A former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, relives the victory of the Super Eagles in Atlanta Olympics of 1996 and how he made former Head of State, Sani Abacha, wait in the rain.

"I remember very well the 1996 event when we played in Atlanta Olympics. Nigeria was a pariah nation. The day we reached the climax was the day Nigeria met Brazil.

"We had a very strong team, those who were determined to do their best to make Nigeria proud.

"Then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who was not in the habit of answering telephone calls, called almost all of us, including my wife.

"He did not stop there. He had to wait for us alongside some state governors for two days under the rain at the City Gate, Abuja when we returned to Nigeria and that was what that victory did to Nigeria."

•Excerpted from a Sunday Vanguard report.