The quest for the big stories to be published in The Nation and Sportinglife has made me cross swords with most national team coaches and the hierarchy of sports in Nigeria. I’ve also earned the sobriquet “Satanic” as my writings hit those in charge of sports. Luckily, I end up being friends with many of them after they have left office. I was doing my job. If it hurt people, I always apologised, since that wasn’t the purpose of writing.
But would you blame me? Certainly not, given the difficulties reporters have in reaching government officials to explain certain decisions. The interesting aspect of news reportage is that when it favours one party, the others allege that such a writer has been compromised. What I do in most cases is that when another report favours the crying party, I use the opportunity to rebuke my “new friends”, reminding them of what they said in the past. I really don’t care how others feel when I write my stories, especially if they are factual, knowing that they have a right to seek redress, if they so desire.
This has been my cross with most sports administrators and coaches. So, when in 1994 I was introduced to Shuiabu Amodu, precisely on August 27, he came across as one hungry for glory. Amodu came for Mike Itemuagbor’s wedding in Benin and stayed at the New Langa Hotel in the ancient city. The way Amodu spoke reminded one of post-match discussions on television in Europe.
BCC Lions FC of Gboko had been beaten 5-0 the previous week in Benin City by Bendel Insurance FC at the Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia Stadium. Amodu boasted that he would win that year’s Challenge Cup. And he did. That was in 1989 – five years before I met him in Benin.
He said losing 5-0 to Bendel Insurance, handled by veteran Coach Alabi Aissien, was a learning curve. He said Alabi was his professor and noted the various strategies Alabi adopted to win the game. BCC Lions’ brand of football was alien to us. Amodu adopted the 3-5-2 formation, playing a midfielder at the left back, most times Sam Pam. BCC’s style was a delight to watch. Their offside trap reminded me of Ibadan-based side Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC’s), swift offside trap when they were coached by Alan Hawkes. Another interesting aspect of Amodu’s BCC was that he picked unsung players from the Northwest. This was Amodu’s joker as most teams didn’t know those to mark. It didn’t come as a surprise that Amodu and his BCC Lions ruled Africa, conquering the dreaded North Africans with ease.
Indeed, Amodu revolutionised the way coaches were dressed on the bench. He introduced corporate suits which stood him out of the pack unlike the scruffy tracksuit that was in vogue. He joined the league of coaches who had official vehicles, not those who accompanied the players in the team’s bus. He was a class act in coaching. Amodu was also a powerful dresser outside the field. He radiated confidence. Amodu was unsparing when angry.
Not known to keep many friends, Amodu was technically efficient on his job. He didn’t mind if anyone doubted his tactics. For him, results first. It didn’t matter if the game was poorly executed. Amodu would tell you that people ask after the results not how well the team plays. Any second opinion was forbidden. But if you persisted, Amodu would listen. If he respected your views, he would be the first to call to find out your views. If Amodu didn’t respect your views, he will give you the length of his tongue. He never cared if he lost the job to prove his point. I have never seen a man who isn’t scared to fail like Amodu. He took risks. If such risks paid off, he would smile and plot the next stunt to show that he was a master. Take a bow, Amodu.
The quickest way to get on Amodu’s nerves was to talk about a foreign coach. He would listen to you – he is a good listener – and lash out at you when he thought you were not making any point. Amodu would tell you that he had beaten many foreign coaches. He would tell you that Nigerian administrators and the media suffered an inferiority complex. What also set Amodu apart from other Nigerian coaches was that he watched the tapes of opponents and had contacts who provided him with tips.
Ever pensive, Amodu wanted the best of working environment. He wasn’t scared to tell his employers what they wouldn’t want to hear, it would make his job easier. Amodu would only react publicly, after subtle attempts of persuading such an employer failed.
Amodu’s pre-match and post-match analyses were superb. You would think that a professor was lecturing. His diction was flawless. He picks his words and left his audience convinced that he knew the job. He flared up occasionally. But who won’t, if the question is offensive or the reporter is up to some mischief?
By 1994, Amodu had conquered the domestic league to become Nigeria’s best coach. He became the obvious choice for the Super Eagles job. His first assignment was the game between Nigeria and England at Wembley Stadium. The Eagles lost 1-0 to the Three Lions but Amodu had opened a new vista in his coaching career. Opinions were divided over the way the Eagles played. But it didn’t matter to Amodu. And he said that much at the post match conference, stressing that had he more time to prepare the Eagles, England would have been beaten at home. A nifty header from former Arsenal star David Platt sealed victory for the Three Lions.
Amodu thrived in controversies, largely because he spoke the truth. He declared that Nigerian players are average. The media, Nigerians and indeed the players descended on him. But when the Eagles failed to qualify for two major competitions, the swansong confirmed Amodu’s position.
If there was one Nigerian who believed in this country, it was Amodu. Even when he was first humiliated by our football chieftains, he still nursed a return to coaching the Eagles, even when he had a job in South Africa coaching Orlando Pirates. Little wonder he returned to the Nigerian job, leaving Orlando Pirates in the lurch. Thank you, Amodu.
Many a purist have described Amodu as being foolishly patriotic because he was always ready to rescue the country from its free fall in soccer. I differ from this view. The pressure on Amodu to take the Nigerian job during a crisis was awesome. In fact, respected Nigerians invite the coach for discussions. You need to see Amodu when he decided to respect such people by taking the job.
He seeks the favour of Allah when under such pressure. If he made up his mind, my phone will ring. Not one to call me often, his voice comes up thus: “Neighbour, neighbour, una people wan kill me again. I never fit sleep since. Better people wey I respect don intervene for this matter. I don gree to coach Nigeria again. I hope dem go respect me. You know me, neighbour, neighbour, I go drop the job o!
Please, don’t ask me how Amodu reacted when our administrators treated him with levity. No, no, spare me the description. But one thing before he talked to you, you would notice a depressed man struggling to please those he respected.
Amodu, Amodu, (sorry, neighbour, neighbour) you are resting now. Sleep well.
Neighbour, neighbour was a popular song of yore rendered thus: “Don’t look out at me from behind the door, come on out and see what I’m made of. I know you are pretty and I can feel it…neighbour, neighbour, I think I love you…” No prize for guessing that it was Amodu’s favourite song. Good night, Shuaibu Amodu.
What is Moses’
offence?
I have been pinching myself to find out what Victor Moses’ offence was. It is true that he missed out of Nigeria’s two matches against Mali and Luxembourg. But his absence didn’t come to ardent followers of the English game as a shock. He had not been listed in West Ham FC of England’s matches, which meant he had issues with his injury.
So, when the story broke that he missed the games because he didn’t want to play, I called a top member of the NFF to find out the true situation? The NFF chief told me that Moses called him to explain why he wouldn’t be available for the two matches. The NFF man said that Moses even wrote the federation seeking to be excused from the game.
According to the NFF chief: “I want to commend Moses for the foresight in calling his coaches and the secretariat staff to inform them that he wouldn’t be available for the games against Mali and Luxembourg. Moses called me too and I can confirm that he also called the federation’s president. For us at the NFF, Moses has not case to answer.”
One is therefore shocked to read again that Moses may be dropped from the country’s Olympic Games squad for missing matches after he had called the NFF chiefs to explain his physical condition. Recently, I chipped in the Moses question to another top brass of the federation during one of our discussions. His answer wasn’t different from what the first board member told me. It then raises the poser – who is afraid of Victor Moses? Have we forgotten so soon the efforts we put to get Moses to dump England for Nigeria? Is this how we want to reward him? How do we expect others to perceive us in our quest to get them to play for Nigeria? Can somebody in the NFF tell Nigerians that the Moses’ axe story is a hoax?
I’m glad that there are insinuations towards punishment for those who missed the games without permission from the federation or the coaches. I also hope such punishments won’t be selective. I’m waiting.
