THE NFF-OLISEH AFFAIR GETS MESSIER

THE NFF-OLISEH AFFAIR GETS MESSIER.

As a Nation we love our parties, we love having our 'chilled' drinks while we expound on the state of the nation in every which way it hits us, and then -- no doubt we love our women too, and then also we love our football. No, we are passionate, fanatical about our football. Curiously also, we love ignoring antecedents, history, precedents although their stories provide the meaty flesh we love to ruminate on all year through.

About 7 months ago the NFF(Nigeria Football Federation)  President , Amaju Pinnick, cited insurbodination and lack of committment as the reasons for sacking coach Stephen Keshi, while in the same breath, boldly told Football loving Nigerians that he trusted that Coach Sunday Oliseh ' had the temperament to work harmoniously with the Technical and development committee...'

While many had applauded this move, The Online Editorial  [ click to read the full story ] had raised a red flag citing Olishe's many instances of questionable temperamental disposition. That post had ended with the question : "Is Sunday Oliseh's appointment really a master stroke, or just a loaded gun looking for a burst-up?"

Seven months on the answer is clear to all : NFF and Sunday Oliseh have parted ways in a not so tidy manner. It was infact, in a messier manner than when the NFF parted ways with Keshi. On the 26th February 2016,  week Sunday Oliseh tendered his resignation , accusing the NFF of not giving him the needed support to deliver on his job.  [  click to read Oliseh's resignation letter here. ]

The NFF-OLISEH burst-up not only provided juice for the media but is now bordering on issues where a few people are calling on the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) to investigate the body. This may be a debate for another day.

The Online Editorial's focus is really on something less complex : There really is nothing wrong with the Amaju Pinnick led NFF to have come clean. He should have simply told Nigerians that he only wanted to give his 'country man' , Oliseh--(they come from the same State ), a chance. If he had come out candidly to say that, a few of us who are doggedly analytical would have understood. The debate we are now going to raise would have had no place.

But to have categorically said that Oliseh had the ' temperament to ...' clearly indicates one of two things. Either the leadership of the NFF was grossly incompetent and lacking in the ability to read character, and draw credible inferences from available data, or, ( and this I believe is a greater sin) -- the NFF deliberately, calculatedly lied to soccer loving Nigerians for some veiled , dubious reason.

In either case the NFF should do the honourable thing and come clean to Nigerians. They not only owe Nigerians an apology, but they should as a duty to this nation address the issues concerning Sunday Oliseh and his assistant Jean Francois Loscuito's claims of being owed salaries going several months back. Oliseh's assistant, Loscuito is being owed about One Hundred Thousand dollars ( according to an interview he granted to Brilla 88.9, ). This is a major embarassment to the NFF and Nigeria as a whole. On air, Mr. Loscuito almost in tears appealed to the NFF to please pay his salary as he had a family to provide for and outstanding medical bills to settle. This is not the NFF a man of Amaju Pinnick's stature should be leading. As a former sports professional himself the NFF President should relate to the plight and desires of professional sports people in Nigeria.

All said, a more important question for us however, is how does all of this affect soccer lovers in Nigeria?

Answer: If the NFF does not give the interim coaching crew the needed support, Nigeria's qualification for the next African Nations Cup will be in jeopardy. If Nigeria again does not qualify we can only imagine the loss in terms of business opportunities nationwide, loss of earnings to NFF from CAF and of course real exposure for our footballers.

In the final anaysis, this absolutely avoidable state of affairs leaves a huge quesion hanging over the Amaju Pinnick led NFF: Is he the right man to lead the NFF beyond the tenure of his first term? Mr. Pinnick still has a few more years to answer that question.

OLISEH SLAMS SOCIAL MEDIA

OLISEH SLAMS SOCIAL MEDIA

"If 10% of what you hear that Coach Sunday Oliseh says on Social media or newspaper is true, that means I will be granting interviews every day. "

Nigeria's Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh on Wednesday 21st October slammed social media for the current controversy over striker, Emmanuel Emenike's alleged retirement from the National team.

Speaking on Nigeria's leading sports radio channel --BRILLA Sports, Sunday Oliseh said refuted claims that the Fernabache striker who is currently on loan to Al Ain Fc of the City of Abu Dhabi has retired. Coach Oliseh said:

"It was a big shocker for us, a big shocker for me personally, and personally I still don't accept that he has retired because  em, officially I have not heard anything from him and I  don't think also the Federation have heard, only what we've heard is what we've seen posted on the social media and em we've made trainings part of our re-building process, infact he's got more playing time than any other striker we've had, so I don't -- em-- I'm very very surprised that he has decided to retired."

Oliseh however also indicated that he is going to treat everybody equally. There will be no favorites. In a country where professional footballers who ply their trades abroad have huge egos this will definitely be read differently, and can account for EMENIKE calling it quits with the National team within three weeks after former Captain Vincent Enyeama declared that going forward, he would have no further part to play in the Super Eagles team as a player. 

With two key senior players out of the National Team it remains to be  seen how many will be left in the squad by the end of this year.

Victor O. Sawyerr

21/10/2015

APPOINTMENT OF SUNDAY OLISEH AS CHIEF COACH OF NIGERIA'S SUPER EAGLES-- A MASTER STROKE OR A POTENTIAL FLOP?

APPOINTMENT OF SUNDAY OLISEH AS CHIEF COACH OF NIGERIA'S SUPER EAGLES-- A MASTER STROKE OR A POTENTIAL FLOP?

Nigeria's football governing body, NFF on the 15th July 2015, unveiled former Super Eagles defending midfielder, Sunday Ogorchukwu Oliseh as the team's new Chief Coach, giving him and his crew a 3 year deal and a 3 month Salary advance worth a reported =N= 15 million Naira. For a passionate football loving country as Nigeria, this may not be a big deal.

Some commentators  though have questioned the rationale behind paying for service not yet rendered. goal.com examines that.   http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/8472/the-patrick-omo-osagie-column/2015/07/18/13684982/without-a-strategic-action-plan-by-the-nff-nothing-will

Sunday Oliseh no doubt has an impressive professional resume. As a player and one of the key defensive midfielders of the well loved Super Eagles team of '94, he stood tall in the team, though not first among equals. After his playing years, he went on to obtain a FIFA Pro license, and coached Vervietois, a team in the Belgian lower division in the 2008-2009 season.

For an African football coach, even though Oliseh is not yet a proven "National Team" handler in any way, shape or form, his FIFA Pro license and professional experience may mean a lot to the NFF.

NFF's President Amaju Pinnick stated on the federation's website :
               "We trust he has a temperament to work harmoniously with the Technical and development Committee... "

This here, is where the crux of the matter lies: Temperament. Sunday Oliseh's 'temperamental resume' is not as great as his professional resume. As a player, he not only had several brush-ins with the Super Eagles Team Handlers, but was so vocal in a war of words with Chief Festus Onigbinde , the Coach, that he was omitted from Nigeria's 2002 World Cup squad.

In 2004, while on loan to VFL Bochum from Borussia Dortmund, Oliseh punched his own team mate Vahid Hashemian right on the field of play. He was sacked by the club.

Now here come the ifs and conjectures:

The NFF cited insubordination and 'lack of commitment' as reasons for sacking Stephen Keshi but what if at some point in the future an altercation arises between this new Chief Coach and the NFF , and he resorts to unleashing a left hook to settle the matter? Would the NFF yet again just simply sack him and go shopping surreptitiously for another candidate?

Or is the bond between NFF President and Oliseh stronger because they are both from the same state -- Delta? Will this therefore evoke a greater kind of commitment from the new Chief Coach?

Is Sunday Oliseh's appointment really a master stroke or just a loaded gun looking for a bust up ?

Share your views with us.
   

THE GLASS HOUSE ROCKS NIGERIAN FOOTBALL AGAIN

FOOTBALL NIGERIA:

THE GLASS HOUSE ROCKS NIGERIAN FOOTBALL AGAIN
AS KADUNA GETS SET TO HOST AFCON 2017 QUALIFIERS

No two things set Nigeria's rumor-mill and media (traditional and new), on overdrive like football and politics. Nigeria's football governing body, NFF is almost always at the centre of these media triggers. The most recent furor is about a  comment by Nigeria's first choice goal keeper, Vincent Enyeama, that the venue (Kaduna, in the Northern region of Nigeria) selected for Super Eagles qualifying match against the Egyptian National side, may be unsafe for the players.

The NFF strongly criticized the Super Eagles captain and issued him a query.

Now here is the problem: The NFF alleges that Vincent Enyeama tore the query letter right in front of whoever delivered the letter to him. Enyeama came out to speak on Brilla FM last week that he did not tear the query letter, and really, being a responsible member of the Super Eagles, he could not have done so. In spite of his denials however he apologized  on the same media to the NFF and Nigeria's football loving community as a whole.

THE COMPLICATION:

The NFF refused to accept this apology and further issued a summons to Enyeama to appear before a disciplinary committee headed by Barrister Chris Green, at the glass house on Tuesday 23rd June 2015 to explain himself. The committee sat for the whole day and Enyeama did not appear.

PUBLIC RESPONSE:

Until 6.00 PM on Tuesday, Nigeria's football loving community waited anxiously for feedback from the glass house as to what would be the final decision of the disciplinary committee now that Enyeama failed to appear before it.

No comments were issued from the committee and Nigerians were divided over their opinion of Enyeams's conduct. About 30% of all callers into local radio sports programs across the country called for the ban of Enyeama from the Super Eagles saying that this sort of indiscipline could rob off on the other members of the team and cause problems for the team officials. 60% of callers however believed the NFF was making a mountain out of a mole hill citing the facts of the security situation in Northern Nigeria as evidence.

The whole world knows that the Northern regions of Nigeria are struggling to grapple with Boko Haram insurgency, and in spite of recent successes by the Nigerian army, there are still some real threats in quite a number of the Northern states.

Another 10% of callers believed NFF is not only distracting the team with this irrelevant issue , but the body is more or less distracting itself from its core function at this moment which is providing the enabling environment and all necessary assets for the Super Eagles to go ahead and win that match.

MY TAKE:
Enyeama did not call a press conference all by himself. Secondly he only expressed his sincere fears-- fears all Nigerians hold even if we make believe we are not bothered. Moreover he did not call or ask players to boycot the match. The NFF should come out and explain to Nigerians the rationale behind taking the match to Kaduna when there are much safer venues around the country and stop trying to victimize Enyeama for merely expressing a self evident truth.

Optimistic as we are we could not have forgotton January 8th 2010 so soon when the Togolese National team was attacked by terrorists. Lives were lost. The lives of our footballers must mean something to us, surely.