Pre NUGA Day 3: Violence Steals the Show As UI Trample LAUTECH’S NUGA Dreams.
The third day of the Zone B preliminaries 9 of NUGA games 2022 would not be forgotten in a hurry as it served a lot of experience and even scars that may not heal completely anytime soon both on and off the field of play. The activities of the day started up with track and field events at the new Awo Stadium. Team UI showed the staff of quality as they reigned supreme in all of the sporting events that took place. The validated the claim of First and Best both in academics and non-academic engagements.
In the track events, Team UI sprinters came first and second position in 100m for male and female category, 1st position in 400m hurdles female category, 1st and 2nd place 400m hurdles male category, the first position in 800m race and first position in 4×100m race. Team UI also emerged 1st Position in the 3000m endurance race.
At noon, the main focus is the day took centre stage as the Football Team of UI, UI Warriors, faced off against their counterpart from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomosho. Before the match, both parties were tied on point but LAUTECH topped the football standings due to a higher goal difference, having trumped the weeping boys, First Technical University, 7:1 in their first match. A draw was good enough to secure LAUTECH’S qualification for NUGA games, but UI needed an outright win. Moments before the match, the atmosphere was already being charged up as supporters of both teams raised loud chants and songs to serenade the neutral fans and with comic displays and music bands. The epitome of UI’s strength, the Nnamdi Azikiwe model of supporters was employed and the LAUTECH fans soon began to experience cold feet.
The game started and the first half ended a goalless draw with UI having the most of possession and asking more of the questions, thanks to the LAUTECH goal keep who kept them in the game. The first half ended goalless. The second half started and in-between the match violence erupted from amongst the LAUTECH supporters which led to the match being truncated for a while.
According to an eyewitness, “UI introduced a ball boy into the match in the second half to help with picking the ball but the LAUTECH supporters revolted stating it was not used in the first half and why introduce a ball boy in the second half. It is believed that it was against their proposed antics to waste time to ensure their qualification as they only needed a draw to qualify. This soon led to them invading the football field and truncating the flow of the game. Soon the UI supporters also entered the field and everything soon became a mess” the eyewitness said.
Although normalcy was returned to the environment and after much intervention from several individuals the game soon continue and UI grabbed a goal that soon proved to be the match-winner in the second half through Ilori Micheal. The game soon ended and UI emerged victorious hence qualified for the football event at NUGA’22 which will hold in UNILAG later this year.
Several reactions trailed the eruption of violence on Twitter as UItes and students of LAUTECH threw bants at each other on Twitter. High-Chief Aweda(@Awedathefirst) tweeted” LAUTECH guys were outclassed by UI ballers in all competition. They resulted to physical combat and were still annihilated by UI Students. How do you come from Ogbomosho and hope to beat the first and best in things that have to do with intellect and use of brain? You can keep being first in strike action, sex tape and internet fraud, but no try fine UI dey do anyhow because you go see anyhow” BeeE(@hibrahymn) (believe to be a LAUTECH student) replied “Look at this mumu Sha, u dey home dey shout champion. Come (Ogbo)mosho now. On that intellectual part, I can’t count time we met in competition and come out on top. Look at this guy Sha. Another tweep UI’s first born(@omo_iya_ticha) tweeted, “So lorokan, we beat them both on the field and in the ring?”.
The day continued with other activities across other sports, with UI emerging winners in tennis and volleyball. The activities continue tomorrow and more wins and secured qualification places are expected for Team UI.
