By John Egbokhan

They are brothers by all sense of the word but all that brotherhood will be thrown to the gutters tomorrow when Abia’s only two teams in the Glo Premier League, Enyimba and Abia Warriors go up in arms in a week 16 fixture at the Enyimba International Stadium in Aba.

Enyimba in action

Armed with 29 points, Enyimba are closing in on the top spot currently occupied by Sunshine Stars, as the two-time CAF Champions League champions are only a place below the Akure-based side because of the superior goals advantage that the leaders have.

But playing in front of their vociferous and intimidating Aba fans, Enyimba will feel confident of getting one over the shoulder of their state rivals and possibly upstage Sunshine Stars from the summit of the table, depending on what happens in the day’s other matches.

But the Aba landlords should not be under any illusion that their rivals will easily surrender to them, as they want to warm their way into the hearts of owner and NFF executive committee member, Emeka Inyama, who is demanding results from the team.

Inyama, a former journalist was in the news before the league went on break for the general elections when he threatened to  slash by half the salaries of the technical crew. Many observers had condemned the move, describing it as unlawful and unfair.

They had contended that since the coaches were on contract that the worst that Inyama can do if he is not satisfied with their performance was to suspend or sack them. But Inyama defended his threat, claiming that the crew needed to raise their game and produce results.

Touting himself as a result-driven person, Inyama said that given the financial support that he gives  the team that what was expected on the pitch of play from the players was victories. From the look of things, it seems that his statement has worked in some way as Abia Warriors have jumped into the top 10 bracket of the 20-team league, a feat which Inyama will to an extent be happy with.

But his happiness will no know bounds if his team defeat Enyimba tomorrow, as he seeks to get one over fellow NFF exco member, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, who has enjoyed more success than his fellow Abia native.

Anyanwi-Agwu has the unrivalled record of being the only Nigerian to have managed a Nigerian club to two CAF Champions League titles. He has been around for over a decade running the show in Aba and enjoyed tremendous success when former Governor Orji Kalu was in charge of Abia State. Some adduce Enyimba’’s string of successes then to the financial largesse that Anyansi-Agwu got from Kalu, who to some extent used football to project Abia State to the world.

For many followers of the game, Anyansi-Agwu is the father of modern club football in the country and any pretences by Inyama that he can match  his outstanding record will fall on quicksand even though Inyama will want to prove that he has what it takes to rise to the pinnacle of  football administration if his Warriors can survive the Elephants’ trample in Aba.