In light of the debate on whether Keshi is the right choice or not for the Nigerian football following his reported rejection of the Salary offered by NFF; this article is made to remind Nigerians that Keshi is not who we paint him to be but the perfect choice for the Super Eagles
One moment we are reading that Stephen Keshi has committed to a new contract, the next second we are hearing he is deliberating on the salary structure and another time we hear he has signed the contract. News that Keshi rejected the offered contract by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), seeking for an upgrade may be unverified but it has brought about dialectic rambling among passionate football lovers in Nigeria. Complete Sports, a popular sports newspaper in Nigeria veritably reported that Keshi demanded for a 15 million Naira per month pay when the NFF told his representatives they could only afford 5 million Naira.The prevalent school of thought argues that Keshi is growing puffed up for refusing such pay leading some to tag him as being arrogant and egocentric. The less heralded school of thought disagrees and believes that Stephen Keshi deserves all that he asks.
Keshi’s lawyer denies the claim that Keshi rejected the 5 million Naira contract offered by NFF but insists that Keshi is not a 5 million Naira coach. Any independent thinker wouldn’t think twice before authenticating the news that he asked for an upgrade knowing his type of personality. Keshi as we all know is a no-nonsense, hardworking and diligent individual who takes time to handle affairs his own way not minding what anybody thinks. If you are looking for coaches in the world with akin similarities, look no further than Mourinho and Van Gaal who ooze confidence and won’t hesitate to make an enemy of anybody who go against their principles. They always seek the good of their teams and have egos the size of Mount Everest; always paranoid and feel the world is against them. One thing that ultimately links them together is their thirst for success and improvement.
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Keshi may not be on the level of attainment with the aforementioned coaches but judging by the Nigerian standard and looking at the way he met the team when he came onboard, we can call him a success. Rejecting the amount offered to him may be a little rude but I think he deserves more considering the rate of corruption which dwells in the glass house and the heights he has taken Nigeria to.
His refusal to the amount offered may have been due to the fact that he had seen foreign coaches who were hired being lavished with more money, support and resources utterly fail. Lars Lagerback and Berti Vogts are critical examples of foreign coaches who were given the red-carpet welcome at their unveiling but left the team worse than how they met it. Berti vogts who coached Nigeria between 2007 and 2008 was sacked by the Scottish National team and vowed never to come back to football management again but turned a new leaf after being presented with the NFF’s mouth-watering offer of an estimated sum of 6 million Naira per month as salary which made him among the top 12 highest paid coaches in the world then. He led the Super Eagles to their most miserable Nations’ Cup in 2008 and resigned thereafter carting away with over a million Dollars as compensation.
Swedish Lars Lagerback promised to take Nigeria to the Semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup at his unveiling but ended up winning just a single match, losing the rest and finishing bottom of the group. His appointment was marred by corruption after other candidates who came to be interviewed testified that bribe was asked of them by the Nigerian officials. His salary per month was approximately 30 million Naira. After his 5 months contract expired, he left despite the NFFs’ desire to still keep him.
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Here we have a Nigerian who understands our demands and knows what it means to adorn the Jersey of Nigeria and we scream in horror at his supposedly high demand. Lest we forget, Keshi is the first indigenous coach to win Nigeria the AFCON title while he also managed to take Nigeria to the Last 16 in Brazil 2014 World Cup making him become the first African coach to lead an African team to the knockout phase of the World Cup. Let’s not also forget that he coached lowly ranked Togo and took them to Germany 2006 World Cup for the first time.
Those Nigerians who see Keshi as being greedy or prehensile may have been among those happy when Lagerback and Vogts was hired and didn’t bother to ask the amount of their salaries or maybe knew but didn’t care since there were whites. But here is Keshi, who has succeeded as a coach and has brighter years ahead. What else do we want of him? To win the World Cup? Definitely not now. He is building a team for the future and gradually Nigeria is turning out to be the force it once was in the 90s. He meticulously scouts the Local leagues for talents. Sunday Mba, who scored Nigeria’s winning goal at AFCON 2013 is a product of Keshi’s scouting. Others like Kunle Odunlami and Azubuike Egwuekwe who may not have not been known hitherto Keshi’s arrival, boast caps in double digits. While his methods may not be accepted by many, it’s yielding results. He is not the finished article yet but with time we will come to realize that whatever amount he asks for is worth every penny
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