ALTHOUGH the Super Eagles commenced the Gabon African Nations Cup (AFCON) 2017 qualifying campaign with an impressive defeat of Chad, events around the team have pushed the National Sports Commission (NSC) to urge the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to rally behind the team’s coach, Stephen Keshi, to ensure the country picks the group D qualification ticket. The NSC also warned the NFF that Nigerians would not tolerate another AFCON miss.
NSC Director General, Alhassan Yakmut, urged the NFF to work in harmony with the Super Eagles’ coach rather than distracting him with sack threats.
Yakmut, who noted that the federation was enjoying a cordial relationship with the commission, promised that the NSC would continue to support the Federation’s efforts to ensure that Nigeria returned to the continental championship after it failed to defend the 2013 AFCON at the 2015 edition in Equatorial Guinea.
“What is certain is that if Keshi failed, he has a thousand and one excuses to give to exonerate himself from the failure. There are virtually no single day that Keshi is not in the media. The question begging for answer is, was it Keshi that employed NFF or the NFF that employed Keshi?
“If the terms of contract are very clear, there must be content of operations, content of withdrawal, dispute resolution and termination of contract. The federation does not need to tell anybody that Keshi attempted to apply for employment somewhere that necessitated the threat to call him to book.
“What did your contract say about exiting? Honestly, all these distractions are very unnecessary because if you recruit a coach, let him be and any day you found him wanted, he should go.”
Yaknmut said it was not mandatory that the NSC must see Keshi’s contract, adding, however, that “it is mandatory that the coach that should be selected by the NFF for Nigeria must be a competent coach. We believe the federation hired Keshi because he is competent, so they should stop disturbing him.
“The federation should not make Keshi feel as if his appointment is political.
“I don’t think Nigerians will accept another non-qualification for the Cup of Nations. I doubt it much. By now, NFF must have done their permutations, correct their mistakes and ensure that it becomes our birthright to be in the next Africa Nations Cup.”
