SAN FRANCISCO, May 28, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has redeemed its pledge to provide a house for Clemence Westerhof, the Technical Adviser that led the Super Eagles to victory in the 1994 African Nations Cup competition.
Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, who presented the house documents to Westerhof in Abuja, on Monday, confirmed that the promise was made 25 years ago.
According to him, many promises were made in moment of euphoria and elation, one of which was the allocation of a house which was never redeemed since 1994.
He said that Johannes Bonfrere, better known as Bonfere Jo, was also promised a house for leading the Super Eagles to the first Olympic football gold medal in 1996.
The minister said that the promise was forgotten, until it was redeemed by Muhammadu Buhari’s government in 2018, after 24 years.
“It was the public announcement of that redemption that brought to light, the commitment to redeem the promise made to Westerhof because immediately we became aware, we set out to work in the ministry.
“This is more than a house, it symbolises the commitment of the Buhari administration to right yesterday’s wrongs, redress yesterday’s injustices and bring Nigerians together,” he said.
Fashola urged the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to document the promises made by government to identify those that have been fulfilled and those yet to be fulfilled.
He said that the idea was to provide clear records for the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to act towards redeeming the promises.
Responding, Westerhof commended the federal government for redeeming the pledged, adding that with the house, he would be more regular in Nigeria with his family.
