Tag Archives: Stephen Keshi

Steven Keshi remembered on first posthumous birthday

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The late Stephen Keshi was remembered by friends and former colleagues on his first posthumous birthday.

Born on January 23, 1962, the late Keshi, who would have turned 55 on Monday, died on June 7, 2016 of suspected cardiac arrest.

While the legacies of Keshi are there for all to see, many are still keen to see that the Big Boss is immortalised by the relevant authorities.

Leading the line of ex-colleagues with tributes to Keshi was Friday Ekpo who played alongside the former Eagles Captain in the Nigeria national team.

In a chat with PREMIUM TIMES, Ekpo submitted that much more could still be done to immortalise Keshi even as he rallied former internationals to come together and take the bull by the horn to ensure that their legacies and labours past don’t go in vain.

“It is sad that Keshi is no longer here with us, we will continue to miss him but we cannot bring him back,” Ekpo said.

“Though I think much has not been done yet to immortalise Keshi, I think we ex-internationals should come up with ideas and ways we can immortalise ourselves” he added.

While Ekpo could not put a finger on a past birthday celebration with the Big Boss, he reckons that it was always a joyous mood around the late Super Eagles Coach.

“I cannot remember any birthday celebrated in camp actually but Keshi is always fun to be with, after matches he is always ready to go the extra mile to make everybody happy,” Ekpo recounted.

Also speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on the first post humus birthday for Keshi, Austin Popo who represents the Players’ Union in Nigeria said the body is already doing its bit to ensure that the name Keshi is never forgotten.

“It is very easy to forget someone’s name here in Nigeria but the Players’ Union have embarked on a project that will surely make Keshi to be continually remembered,” he said

Popo stated that a Football Academy with a vocational centre is to be built in Keshi’s name in Edo State.

According to the Players’ Union scribe, necessary ground work has been done and a dinner to raise funds will soon be held in Benin, Abuja and also in Lagos.

Popo reckoned that Keshi’s footprint on football in Nigeria and across Africa remains indelible

“He remains one of the few Nigerian coaches that have handled the national teams of other countries in Togo and Mali.

“One thing I always like about Keshi is he is not afraid to take risk, look how he integrated young players into the Super Eagles, that is what we are benefitting right now,” Popo concluded.

For another former Keshi colleague, Ike Shorunmu, the Big Boss is simply the true definition of a man.

“When you talk of a real man, Keshi was one. When we were playing together, the kind of encouragement he gave to the team, his carriage, the charisma he showed to the team and his team mates was simply amazing.

“Now, he’s gone and I doubt even in the years to come if we can still get a player with these qualities. If at all there will ever be, it will simply take time,” Shorunmu said.

Among other landmarks, Keshi is the first African Coach to qualify two African countries, Nigeria and Togo, for the World Cup.

Keshi also won the African Nations Cup as a player and as a coach.

 

Source: Premium Times

Ex-Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi’s Wife Is Dead

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Former Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi has confirmed the sudden death of his wife, Kate, in the United States.

Keshi who is also currently in the USA said that his late wife has been ill for a while before giving up the ghost on Wednesday.
“She was ill for a while now and I’m still in shock of this great loss,” Keshi told Completesportsnigeria.com.
The former Togo and Mali boss who in March gave out his daughter, Ifeyinwa, extolled the virtues of his late wife sobbing in a chat with Completesportsnigeria.com.
“She is more like a sister to me and was the rock behind me and everything I do. My love for her was at first sight,” he said.

Coach-Stephen-Keshi-and-his-Wife-at-the-Wedding-of-their-daughter-Ifeyinwa-now-at-Ekenwa-Benin-600x317
He however revealed that the burial arrangements will be made public in the coming weeks.

Keshi Reacts To Sack, Insists “It Is Not The End Of The World”

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Stephen Keshi has spoken about the decision of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), to finally dismiss him as coach of the Super Eagles and says it was time for him to move on.

“It is about time for me to move on, my dear. This is not the end of the world for me,” he told Premium Times on Thursday.

Keshi took over the Nigerian national team four years ago and led them to glory in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. The Big Boss also took charge of the Eagles at last year’s Confederations Cup and this year’s World Cup in Brazil, where they were eliminated in the second round.

However, the 52-year-old has struggled to produce good results as the African champions began their 2015 AFCON qualifying series, recording just one win – which came on Wednesday against Sudan.

Despite the sack, Keshi and his assistants will be sponsored by the NFF for coaching courses in any country of their choice.

Coach Under Pressure as Nigeria Stutter in Qualifying

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Pressure is mounting on Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi, with growing unhappiness about his handling of the team and as the African champions risk elimination from next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

The Super Eagles, who won the competition in 2013, are currently bottom of Group A after a shock 1-0 defeat away to Sudan and just a single point from three games in the qualifiers.

Nigeria host Sudan, who are now third in the standings with three points, in a return fixture on Wednesday in the capital, Abuja.

Next month, they travel to second-placed Congo, who defeated them 3-2 in September, before the arrival of group leaders South Africa.

Nigeria have to win all three matches and hope other results go their way if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the finals in Morocco in January.

Keshi, whose position has been the subject of repeated speculation, has apologised for the defeat to Sudan but at the same time claimed there was a conspiracy to ensure that he fails.

“There is a sabotage by some people. I won’t mention their names but they know themselves. They want to run this team down,” he claimed.

“Some people are ready to sell this country for a dime. They want to sabotage the Super Eagles.

“It’s a shame. They don’t want this team to get to the AFCON (Nations Cup), they want this team to lose outright. But they are not God.

“And this is not Keshi’s team. Keshi is a professional coach and after this (assignment), he will get another job elsewhere.”

– Boos and brickbats –

Nigeria fans awaiting the team’s return from Sudan at Abuja airport on Sunday roundly booed the players and question marks about Keshi’s future dominated the country’s media on Monday.

Read More: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/coach-under-pressure-nigeria-stutter-qualifying-114317110–sow.html

New Nigerian FA bosses Elected to End Leadership Tussle

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 Nigeria’s embattled football association on Tuesday elects a new president and executive committee, hoping to draw a line under a leadership struggle that took the country to the brink of a FIFA ban.

The 44-member congress of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) meets in the southern city of Warri to determine who will lead the organisation for the next four years.

Seven people are in contention for one of the toughest jobs in African football but Aminu Maiguri, whose time as NFF president has been controversial, has ruled himself out of the race.

Businessman Shehu Dikko, who helped arrange a tour by Manchester United in 2008 and has brokered several tie-ups with the English Premier League, is believed to be the front-runner. His main rivals are said to be Delta FC chairman Amaju Pinnick and former NFF general-secretary Taiwo Ogunjobi.

The new top table will also have to decide the future of national team manager Stephen Keshi, who has been the subject of speculation that he will quit or be replaced by a foreign coach.

Maigari was widely expected to win a second, four-year term on the back of the Super Eagles’ success in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and a fourth FIFA Under-17 World Cup win last year.

CHAN 2014: Who Can Make Eagles Call Up For Brazil 2014?

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Eagles making their debut at the just concluded African Nations Championship in South Africa 201 since 2009, coming third in the competition despite doubts about Eagles performance before the competition, ODUKALE BOWALE takes a look at Eagles campaign in South Africa at the concluded African Nations Championship and possible players who can make Eagles’ list for World Cup Brazil 2014 in June.

The African Nations Championship is a relatively new event staged by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), having first been played in 2009; creation of the event was a response to the desire to strengthen national competitions regularly weakened by a mass exodus of top players who leave their home countries to play for foreign teams. It features only players who play their trade in the domestic leagues and features from all the six CAF zones on the continent.

Nigeria made her debut at the 2014 African Nations Championship (CHAN) edition in South Africa securing a third-place finish at the African tourney reserved for professional players in their country’s domestic leagues when they failed to qualify for the first two tournament finals in Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan. They were eliminated by arch-rivals Ghana for the inaugural competition in Cote d’Ivoire in 2009 and next-door neighbors Niger shocked them out for the next tournament staged by Sudan.

Eagles had to scrape past Cote d’Ivoire 4-3 on aggregate to make it to South Africa 2014 when they won the first game in Kaduna 4-1 courtesy of a brace from Sunday Mba and further goals from Gambo Mohammed and Ifeanyi Ede only to lose the return match 2-0 in Abidjan. In preparation for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in South Africa, series of friendly matches was in place for the Eagles where big boss finally made the 23 man list for the tournament.

Eagles started their African Championship campaign against the Les Aigles of Mali and lost 2-1 in their opening game in Cape Town, where the Eagles struggled in defence and did not create many goal scoring chances as  substitute Gbolahan Salami pulled a goal back for Nigeria, but for poor finishing, Mali had chances to kill off this game as pegged their opponents mainly in their own half of the pitch.

Having in mind the slim chances in qualifying for the next stage of the tournament, Eagles put up a much improved performance to scrape past Mambas of Mozambique 4 goals to 2. Mambas went in front but Nigeria restored uniformity when Enyimba striker Ifeanyi Ede stabbed home from inside the box after a nod-on from a long throwing following Kano Pillars playmaker Rabiu Ali putting Nigeria ahead, Mambas ripped open the Nigeria defence and allowed the stocky Diogo to round up Agbim and coolly slot home his second goal of the tournament in the 20th minute. Rabiu Ali again put Nigeria in front in the 54th minute, when and substitute Barnabas Imenger made the game safe.

Costly errors saw hosts South Africa go down 3-1 to Nigeria in their last African Nations Championship match and crash out of the tournament in spectacular fashion as Nigeria’s goals came from pint-sized winger Christantus Ejike (2) and an Ifeanyi Ede penalty.

Astounding Nigeria came back from three goals down to beat Atlas Lions of Morocco 4-3 to qualify for the semi-final of CHAN where Nigeria three goals were scored during the second half of the play, while the winning goal was scored during the extra time. It was indeed a surprise victory for not only Eagles but as a country as whole, as Nigerians and different sports pundits applauded the team including President Goodluck Jonathan as the “god of soccer” is commonly referred to as a Nigerian.

 Keshi’s team reached the third playoff of the CHAN against all odds in spite of being seconds away from elimination in the hands of the impressive Moroccans before Ejike Uzoenyi’s cracking goal. After their sensational comeback against Morocco, it was a huge anti-climax that Nigeria will not be playing in CHAN final as Ghana made Nigeria pay through penalty, as they literally used their strength to muscle the Super Eagles out of the championship game. It was rather ironic that until recently Nigeria were known for their physical approach to the game and Ghana more for their flair as the local Black Stars were very defensive. Eagles killed off the game against South Africa and Mozambique with a display of ruthless finishing, but could not do same against their perennial rivals and resulted in a third playoff that they will now battle Zimbabwe, while Ghana had the bragging rights.

 Super Eagles never gave up hope of taking third place of CHAN as Keshi motivated his boys to finish the tournament in style when they face Zimbabwe in the play-off.

While it’s the first time Nigeria plays in the CHAN tournament and are happy to get as far as this stage on their first attempt, Nigeria claimed the bronze medal after a hard-fought 1-0 win over the 10-men of Zimbabwe in Cape Town where Chinonso Obiozor playing his first match of the competition, looked a constant threat with his pace and power and having come close on a number of occasions, finally got his reward on 85 minutes in the third-place playoff in the final five minutes as the Super Eagles labored past their stubborn opponents.

However, looking at the performance of Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the tournament, they showed that they were indeed slow starters; they have been responsible of turning out sleepy display in the opening minutes of their games against Mali and Mozambique in the group stage of the tournament as well as against Morocco in the quarter finals. The Eagles were not lucky in this regard against Malians which were Eagles first outing, but rallied back to beat the Mozambicans and the Moroccans 4-2 and 4-3 respectively.

Also, conceding early goals in the first few matches they played during the tournament for example against Mozambique, the Super Eagles conceded two goals in the space of 10 minutes; however, the game against Morocco was the height of a bad defending conceding three goals in the space of seven minutes before clawing back to win 4-3 in magnificent style to reach the semis.

In addition, poor communication at the defence, in three games against Mali, Mozambique and Morocco, Keshi’s team showed how not to defend. In the three games the defence was weak and allowed themselves to be overrun. Chigozie Agbim, who is also captain of the team, sure needs to take the lead in barking out instructions to the outfield players as that has been the trait of most top goalkeepers.

Nevertheless, there are positives for Nigeria to take from the jst concluded outing; coming third in her debut appearance was a thing of joy and also an avenue for the home based Eagles to prove themselves to make the list for World Cup in Brazil as big boss Keshi exposed that, about five players from the 2014 CHAN will be considered for places that excelled during the just concluded CHAN to the World Cup and has refused to mention name, but likely players includes Ejike Uzoenyi, Kunle Odunlami and Rabiu Ali, who were picked by CAF in the tournament XI.

CHAN Most Valuable Player Ejike Uzoenyi will be top of that list to make Eagles squad come June for the World Cup in Brazil. A tremendous display from the player after a return of three goals assists for his other team mates and three man of the match awards. Keshi singled out the Enugu Rangers left winger for special praise, Uzoenyi did well to be part of CHAN and it is believed that he has attracted some serious interests overseas as a result who will now be a viable option for the left side of the Eagles attack as Italy-based Nnamdi Oduamadi has struggled to convince lately in that position.

Also, Sunshine Stars FC central defender Odunlami Kunle who currently eyes World Cup played the whole six matches in CHAN displaying good marking skills, made the team of the tournament after a laudable display, touted to be Super Eagles Fabio Cannavaro in the making. He has shown he has the qualities to play at this level and seen by many to replace Godfrey Oboabona.

Kano Pillars midfielder Rabiu Ali, great passer, best player in Nigeria Premier league last season, brace against Mozambique, effective goal-scoring responsibilities, creativity and providing  inventive spark in the midfield stands  him out from the rest of the team can make him enough to contest with Sunday Mba for a place in the Eagles midfield.

Eagles Strikers Ifeanyi Ede and Gbolahan Salami made a considerable impact in the competition, Ede scored in the destruction of Mozambique and host country South Africa during the group stage matches  and formed of an enviable partnership with Uzoenyi while Salami blessed with blistering pace and good ball control, started his scoring campaign against Mali, though didn’t find the back of the net again as injury forced him out.

Defenders Benjamin Francis and Solomon Kwambe could also be considered as they have been part of the full international team even though they did not impress in South Africa. Francis had a disappointing tournament, still has a long way to go as a potential contender for Elderson Echiejile’s. Kwambe made a great impact, supported the attacking line-up with his overlapping runs and threatened opposing defenders. Kwambe recovery rate was thin as he failed to return to his primary role of position on time.

 Agbim let himself down by some questionable goalkeeping at CHAN his show during the competition raised eyebrows over his eligibility to be Nigeria’s no 1 not only that, but as third choice to Vincent Enyeama and Austin Ejide in the main Super Eagles’ team, he will now have to fight to be the third goalkeeper to the World Cup in June.

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) must also look at the option of getting coaches from league clubs to handle the next team for the 2016 CHAN as most observers agreed that the best players in the Nigeria league were not in South Africa. These coaches, who will be answerable to the coach of the full international team, should be given part-time contracts and allowed to return to their clubs after national team duty. And preparations for CHAN 2016 in Rwanda must start in earnest.

Leadership: What Goodluck Jonathan can learn from Stephen Keshi – Ogunyemi Bukola

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Keshi-JonathanSuccessful leadership, be it in business, politics or sports, operates on identical underlying principles. As such, successful leaders learn from one another across the different sectors of life and terrain of leadership in which they operate. Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has a lot to learn about leadership, and he has plenty of options to choose from. But he needs not look far. In his mostly unremarkable government, the sports sector, especially football, especially the national male football team, Super Eagles, have enjoyed unprecedented success. This due in no small parts to the efforts of the Glo/CAF African Football Awards 2014 Coach of the Year, Stephen Keshi.

Since his appointment in 2011, Keshi has led Nigeria to qualification for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which they went on to win, becoming one of only two people (along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary) to have won it as both a player and a coach, secured qualification to the 2014 World Cup and is through to the semi-final of CHAN2014. Keshi’s success has not been accidental, and in his handling of the team, some particularly stellar leadership attributes shine through that the man from Otuoke can learn from.

Leaders deliver results, not excuses: Jonathan has a readymade excuse for why nothing is working in Nigeria. From corruption to terrorism to poor state of infrastructure nationwide, none is due to Jonathan’s inability/failure to effect change. Past Nigerian leaders, the opposition, the children of anger, some aggrieved ethnicities, these are the groups responsible for everything that is wrong with Nigeria. And this has gone a long way in entrenching the culture of complacency in his largely incompetent team who know they are not to blame for failure. Keshi as Super Eagles manager has an opposite philosophy, get results and you won’t have to give excuses. And this has worked for him, as the team knows a bad pitch or weather and even biased officiating is not a reason to lose.

Leaders make sacrifices, especially big sacrifices: “To save Nigeria, we must all be prepared to make sacrifices. On the part of Government, we are taking several measures aimed at cutting the size and cost of governance, including on-going and continuous effort to reduce the size of our recurrent expenditure and increase capital spending. In this regard, I have directed that overseas travels by all political office holders, including the President, should be reduced to the barest minimum” – Goodluck Jonathan (January 2012)

“Our administration believes that the cost of governance in the country is still too high and must be further reduced. We will also take additional steps to stem the tide of corruption and leakages. Foreign travel by government personnel will be further curtailed” – Goodluck Jonathan (January 2014)

In the two years between the two statements from Goodluck Jonathan above, he has spent over N3 billion on foreign trips, recurrent expenditure has increased to 72% of overall government spending, Aso Rock feeding and entertainment budget has stayed at N1 billion and Mr President is planning to acquire an 11th aircraft for the presidential fleet.

Keshi and his assistants on the other hand are being owed a total of 7 months’ salary and allowances running into about N78 million. In the face of this, he has ensured that no player is owed match bonuses and has not failed to deliver results on the pitch. Jonathan and his aides are living in obscene opulence while asking Nigerians to make sacrifices for the nation’s development. Errrrr, it all starts with you sir.

You are only as good as your team: Since his accidental ascendancy to the highest political office in Nigeria, Mr Jonathan has managed to assemble arguably the worst Federal Executive Council since return to democratic rule in 1999. Men and women of low competencies, questionable character and proven records of corruption/mismanagement have been given control of sensitive positions in return for political devotion. Mr Jonathan has shown that he values political loyalty above competency, and that is politics, not leadership. In this regard, he should learn how Keshi picks his team, making sure the best available players are selected, not those who spent more time with the press praising his managerial skills.

Leaders know what and when to celebrate: One of the most disappointing moments of Jonathan’s presidency for me was when he told CNN’s Christine Amanpour during an interview that power situation in Nigeria has vastly improved and Nigerians are happy with his administration in that regard. Amanpour went ahead to disprove this claim so effortlessly. In truth power generation had increased to more than 4000MW then, but that hardly calls for celebration and smugness considering that Nigeria needs about 20,000MW to stand any chance of being one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020. Jonathan stops short of calling a party for every hundred MW added to the national grid or every kilometre of road patched. Mister, it’s like celebrating victory after winning the first free-kick in a football match. Keep calm and get to work, like Keshi does. Don’t pop the champagne until the trophy is in the cabinet.

Leaders know the people are priority: I do not understand the polimathics of FIFA rankings, and I got even more confused when in December 2013 Nigeria slipped three places from 33 to 36 despite having arguably the best year of all African teams. So was Keshi, but something struck me about his response:

“I am shocked (by the latest rankings). We won the Africa Cup of Nations this year, qualified for the World Cup and four-time world champions Italy held us to a draw, so I am surprised. We should continue to win and make Nigerians proud because that is what is most important to me and Nigerians. If we remain in wherever we are in the ranking and keep winning and Nigerians are happy, then I am happy.”

This contrasts sharply with the selective acceptance game Jonathan’s government plays with global governance and human development rankings. It is not unusual to see Mr Jonathan’s media aides base their principal’s successes on positive comments from international organizations like the World Bank and IMF. When however, the spotlight is on corruption and poverty, in which the report is almost always unfavourable, they swing to action and give a thousand and one reasons why such reports are inaccurate.

Failure to realize that democracy is a government of the people, and the most acceptable index is the people’s assessment, is the foundation of Mr Jonathan’s woeful performance as Nigeria’s president. And as long as he continues to seek acceptance from local power blocs and international organizations at the detriment of the wishes of the people, the story is not likely to change.

If Jonathan is to record any success worth remembering as he enters the final year of his presidency, he should learn from how Keshi has managed to turn around the fortunes of a Super Eagles team that failed to qualify for the nations cup into African champions. While Keshi has proven to be Nigeria’s most successful football coach, Mr Jonathan might just be the worst president in Nigeria’s modern democratic history. It’s all about leadership.

Ogunyemi Bukola (@zebbook) writes from Lagos, Nigeria.