BY NDAHI MARAMA, MAIDUGURI
The Chief Coach of the El-Kanemi Warriors FC of Maiduguri, Zakari Baraje yesterday said the team is not preoccupied with winning the premier league this year.

Baraje, whose team is currently placed among the top three on the league table, said the focus was to build a solid team which will be able to challenge any opposition in the country and on the continental in the near future.

It would be recalled that the governor of the Borno state, Alhaji Kashim Shettima on Saturday after watching the team spanked visiting Warri Wolves 3-nil, tasked them to win the league.

The governor in order to motivate the team to perform at optimal apart from giving the players N100,000 winning bonus for the victory instaed of the official N30,000, instructed that their outstanding sign-on-fee should be paid within the week.

But speaking to journalists on Monday, Baraje said: “We are not focus on winning the league title this year…. Our plan is consolidate on the strength of the current team by working for the future.”

He added that: “We believe that if we continue this way we will be able to build a truly strong team for the future.”

Baraje, who was returning to the team after an in itial spell over a decade ago, however said that “winning the title will be a morale booster.”

“If we happen to win the league title by accident, then it will be a great morale booster  to us,” he said.

Baraje blamed the unimpressive outing of the club at the begining of the season which saw it losing out of the F.A (Challenge) Cup early, on toothing problems saying that the technical crew had been able to rectify the problem.

He said: “At a point some people were calling for my head, because they were so much in a haste to see result. But they failed to realise that it takes a long time to build a team for the future,” insisting that unlike in other countries, Nigerians lacked patience for planning in every endeavors.

He said: “It is only in Nigeria that people do not have time for planning. People always want to see result in anything they do without consideration for planning.”