The unexpected resignation of Sunday Oliseh as coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles, no doubt speaks directly to the protracted crises, intrigues, in-fighting, greed and lust for power in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). It is a shameful development which puts the Eagles’ chances of qualification for AFCON 2017 on the balance. After replacing Stephen Keshi last year, relationship between Oliseh and the NFF, especially the Technical Committee headed by Chris Green fermented. It was therefore a disaster waiting to happen. Oliseh’s appointment was expected to end the endless disputes and wrangling and cult-like occupation of the football house by powerful cliques and neophytes. However, the NFF should see Oliseh’s resignation as a challenge to ensure qualification for AFCON 2017. Nigerians have had enough of the mudslinging in the Glass House and the people deserve nothing less.
Claiming he was owed salary arears and had not received accommodation in Abuja as promised by the NFF, among other violations of his contract, Oliseh, Nigeria’s 45th coach in tow threw in the towel ahead of crucial AFCON qualifiers against the Pharaohs of Egypt. Nigeria will host the seven-time African champions and group leaders on March 25 in Kaduna before a return fixture days later, with only the group winners guaranteed automatic qualification to the 2017 tournament in Gabon. Oliseh, a member of the FIFA technical study group, was considered by the NFF to be vastly travelled and trained for the job. He was handed a three-year contract with the mandate of qualifying Nigeria for AFCON 2017 and also the group stage of 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Unveiling Oliseh in July 2015, NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, tagged the coach the “Pep Guardiola of Africa.” He said: “Today is another historic day in the history of Nigeria football. Today we have been able to present the Pep Guardiola of Africa. We know that Sunday Oliseh can deliver. We are very excited, about his advancement. On the field we have not been able to have a replacement for him… I can assure you that we are going to have one of the best coaches Nigeria ever had. On behalf of the NFF we will give him 100% support. We will follow all the clauses of this contract.” Pinnick, his first vice President Seyi Akinwunmi and NFF secretary general, Mohammed Sanusi were in Zurich for FIFA’s election when Oliseh resigned last February 25, writing another chapter in the NFF’s age-long chaotic relationship with coaches.
Although undeclared publicly, the NFF Technical Committee alleges Pinnick unilaterally handpicked Oliseh and imposed him on the team without due process. That was the genesis of the whole problem. Oliseh rolled with the crisis until his resignation which he facilitated by his ultimatum to the NFF to address his long list of grievances by February 25. The coach’s position became untenable and when he was ignored by the NFF, he resigned in anger and frustration.
Some critical areas are germane to the NFF-coaches unsavory relationship. A national team coach ordinarily should command respect in any country. But does the NFF fully appreciate or recognize the value of Nigerian coaches? Has NFF been signing quality coaches who can measure up to the best on the continental or global stage? Why should coaches endure interference from some incurably nosy and corrupt NFF officials? Is there a cartel in the Glass House, irrespective of the administration as critics allege? Oliseh came in on a deficit note going by the sharp division among local tacticians on his coaching pedigree and suitability for the big position. However, the expressed faith of Nigerians for him was on account of his successful years of service to the nation on the pitch.
From his playing days, Oliseh’s career has been shrouded in misadventures. Throughout Nigeria’s golden era of the 1990s, Oliseh was a key component of the Eagles’ midfield. At France ’98 World Cup, at the peak of his career, he scored a cracker of a shot from outside the box against Spain that reverberated around the football world. He captained the Eagles to the final of AFCON 2000, which Nigeria lost to Cameroon in Lagos. Oliseh left the national team two years later, following spats with the administrators at Mali 2002 Nations Cup. Till date, he still enjoys the “bad boy” image for voicing out his anger against NFF and government officials during Mali 2002 Nations Cup.
As coach, Oliseh won the heart of many Nigerian soccer fans. Under him, the Eagles played 14 matches, losing two. Oliseh went on a ten-game unbeaten run before leading the Home-based Eagles to defeat against Guinea at the CHAN competition in Rwanda. In all, the Eagles lost only one official game and one friendly match, scored 19 goals and conceded six. The Eagles still stand a good chance of qualifying for AFCON 2017 ahead of the Pharaohs, who top the group with six points as against Nigeria’s four.
To bring the Eagles to the super class to which they formerly belonged in world football is possible, only if the NFF, with less distraction, apply themselves with more professionalism in developing football in line with international best practices rather than working always towards disgrace for the country. There must be total separation of politics from football, both in selecting the coach and in inviting players. The intrigues coupled with an unsettled socio-economic atmosphere, effectively combined to deny citizens the potential of football as a national unifying factor.
In another sense, the present state of Nigerian football is merely a reflection of the pitiable national life to which every citizen is being continually exposed. Poverty of leadership is evident everywhere, the NFF inclusive. The Eagles are anything but super. They lacked commitment and direction and so, adorning the national colors to defend its honor is no longer a challenge to contemporary sportsmen who only are attracted by financial rewards after any successful outing, that are now few and far between. The winning spirit is all but dead, while everything else is seen in terms of money and power grab.
Football has a special significance as a tool for nation-building. Nigeria truly needs football in particular, to achieve greatness. But the anticipated turn-around cannot occur without attitudinal change. Cultivating Nigeria’s image and honor should be the foremost concern of NFF officials who should work assiduously towards developing football for the country, experimenting from the grassroots and seeking the benefit of competent coaches. But the crises and chaos that is Nigeria’s football administration in the past decades makes such optimistic expectation untenable, even deceptive.
Oliseh has now joined the long list of coaches who ended terms with NFF on strained notes, and he is not likely to forget in a hurry his war of attrition with the NFF even after withdrawing his lawsuit against his erstwhile employers. Sunday Oliseh has served his country and deserves respect. With his resignation, the NFF now has a great opportunity to cut a new image for itself and give the game of football a new direction to return the country to the pinnacle of soccer on the continent and make it a force to be reckoned with worldwide.
