After 1,342 days as the head coach of the Super Eagles, the journey came to an end on the night of Saturday, July 4, 2015 for Stephen Keshi. It was the second time he got fired by Nigeria after jointly suffering a similar fate with his then boss, Shaibu Amodu, in February 2002.
Keshi may have gotten used to losing jobs, as this marks the fourth time he was given the boot. He was fired by Togo in 2006 and Mali in January 2010. The earlier three sacks in 2002, 2006 and 2010 were largely for not meeting targets at African Nations Cup, though other reasons could be adduced for his joint sack with Amodu shortly after the Mali 2002 Africa Nations Cup.
The July 4 marching order may not have come as a shock to observers of happenings in Nigerian football generally and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in particular. For a long time, the romance of Keshi and the NFF had been stormy.
External factors also played key role that delayed penultimate Saturday’s final parting of ways.
Since the era of Aminu Maigari, even before the qualification for the Brazil 2014 World Cup, there had been strain in the relationship of the coach and his employers.
Keshi initially dropped hints of quitting the job the day after his finest hour – when he won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as a coach, thus becoming the second man, after Egypt’s Mahmud El-Gohary, to have won the Nations Cup as both a player and a coach.
Purists may debunk the claim, however. While El-Gohary was a prime actor in the 1959 edition of the Nations Cup which he won with the then United Arab Republic (a short-lived political union of Egypt and Syria) and was the top scorer, Keshi played a cameo role in Nigeria’s win of 1994. He was substituted by Nduka Ugbade in the first match with Gabon and the semi-final match with Cote d’Ivoire. ‘The Big Boss’ was more of a non-playing captain when he lifted the Cup in 1994.
The federal government literally forced Keshi back to the job after his initial resignation in February 2013, a deft move believed to be a black¬mailing stunt on the NFF. He was riding on the crest wave of the unexpected victory of the Super Eagles. Ever since, his employers, though not comfortable with him, had to contend with the possible backlash from government, should he be sacked.
The coach was believed to be the unseen hand in the players’ mutiny that preceded the FIFA Confederation Cup of 2013 and the Round of 16 matches with France at the last World Cup. The loss of the Adidas kitting contract was partly hinged on the fact that players and the coach did not respect some aspects of the contract by deliberately putting on apparels of rival kit manufacturers while on national team outings.
One photograph that was used to illustrate this was Keshi wearing Nike labelled baseball cap atop Adidas track suits during the training session before the January 9, 2013 friendly duel with Cape Verde in Faro, Portugal.
Even with a change of guard at the NFF following the September 30 elections in Warri, Keshi looked untouchable by the NFF even after strings of bad results.
When the board decided to lash on the imminent danger of losing out at the 2015 AFCON and the fact that Keshi’s contract had lapsed, he was forced back on the job by the immediate past Goodluck Jonathan administration.
He was alleged to have declared his unwillingness to submit to the authority of the newly-appointed technical director of the NFF and will only take instructions from the NFF president, as others, including the general secretary, were subordinate to the coach.
He would also want to be solely responsible for players’ call up, even as many believed that wrong selection was largely responsible for Nigeria’s poor performance at the last World Cup.
Inside sources alleged that a high ranking security operative was his backbone. When recently there were changes in the headship of the security apparatus, observers knew it was the beginning of the end of an era for Keshi.
When the news broke that he applied for coaching job in Cote d’Ivoire, the reason for his exit seemed to have been found. Both the NFF board and the coach seemed not to enjoy good relationship, and one must give way for the other, if the national team must regain its esteem.
It must be noted that Keshi has left his footprint on the sands of Nigerian football. Apart from leading the Super Eagles to Nigeria’s third victory at the Nations Cup, he had the longest unbeaten streak in Nigerian football when he led the Super Eagles to a 19-match unbeaten run from June 3, 2012 lone goal defeat of Namibia in Calabar till it fell 1-2 to the Diego Forlan-inspired Uruguay in the June 20, 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup tie in Salvador, Brazil.
Also, as a coach, he had many games, if his handling of the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) squad is counted. That gives him 52 matches, just one behind that of Amodu who has 53 in his four spells as Nigeria’s manager. In 45 (less CHAN) of Keshi’s outings, he won 20 matches, drew 17 and lost eight.
On the negative side, Nigeria had just one win in 12 consecutive matches since picking World Cup ticket at the expense of Ethiopia in November 2013. The height of it was the 2-3 loss to Congo in Calabar. It was the first time in 33 years that Nigeria lost a competitive game at home. The last time that happened was on October 10, 1981 when Algeria beat Nigeria 2-0 in the last stage of Spain ’82 World Cup qualifier. Dates may also be significant in Keshi’s career.
It was in July that he made his debut as a player for Nigeria in 1981 when Nigeria beat the then Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) 1-0 in a friendly match. It was on July 5, 1994 that his career as a player ended following Nigeria’s defeat by Italy at the World Cup.
Just a day to the 21st anniversary of hanging his boot, his career as the coach of the team ended. When he initially gave indication that he had resigned as Nigeria’s coach after the 0-2 loss to France last year, it was the 20th anniversary of his last match as a player for Nigeria.
Keshi last played for Nigeria in the 2-0 defeat of Greece on June 30, 1994 at the World Cup in the United States.
While the 53-year-old, who was re-appointed as the country’s senior national team coach in April 2015, was shown the way out, his assistant, Salisu Yusuf, and the Technical Directorate of the NFF led by Amodu Shuaibu were asked to take over till a substantive handler is announced.