Christian Chukwu Okoro (4 January 1951 – 12 April 2025) was a Nigerian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. A defender in his playing days, he

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ed the Nigeria national team to its first win in the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

Early life

Chukwu was born on 4 January 1951. He was discouraged by his parents while playing football at a young age. He was also given plantains to hawk just to stop him from playing football. It was when he started playing for National Grammar School, Nike and the Highlanders FC owned by the Ministry of Finance that his parents started taking him seriously. He became captain of his school and led them to so many victories. His favourite arena was the Ngwo Park. The park has the reputation of producing most of the great players who have played for

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, Vasco and the Green Eagles.

Education

Chukwu attended Christ Church Primary School, Uwani, Enugu. He attended National Secondary School, Nike, Enugu. He joined East Central State Academicals and won the National Cup.

Playing career

As a player, Chukwu captained the Nigerian national team, then known as the Green Eagles, between 1974 and 1980. He was in the Nigerian squads that won the Africa Nations' Cup in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

and finished runners-up in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. He was the first Nigerian captain to lift the

African Nations Cup The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

trophy after a 3–0 victory over

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in the final of the 1980 tournament. In October 1998 he was appointed coach of the Kenya national team. Later, from 2003 to 2005, he coached

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, leading them to reach the semifinals at the

2004 African Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations was held from 24 January to 14 February 2004 in Tunisia. It was the 24th edition of the biennial international men's football championship of Africa, organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Tun ...

. During the 2006 World Cup qualification phase, Chukwu was blamed for inept coaching and management of the Nigerian national football team, and two matches before the qualifying campaign was over, he was suspended. In two matches – home and away – against eventual group winners

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, Nigeria failed to win either one of those two encounters. This was blamed on Chukwu and those two crucial failures eventually led to Nigeria failing to qualify for the World Cup, after having appeared at all

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

finals tournaments since their debut in 1994. Chukwu coached the Enugu Rangers to sixth place in the 2008–2009 edition of the Nigeria Premier League. However, he was sacked on 5 August 2009 for failing to reach the club's targets for the season. Chukwu was made the Rangers' General Manager and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The announcement was made by Governor

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (; born 20 March 1964; popularly known as "Gburugburu") is a Nigerian politician who served as the List of governors of Enugu State, governor of Enugu State from 2015 to 2023. He was a member of the House of Represent ...

Personal life and death

Chukwu had a close bond and friendship with the teammates and other leaders like himself that made them win and even in old age he still bonded very well with them. Dan Anyiam made a lot of impact in his life as a football player. He spent his childhood between Robinson and Kenyatta streets. He is married and has four children, two boys and two girls. In April 2019, the Nigeria Football Federation announced that they would help Chukwu pay for his medical bills for treatment in the United States, while billionaire

Femi Otedola Olufemi Peter Otedola (born 4 November 1962) is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former chairman of Forte Oil PLC, and is the current executive chairman of Geregu Power PLC. Femi Otedola made his first fortune in commodit ...

said he would also contribute. It was later announced that he would travel for treatment in May after the required funds were raised; he was cured. Chukwu died on 12 April 2025, at the age of 74.

Controversies

Chukwu was called a destitute old man abandoned to his fate; however, Hon Ogbuagu Anikwe highlighted the facts about his illness, stating that he had a public service job that enabled him to meet his health needs. The Enugu State Government notes that the negative stories surrounding Chukwu's condition started from the desperation of his friend in the US, who claimed that Chukwu had been abandoned.

Honours

Nigeria *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chukwu, Christian 1951 births 2025 deaths Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Nigeria men's international footballers Africa Cup of Nations–winning players 1978 African Cup of Nations players 1980 African Cup of Nations players Footballers at the 1978 All-Africa Games African Games silver medalists for Nigeria African Games silver medalists in football Rangers International F.C. players Nigerian football managers 2004 African Cup of Nations managers Kenya national football team managers Nigeria national football team managers Rangers International F.C. managers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kenya Expatriate football managers in Kenya 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen