As at the time of writing this piece the remains of Nigeria's legendary footballer, former Captain and Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria would have been interred at his hometown of Ilah, a small sub-urb of Delta state. While this development came as a rude shock to many given the fact that the Big Boss as he was fondly called by friends and family was a man enamored by the challenges to survive both as a player and much later in his glittering soccer career as a manager. Having plied his trade at a time when traveling to Europe in search of greener pastures for footballers was seen as a stupendous privilege, Stephen Keshi alongside the legendary Algerian International, Raba Majah and Ghana's Abedi Pele were the pioneers of Africa's footballing export to Europe. Keshi distinguished himself both as a leader and strict disciplinarian. his man- management skills also came to the fore during the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 where he led the country to glory against all odds with unknown faces like Sunday Mba who memorably scored the winning goal for Nigeria in the final against Burkina Faso
COACHING CAREER
Keshi's early footballing career started with the likes of the defunct New Nigerian Bank, ACB Lagos, Stade D'Abidjan , Ivory Coast, Africa Sports, Ivory Coast and later to Anderlecht, Belgium and Strasbourg. Keshi's leadershisp qualities were tapped early on in his career when he was made the Captain of the National Team in 1984 with the likes of Sylvanus Okpala, Ndubuisi Okosieme, Yisa Sofoluwe, Peter Rufai Sebastian Brodericks et al , a position he held till the maiden appearance of the Super Eagles at the 1994 mundial in the United States of America where Nigeria emerged the second most entertaining team after Brazil despite crashing out to eventual finalists, The then Arrigo Sacchi-tutored Azurris of Italy. He had earlier on in the same year led Nigeria to her second Africa cup of Nations triumph in Tunisia. a fluent speaker of the three major Nigerian languages of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba,Keshi's professional career traversed the length and breadth of this country. From the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium, Benin City to the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos to the Ahmadu Bello stadium, Kaduna down to the Asaba Township stadium, Keshi was more than just a household name in Nigeria football.
MANAGERIAL CAREER
Keshi's managerial career commenced shortly after his International retirement after US 94 where he embarked upon a caoching course after a short playing stint in the North American country. In 1996 he was joined by Augustine Eguavoen,
who once coached the Nigerian national team. They played together in
California as the backbone of the defence for the short-lived Sacramento Scorpions. Keshi has been a part of the coaching staff for the Nigerian national team, most notably as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship which also served as qualification for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, without success.
Between 2004 and 2006 Keshi coached the Togo national football team, surprisingly bringing them to their first World Cup tournament, Germany 2006. Having secured Togo's unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by German coach Otto Pfister prior to the World Cup finals, after Togo showed a dismal performance and failed to advance to the knock-out stage in 2006 Africa Cup of Nations
in Egypt. However, Pfister did not last beyond a controversial World
Cup campaign that nearly resulted in a player's strike over pay and Togo
remained without a manager until February 2007 when they re-engaged
Keshi in time for a friendly against Cameroon.
He worked as manager of the Mali national football team, after being appointed in April 2008 on a two-year deal.[3] Keshi was sacked in January 2010, after Mali's early exit in the group stages of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.[4]Keshi became coach of the Nigerian National Team in 2011. He led Nigeria to qualification for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which they went on to win, defeating Burkina Faso 1–0 in the final. The following day Keshi handed in his resignation, only to reverse his decision the day after.[ Keshi led Nigeria to the 2013 Confederations Cup, defeated Tahiti 6–1, and lost 1–2 to Uruguay in the second game, and also lost 0–3 to World Cup winners, Spain in their final group game.
On 16 November 2013, Keshi's Nigeria secured qualification to the 2014 World Cup by beating Ethiopia 4–1 on aggregate in a play-off. Keshi set a record in African football by being the first African coach
to successfully qualify two African nations (Nigeria and Togo) to the
World Cup Finals. He also helped Nigeria become the first country to
achieve an African Cup of Nations trophy and World Cup qualification,
both in 2013.
Nigeria progressed to the knockout stage of 2014 World Cup. They started the tournament with a 0-0 draw against Iran, followed by a controversial 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. They lost the final group stage match 2-3 against Argentina,
but progressed to the knockout stage, courtesy of a 3-1 win by Bosnia
and Herzegovina over Iran. The Super Eagles lost to France in the first
knock-out round. After the match, Keshi announced his resignation as
Super Eagles coach but later reversed the decision after the Nigerian Football Federation renewed his contract.
His team failed to win a single game in the Morocco 2015 African Cup of Nations
qualifying series and he announced he would move to another job if
pressure continues to mount because of certain people, whom he refused
to name, were trying to "sabotage" him. However, he stated that he will
continue to coach the Super Eagles because he loves the team and he
loves his country.
In July 2015, following Nigeria's exit from the World Cup, Keshi's contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) expired and was not renewed. A statement by the NFF Executive Committee said the decision was made,
having thoroughly reviewed the reports/findings of the NFF Disciplinary
Committee and NFF Technical and Development Committee, as well as having
reviewed the actions and inaction of Stephen Keshi, in the performance
of his duties as Super Eagles' Head Coach, which NFF found to lack the
required commitment to achieve the Federation's objectives as set out in
the Coach's employment contract.
AND DEATH STRUCK
Precisely on the 7th day of June, 2016, the cold hands of death snatched the amiable and jovial tactician who had just barely six months earlier buried his beloved wife, Kate who succumbed to the ravages of cancer. This was indeed a bolt from the blue since he was reportedly in talks to take over the vacant Orlando Pirates coaching job in South Africa. He never betrayed any symptoms of someone sick much less dying although the story about town was that he never really recovered from the shock from his wife's death. Keshi was said to have been withdrawn after the loss of his partner who was until her death his backbone.
Much maligned and misunderstood, Keshi never quite synced with his employers after failing to qualify Nigeria for the last African Cup of Nations. It was always from one row to the other and the NFF took a convenient advantage of the development to arm-twist him into a revised contract that took away all the privileges he enjoyed after the Cup of Nations triumph in 2013 before he was ultimately booted out. Keshi was reportedly close to getting the sack prior to the Cup of Nations quarter finals clash with Cote D'ivoire where he triumphed against all odds. As a fact, the story then was that he was going to be dumped in South Africa after crashing out to Cote D'ivoire. Fate however, had other plans for him.
His Legacies
An unforgettable legacy left behind by the well decorated late gaffer is his knack for giving home grown players a chance to prove themselves having developed from the local league himself. This quickly brings to mind his selection of Sunday Mba who was at the time playing for Rangers International of Enugu preferring him to the likes of John Mikel Obi and Nosa Igiebor. Keshi in fact took six home based players to that tournament and was handsomely rewarded by Sunday Mba's heroics in the Quarter finals clash against Ivory Coast who were pre-tournament favourites and Burkina Faso in the final where he scored the lone goal. Keshi also discovered Godfrey Oboabona who was at the time playing for Sunshine stars of Akure in the local league. Godfrey and Kenneth later formed a formidable defense partnership in that tournament. Such courage and belief is yet to be shown by any of his successors so far .
Before the Quarter finals clash with Ivory Coast, Keshi knew about the evil plots of his traducers in the name of the NFF but kept his focus and his team's shape all through to their ultimate humiliation. Immediately after winning the championship, Keshi announced his resignation from his job. Whether this was a publicity stunt or just a ploy to get an improved contract or not, this singular action earned him the audience from the Presidency who wondered why a man that just achieved such feat would throw in the towel. If he was seeking attention he surely got it because not only did he successfully negotiate a new deal, both himself and the team were lavishly rewarded for their achievement.
Keshi commanded so much respect from the continent and beyond. The likes of Nii Ordatey Lamptey of Ghana among so many other African stars owe their success in part, to Keshi who was always eager to facilitate the transfer of any african player worth his salt to Europe. Keshi was one of the earliest Africans to ply their trade in Europe following his move to Belgian side, Anderlecht. His move would certainly explain the subsequent transfers of players to clubs like Lokeren, MSV Molenbeek, club Brugge and his own club, Anderlecht. Keshi was a father figure to many Nigerian players. He was reputed to be very vocal in the dressing room when his team's back is against the wall. To illustrate, Nigeria was 3-1 down to Morocco during the CHAN tournament in 2014 at half time. Keshi was reported to have told the players during his team talk that their destiny was firmly in their own hands and that failing at that crucial stage would gravely affect their careers. the rest as they say; was history as the team came from behind to turn the game on its head and win. Although the team eventually lost in the Semis and came home with the bronze medal, Keshi's imprints were all over the team's performance.
As captain of the National team, Keshi would always insist on the fulfillment of the promises made his team and never allowed such trivial issues as players' allowances and bonuses distract the team. This always usually pitted him against the football administrators. Vociferous , vocal and an influential leader, Keshi was always the coach's voice on the pitch. He never shied away from expressing his displeasure with any unfavourable decisions against his team and would always do it in a civil manner. Having handled the National team at a time where wily football agents carry fat envelopes to bribe National team coaches to play their clients in major tournaments, he still had the courage to take home grown players to major tournaments. Upon the announcement of his demise, Ghana's flag was flown at half mast in recognition of his contribution to Ghanaian and African football. Mali and Togo where he coached released statements celebrating this fallen hero. It took the Nigerian Sports Ministry over four days to issue an official statement. The promises made to his family by the government to handle his funeral formalities have not been fulfilled. The footages i watched did not show a simulacrum of any government presence at the event. Makes you wonder whether we really appreciate the size of the man in question. Be that as it may, let us all extol the virtues of this fallen hero, the CAPTAIN OF CAPTAINS. His sterling leadership qualities cannot be forgotten in a hurry.
Adieu Keshi! Adieu, The Big Boss.
Ije-Oma
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