.M.S. Central School, Nkwerre, Orlu, Etinan Institute, and Government Teacher's College, Calabar. He worked in the press offices of the West African Pilot briefly and then joined the staff of U.A.C. in Lagos where he also played football. He was U.A.C.'s captain when they won the 1950 Governor's Cup.

Christian Chukwu was a stalwart and captain of Enugu Rangers football club and the Nigerian national team in the late seventies. He made history by being the first Nigerian captain to lift the African Nations cup after a 3-0 victory over Algeria in 1980. Chukwu on retirement started his coaching career in Lebanon in the mid 1990s, before being appointed coach of the Kenya national team in 1998. Later, from 2003 to 2005, he coached Nigeria, leading them to reach semifinals at the 2004 African Cup of Nations.