There are a number of similarities between Nigerian football and blockbuster movies, chief among them being they barely allow you a moment to shift your gaze. Turn your back for a second and the action will have unfolded in your absence.
The latest episode of drama came late on Saturday night, when a majority of the population were glued to their TVs watching Chile and Argentina in the Copa América final. It was then that news broke that Stephen Keshi, the national team head coach, had been relieved of his duties with immediate effect. To the neutral observer, this would have appeared an unfathomable decision by the Nigeria Football Federation. After all, Keshi signed a two-year deal only in April. To football fans within the country, however, the news was greeted with little surprise and, to an extent, with relief. Relief that Keshi’s tumultuous relationship with the NFF had come to an end.
The NFF released a statement immediately after the conclusion of the meeting held by its disciplinary committee that lasted well into the night. It said its decision was made “having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF disciplinary committee and the NFF technical and development committee, as well as having reviewed the actions and inactions of Mr Stephen Keshi, in the performance of his duties as the Super Eagles’ head coach, which we found to lack the required commitment to achieve the federation’s objectives as set out in the coach’s employment contract.”
The NFF, in conclusion, added that the sacking was “without prejudice to the settlement of any existing and due financial obligations between the NFF and Mr Keshi”.
Shuaibu Amodu, the NFF technical director, was appointed the caretaker coach and Salisu Yusuf was named as his assistant.
The sacking marked the end of a messy marriage of convenience between the NFF and Keshi. The NFF took decisive action against Keshi after it was stated by Ivory Coast’s FA that the former Super Eagles captain was among the 59 candidates who applied to take over from Hervé Renard, the African Cup of Nations-winning manager who left for the French club Lille.
Keshi was summoned by the NFF to explain his action and his statement at the disciplinary hearing was that “neither he, his agent nor anybody acting on his behalf” applied for the Ivory Coast job.
It turned out the application was submitted by the football agent Hermann Brice De Souza on 11 June. De Souza, originally from Benin Republic, works out of France and Togo, where Keshi coached the national team in three spells between 2004 and 2011. On 20 June, the day after the application was made public, De Souza wrote to the Ivorian FA seeking to withdraw it. There is no proof De Souza acted on Keshi’s behalf but the application contained a detailed CV and cover letter which NFF sources claim establishes proof of contact between Keshi’s camp and De Souza.
Keshi was also queried for inviting the non-league player Okechukwu Gabriel for June’s Cup of Nations 2017 qualifier and handing him the No10 jersey, made famous by the silky feet of Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha. The NFF quoted the clause in Keshi’s contract which read: “The head coach shall select the best crop of players for the Super Eagles who are ready to excel in friendly and competitive games in consultation with the technical committee and the technical study group of the NFF.”
But to believe the NFF’s claims that Keshi was sacked solely for these two indictments would be ignorant. Even when the going was good, there was always the suspicion that the union would end up as a car crash. Hours after Nigeria defeated Burkina Faso to win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, news broke that Keshi had resigned. Keshi cited undue interference from the federation and its unwavering determination to hire a foreign handler for the national team. He was reinstated following the intervention of the then president, Goodluck Jonathan, further testament to the complex web of interaction between sports and politics in Africa.
The Confederations Cup in Brazil took place without much event as the team crashed out at the first hurdle despite a 6-1 walloping of minnows Tahiti. Few voices of dissent were raised following his questionable team selections and tactics. World Cup qualifiers came around and the team did just enough to qualify but it was at this point that performances dipped and a host of underwhelming players began to earn invitations to the Eagles’ fold.
Despite taking Nigeria to the round of 16 in Brazil, Keshi’s contract was allowed to lapse but again forces above the NFF ensured he was allowed to take charge of qualifiers for the 2015 Cup of Nations on a game-by-game rolling contract. Playing out in the background was the leadership crisis at the NFF which meant a lasting solution could not be found. With the unwanted distraction of the NFF’s politics, the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the Cup of Nations, becoming the first defending champions to suffer that fate.
At the time, Amaju Pinnick had emerged as the NFF chairman and, rather surprisingly, Keshi was offered a new deal worth about £16,000 a month. Keshi, however, was far from impressed. “From the clauses I have seen so far, I don’t know what words to use but the contract can be described as a ‘slave contract’,” he said, possibly in reference to clauses that made him answerable to several committees and a code of conduct regarding his media presence.
A conclusion was reached and he signed a two-year deal in April but the relationship was far from cordial. High-ranking officials claimed political intervention yet again was key to securing a new deal but a change in government weeks later meant Keshi’s position was no longer safe. Keshi was sacked days after Ita Ekpenyong, head of the state security service and widely believed to be his last major government backer, was relieved of his duties by the new president Muhammadu Buhari.
Keshi has always been a hugely divisive figure in Nigerian football and his sack has reopened fervent debate across the country. In one corner stands a group that believe he is a charlatan who got lucky at the 2013 Cup of Nations. His perceived high-handedness, in particular the exclusion of the local hero Sunday Mba from the World Cup squad, also gained him more enemies than friends. In the other corner, though, is a camp eternally grateful to Keshi for ending Nigeria’s trophy drought of 19 years while blooding some unknown players in the process. They point to his integration of home-based players with their foreign-based colleagues and staunchly believe he has been made scapegoat of a failing football system.
Pinnick’s dislike of Keshi has always been apparent and it was only a matter of time before the coach was dismissed. “From the beginning I told Keshi as a friend not to accept the NFF contract when it was offered him,” the former Gombe State FA chairman Shaibu Gara Gombe told AfricanFootball.com. “For God’s sake that contract was enough to tell you that you are not needed. Whether or not Keshi applied for the job, he dug his grave by himself.
“Keshi himself knows the NFF president Amaju Pinnick doesn’t like him, Keshi knows that Chris Green [the NFF head of the technical committee] is his No1 enemy in the NFF and he still went ahead to take the job. So I am sorry but he got what he bargained for. However, I don’t think the appearance of his name for the Cote d’Ivoire job is enough to get him sacked. The simple truth is that the NFF never wanted Keshi.”
As expected, the NFF is pursuing the appointment of a foreign manager and, according to the journalist Colin Udoh, “with the speed of progress, Nigeria may have a new coach by the weekend”. It is believed that more than 50 applications have been received for the vacant post. Elite managers with international experience who are available are in short supply and Nigeria may have to appoint someone without experience of managing in Africa, as Egypt did with Héctor Cúper. This would amount to significant risk, with the journalist Mike Ikeogwu saying: “The NFF should not hire a foreign coach but rather look inwards and pick another indigenous coach to continue from where Keshi stopped. We should give our coaches a platform to develop their potential.’’
This represents a fresh low for Nigerian football, which regularly seems to find new depths to plumb. Not for the first time, it finds itself at a crucial crossroads. The time to get things right is now.
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