The
Nigeria Football Federation members are at a loss over how to handle
their practically hanging relationship with Super Eagles coach Stephen
Keshi.
A member of the Federation confessed to
our correspondent that a lot of discussion and persuasion have to be
done with higher authorities to get out of the logjam where they have
found themselves with Keshi’s return as the coach of Nigeria.
He said, “The biggest challenge is the
silence from ‘above’ on the matter; since we fell out of the Nations
Cup, it has been like death all around.
“The situation needs a lot of wisdom to
handle. I have never seen anything like this since I got to know about
football administration. I have never seen where two strange bedfellows
are forced together as we have in Nigeria now. If people are elected or
appointed into office, they should be given some free hand to take
certain decisions. The NFF board I believe is good enough to determine
who should coach the team at any given time just as it is in other
countries. Now the forced union has not helped anybody.
“It is like a minor thing now but
Nigerians will feel the impact of missing the 2015 African cup which the
competition starts. I am sure that’s when it will properly dawn on us
that we have been turned into spectators. We have no reason not to
qualify for this competition; the group was fair enough for us. We
couldn’t have had a fairer mix of teams.”
The official lamented that it is hoped
that someday somebody from the top will take a decision that will change
a lot of things and for the game at the national level to take a
recovery path. They are also hoping and praying, he said, that Keshi
will choose to move on and get another job.
“But that’s honourable. That is what
coaches do all over the world. Any coach sure of himself does not wait
to be pushed around but resigns. Is there any difference between now and
the road to the 2012 Nations Cup? We didn’t qualify and (Samson) Siasia
had to go. That is the normal way to run football.”
The NFF had asked Keshi go and then a
former coach of the team Shaibu Amodu was appointed on an interim basis
before Keshi was recalled on the orders of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The NFF president Amaju Pinnick had announced that they were already in
search of a foreign coach before Keshi was recalled.
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