The Management of Enugu Rangers International Football Club on Tuesday signed jersey sponsorship agreement with Afrinvest, an arrangement that started six years ago when Davison Owumi was the Rangers’ team manager.
The contract, which would span for a season 2023-2024 after which it would be renewed, was aimed at attracting more businesses and financial assistance to seven-time league leader
Speaking after the agreement was officially signed by the organisations, the governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah said the event did not only represent football activities but his zeal to develop every strata of the state’s economy.
The governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Chidiebere Onyia, praised the management team of the new Rangers Club for being persistent and hard-working which attracted investors like Afrivest partnering with Rangers International Club.
Read also: NPFL: Enugu Rangers end 32-year league title drought
He remarked that the partnership would make people run back to Rangers and called on the players and other youths to make a valuable impact and build the team into an enviable club in Africa.
He praised the likes of Chairman, Christian Chukwu and Emmanuel Okala who were present at the event for their contributions towards Rangers’ achievements and the national team.
Earlier before the agreement was signed, the Group Managing Director of Afrinvest West Africa, Ike Chioke said that the partnership was not just for Afrinvest and the branding partnership for Rangers, but about the players, about the opportunity to uplift a group of talented football talents who can in turn become the beckon of hope and restoration for many other young talents.
He commended the administration of Mbah and the people of Enugu State, saying: “As a boy born in Enugu and as someone who has supported the state for many years, I am particularly delighted.
Read also: Enugu Govt financially prepared for Rangers CAF league – Commissioner
“The reason is, if you think about our country today and all the challenges we face, insecurity, poverty, high cost of electricity, petrol and people trying to leave the country in search of greener pastures, what we are trying to do is really to say since not everyone can be a politician, not everyone can be a musician and then not everyone can go to Nollywood not even everyone wishes to leave the country and Japa as they say, we need to begin to help ourselves.
“If we can help a group of different Nigerians who happen to play for Rangers to excel and become professionals and hopefully rise to international standards, they too will in turn help other young people and show them that there is value and pride in doing things professionally. We are wholeheartedly committed to Rangers
“Rangers is an embodiment of excellence and we need to continue to foster that. So, a victory for Rangers is a victory for all of us, victory for our human capacity to succeed.”
Read also: Enugu Rangers, Rivers Utd battle for NPFL N40m prize money
Meanwhile, the Enugu State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Lloyd Ekweremadu who signed on behalf of the Enugu State government, described the signing of the agreement as a renaissance of Rangers Football Club.
“You have a new management and also a new set of players. So, what we have now is a new Rangers which the people of Enugu can call their own and be proud of.
“So, from what His Excellency, the governor has in mind, Rangers would now be run like any other football club in the top-flight leagues in the world. Just the way Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-German were being run and organised.
“It is expected that at the end of this season, Rangers International will be hoping to be one of the championship contenders and compete for a CAF continental ticket.”
