• Dutchman says Amodu was always dependable
Stephen Keshi was the back bone of the Super Eagles in the 90s and Amodu Shuaibu was always on hand to help out.
This is how former Super Eagles coach, Bonfrere Jo remembered the two who passed on recently as Nigeria football continues to mourn.
Bonfrere urged the NFF to give the departed legends befitting burials – Shuaibu was laid to rest on Saturday according to Islamic rites – because they deserved and have earned it.
The family of the late Stephen Keshi has responded to the amazing outpouring of grief that followed the football icon’s surprising death early last week.
Speaking from Atlanta Georgia, Stephen Keshi Junior spoke on behalf of the family and shared the following with supersport.com.
“We’re still mourning our father, we’re still shocked and confused. Words can’t describe our feelings right now, but we want to remain joyful, remain happy, because he was a joyful and happy person. For us what helps is our parents are together now; they were together on earth for 33 years. It soothes us that they are together in heaven,” he said.
“He was our loving father, widow, grandfather, brother, friend, pioneer, mentor and hero.Our Father was a joyful person, he hated sadness with a passion, in fact it was like Kryptonite to him. We are grateful for all the love, support and condolence from everyone on the loss of such an iconic African.
“We appreciate all the phone calls, texts, messages and posts on social media. It is not easy to lose both parents within a 6-month period. It is important to know that you have been there for us before and will be there for us going forward.
“Stephen Keshi was a just man, who believed and championed the cause of every teammate when he played the game and every player when he was a coach. He served his nation and people with pride and joy. He always had a smile on his face whenever he did it. ”
“His illustrious football career took him outside of Nigeria to Ivory Coast first, before he made the trip to Europe; a trip footballer’s make today and he was one of the first to embark on such journey.Our father was a man of the people; he welcomed everyone with open arms as a player and even more as a manager when he was with Togo, Mali and most recently the Super Eagles of Nigeria. ”
“As we mourn the loss of a great man, we want everyone to join us in celebrating his remarkable life and even though it was taken away from us quicker than expected, we hope his life serves as a great example, his experience and how he fought for what was right is seen by younger generations as something to aspire to.
“We will keep you updated on where and when the wake keeping in California and Georgia will be as well as information about the burial in Nigeria. Let us celebrate and honour Stephen Keshi, celebrate his example to serve his country, honour his accomplishments as a player, father and coach, remember the smile and energetic laughter he had that brightened every room he walked into. ”
•The world mourns as Keshi, Ali bow out in glory
THE world has in the last few days been thrown into mourning with the death of legendary former heavyweight boxing champion, Mohammed Ali and iconic former Super Eagles’ captain and coach, Stephen Keshi. The two sport personalities had brought smiles to millions of faces around the world with their skills, and many wished and prayed to be like them.
It is not uncommon to see kids calling themselves Mohammed Ali, bouncing around the playground and throwing punches in reverence of the late boxing great, just as kids who played street football nicknamed themselves Keshi in admiration of his defensive and organisational skills on and off the pitch. They were loved by their adversaries as well as their friends.
So when the news of their death filtered in like whirlwind, it was clear the world had lost rare gems who inspired their generation and many others after them. At the height of their illustrious careers, they were role models to many and were the darling of many sports enthusiasts. Even in retirement, their accomplishments became the yardstick for judging others.
Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay, was the first to depart to the great beyond last Saturday at the age of 74 after suffering from Parkinson disease for 32 years. The 1960 Olympic gold medalists became the poster boy of boxing all over the world after he made his professional debut, winning a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker.
He steadily amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 knockouts, beating the likes of Tony Esperiti, Jim Robinson, Alonzo Johnson and many others. By late 1963, Ali had become a top contender for Sonny Liston’s title (Liston had earlier said that he would be charged for murder if he fought Ali).
The epic battle was fixed for February 25, 1964 and Ali triumphed against all odds. Liston, who was heavily favoured to win, failed to answer the bell for the seventh round and Ali was crowned the undisputed heavyweight champions to the surprise of many who had given the fight to the heavily-built Liston. He went on to have more memorable fights with George Foreman (rumble in the jungle), Joe Frazer, Ken North and Larry Holmes at a time the heavyweight division had reputable boxers.
With odds against him, Ali was always fearless and his boxing style (bouncing around the ring and wearing out his opponent before unleashing the killer punch) confounded his opponents. He described himself as the boxer who ‘flew like the butterfly and stung like the bee’. He also vocally belittled his opponents and vaunted his abilities before, during and after fights.
Ali also had his run-in with the law. He was stripped of his title due to his refusal to be drafted to army service in June 1966. His boxing licence was also suspended by the state of New York. He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20 and sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He paid a bond and remained free while the verdict was being appealed. He was, however, not able to fight for four years, during which time he became an activist, opposing the Vietnam War and his stance gained sympathy.
The Parkinson disease dealt a heavy blow on Ali as he had to be cared for meticulously during his last days. He will be remembered as a loving father and one of the greatest athletes of all time and pugilist who brought glamour to boxing.
Keshi, on his part, will be remembered as the man who revolutionised Nigerian football albeit rebelliously. In 1985, he failed to report to the national team camp for international games while he was with New Nigeria Bank of Benin with teammates Henry Nwosu, Sunday Eboigbe and Bright Omokaro. They were subsequently suspended for six months by the Tony Ikhazoboh-led Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and Keshi moved to Cote D’Ivoire where he had successful spells with Stade d’Abidjan and African Sports before he moved to Lokeren in Belgium.
His move to Begium opened the floodgate for Nigerian players who went on to have illustrious careers in Europe. He was instrumental to the movement of Nigerian players to Belgium in the late 80’s and early 90’s and would forever be remembered for his leadership qualities on and off the pitch.
He made 64 appearances for the national team, winning his first cap at 19 in 1981 in a 1-0 win over Burkina Faso and making his final appearance against Greece at the 1994 World Cup in the US. Though by 1994, his form had dropped, he was instrumental to the team’s victory at the Nations Cup in Tunisia and World Cup qualification in Algeria inspiring his colleagues from the sidelines.
His sterling display and leadership qualities on and off the field caught the fancy of Anderlecht who signed the towering defender. He played his best football in the club where he played from 1987-1991, scoring 18 goals. He also had further spells with FC Strasbourg of France, Racing While Daring Molenbeek (RWDM), Belgium, Central California Valley Hydra (CCVH), Sacramento Scorpions, Perlis FA in Malaysia, amassing 386 club appearances and scoring 51 goals.
After a successful playing career, Keshi went to the United States to be educated in coaching. He had 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 (AYC) where Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Youth Championship.
He qualified Togo, surprisingly, for their first World Cup tournament appearance in Germany in 2006, but was sacked after Togo performed poorly at the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt. He was, however, re-engaged by Togo in February 2007 in time for a friendly against Cameroun.
He worked as manager of the Mali national football team, having been appointed in April 2008 on a two-year deal. Keshi was sacked in January 2010 over Mali’s early exit in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Keshi’s crowning moment as a coach came in 2013 when he led the Super Eagles, made up of a bunch of rookies, to win the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa after putting the team together for two years. He was adjudged the African Coach of the Year the same year but was sacked after he failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2015 edition of African Nations Cup.
His death was more shattering because his wife, Kate, had died in December and his children were looking up to him for guidance. This is definitely a huge loss to his family, the sports fraternity and Nigeria in general.
He was revered for achieving great things with the Super Eagles. He remains the only Nigerian to have won the African Nations Cup as a player and coach; and the second in Africa, the other being Egypt’s Mahmoud El- Gohary.
For all those who mourn these international icons, they should take inspiration in the Latin saying, Tempus fugit memento mori (time flies, remember death).
THE world woke up to a shock when the news of the death of ex super eagle’s captain and Coach, Steven Keshi broke in the early hours of Wednesday.
However, some Nigerian entertainers have expressed shock and paid their condolences to the late Keshi’s family through various social media.
One of such is comedian Julius Agwu who took to his Twitter handle to mourn the late coach. “This truly exemplifies the brevity of human existence. Stephen Okechuckwu Keshi… you came, you saw, you got trophies rip.”
Sound sultan also wrote “Rest in peace to the legend. Stephen Keshi.”
Also one half of the Psquare fame, Peter Okoye wrote on his Instagram page; “he made us proud!!! Still in shock!!! RIP to the great coach Stephen Keshi.”
In 2013, Keshi did the country proud when he led the Super Eagles to clinch African Nations cup in South Africa.
It is being reported that Keshi died of Cardiac arrest early Wednesday morning. He is survived by four children and his mother. Last December, he lost his wife to cancer.
SPEAK no ill of the dead. That is an unwritten creed that governs life in this part of the world. Hence at the death of an individual, his sworn enemies launch into eulogy, telling of the goodness and perfect ways of the departed soul in a manner that the holiness of saints pale into insignificance. So it was with the death of former Super Eagles skipper and coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, in the early hours of Wednesday. The news of his death had barely filtered out when some individuals, with whom Keshi had a no love lost relationship, began to sing about his wondrous deeds and perfect nature. Eniyan kii suwon laaye, ojo a ba ku la n d’ere (the heroics of a living man is never appreciated, but in death, he is treated like a deity), says the age-long Yoruba aphorism. Nigerians got a perfect example of this when upon the death of the late leader of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in 1987, former Biafran leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu, who had worked tirelessly against Awolowo’s presidential aspiration, went on national television and declared him “the best president Nigeria never had!” Of course, Keshi fully deserves all the encomiums that have been poured on him since he passed on. Not just because he was the nation’s inimitable football ambassador, but also because he was the only Nigerian to have won the prestigious African Cup of Nations as a player and later as a coach. His move to Cote d’Ivoire and later to Belgium to play professional football in the early 1980s became the sluice gate through which Nigerian football players trooped to Europe for professional careers. In no time, Keshi became the poster boy of Nigerian football and was reputed for deploying his personal resources to ensure that many Nigerian players secured mouthwatering contracts with various European clubs. But one can easily tell from experience that the eulogies that are being showered on the departed former Super Eagles coach are at best perfunctory. My advice to his admirers is that they should enjoy this moment the best way they can because it may well be all that Keshi will get for all his years of sacrifice. There will be no major street or playground named after him, not to talk of a governmentowned stadium. I wager that on June 8 next year, only some members of Keshi’s family and a few of his intimate friends will remember the first anniversary of his death. That may be worse news than Keshi’s death, but it is the truth. My optimism is based on the treatments that were meted out to other departed footballers before him, some of whom exhibited far more zeal and patriotism in service to their fatherland. Of particular interest here is the late Super Eagles (then Green Eagles) midfield impresario, Sam Okwaraji, the 25-yr-old indigene of Umudoka village, Orlu, Imo State and holder of University of Rome’s masters degree in International Law, who collapsed and died of congestive heart failure while playing in a World Cup qualifier against Angola at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on august 12, 1989. Okwaraji had broken into the senior national team in 1988 and in less than one year established himself as one of the nation’s most skillful midfielders. The football world remembers him for scoring one of the fastest goals in the history of African Cup of Nations competition against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun in Morocco in 1988, where he played every match involving Nigeria at the competition until the Eagles lost to Cameroun (their perennial rivals) by a lone goal in the final. Barely one year after his sterling display at the tournament, tragedy struck and his sun set at midday. Everyone thought it was a minor incident when he fell and lay still on the pitch. But the reality soon dawned on everyone that Okwaraji, who at that time was already writing his PhD thesis in Law, had become the first Nigerian footballer to die playing for his country. More remarkable than his benumbing skill was the zeal with which he honoured national call-ups from his base in Germany. He never shunned a single call-up and was reputed for paying his own fares to play in matches involving Nigeria. A former chairman of the Nigerian Football Association (now the Nigerian Football Federation), John Obakpolor, once recalled how Okwaraji charged at his manager on one occasion for asking Nigeria to pay $45,000 to his club before he could be released for a world cup qualification match. Okwaraji reportedly stood up to his manager and said: “I am a lawyer, you know, and I signed to play football on certain conditions. But I don’t think it included reselling my services to my country. You or the club cannot stop me from playing for my country. Let me tell you, I am going to represent my country at the world cup in Italy, whether you like it or not, and I would very much like you to be there.” A worried Obakpolor was said to have reminded Okwaraji of the implications of charging at his manager, but the young man had no apologies as he turned to Obakpolor and said: “My chairman, I realise that. But this man (Okwaraji’s coach) has no right to talk to you the way he did. I am a Nigerian and I will die fighting for the dignity of my country.” Elsewhere, the anniversary of the death of such a patriot would become an annual national event, but I doubt if 10 per cent of Nigerians who were adults at the time Okwaraji died can correctly recall the anniversary of his death, not to talk of celebrating him. Keshi’s death on June 8 was in every sense the end of an era in Nigerian football. But I am certain that the whip of contempt used on Okwaraji, Rashidi Yekini and other deceased footballers who had fetched and carried for Nigeria is reserved for him. Mercifully, he may have done enough to etch his name in the minds of the young Nigerians whose professional careers he facilitated.
The Principal of St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos, Daniel Ikediobi, on Friday said the late former Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, was admitted to the college because of his football prowess.
“Stephen Keshi was admitted into the school on scholarship due to his dexterity in football.
“He was admitted into form three during the 1977/1978 academic session by the founding principal of the college, Rev. Fr. Dennis Slatery,’’ Ikediobi told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
He said the principal, who was the first Chairman of Nigeria Football Association (NFA), and first Chairman of Nigerian Referees Association (NRA), attracted students who exhibited good skills in football to the school.
“Fr. Slatery attracted students who were potential footballers by offering scholarships or soft landing to them because St. Finbarr’s College is a football-playing school.
“Any issue that concerned Keshi was considered if his parents could not meet up,’’ Ikediobi said while paying tribute to the football legend.
According to him, the ex- Super Eagles captain was poached while playing for his former school during the Lagos State Principal Cup competition.
He said Keshi played for the school in the competition the year he was admitted and won the tournament which was the last he played before he left in 1979/1980 session.
The head teacher, who was the Physics teacher then, said he could not say much about Keshi’s academic performance because he was an arts student.
“I cannot say much about his brilliance in academics, but being prominent in football with Henry Nwosu, he was known to be relatively cool headed.
“He was not involved in any activity that warranted him being suspended or expelled from the school throughout his days,’’ the principal said.
Gent winger Moses Simon and AS Trencin fullback Kingsley Madu visited the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) office in Abuja on Thursday morning.
The pair were at the Glass House to sign a condolence register in honour of former Nigeria skipper Stephen Keshi who passed away on Wednesday in Benin City due to a suspected cardiac arrest.
NFF president Amaju Pinnick was the first person that signed the condolence register of the former New Nigeria Bank central defender.
Keshi coached the Nigerian, Malian and Togolese national teams and was named Coach of the Year by CAF in 2013 after leading the Super Eagles to win the African Cup of Nations hosted by South Africa.
President of The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, on Thursday described the death of former Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, as shocking.
A statement issued by CAN National Secretary, Rev. Musa Asake, in Abuja, said: “On behalf of the President of The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, OFR, and the entire Christian Community, I commiserate with the family of the late Stephen Keshi, and the entire football-loving Nigerians over the demise of the late former captain and coach of the super eagles,
“With shock and deep sense of loss we received the news of the death of the former Super Eagles captain and coach, CAN is pained. Indeed his passing is a great loss to the footballing community around the world and the church. Definitely, he would be greatly missed. CAN as a family stands by the family of the deceased at this time of grief, we pray that the Lord will comfort and uphold the family left behind as they take solace in Christ Jesus.
“We want the family to also be consoled that Keshi impacted on the lives of millions of football followers, he lived a good life, ran and won a good race. I pray God to grant his immediate family, Nigeria and the global football community, the fortitude to bear the great loss.
“We also prayed that Nigeria football house to learn from the experiences of the football hero who won many laurels for the nation in the time past. May God grant his soul eternal rest. Amen. On behalf of everyone in CAN, do accept my sympathy.”
For Stephen Okechukwu Kechi, the journey ended yesterday. ADEYINKA ADEDIPE writes on the life and times of the Delta State-born footballer, who won the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) twice – in 1994 as a national team captain, and in 2013 as the team’s coach.
The news of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi’s death filtered in like a whirlwind in the early hours of yesterday. Not a few football enthusiasts took the shattering news with skepticism. He had not been reported sick, many wondered, and they waited for confirmation before going to town with the bombshell. Many of his former colleagues did not even know he was in Nigeria and when they were confronted with the sad reality, they were stupefied and wept for ‘The Big Boss’, a nickname he earned for his leadsrhip qualities in the football circle.
Death is inevitable end. Yet, it is always a surprise when it happens to a well-known person, who is well-loved by many. Keshi’s death was one of such surprises.
His death was more devastating, coming barely six months after that of his wife, Kate. She had passed on in December last year, leaving his children to look up to him for guidance. To Keshi’s immediate family, the sports fraternity, Nigeria in general and the world at large, it was one death too many.
‘The Big Boss’ attained fame and revered for taking Nigeria’s senior National Team – the Super Eagles to loftier heights. He remains the only Nigerian to have won the African Nations Cup as a player in 1994 and as a coach in 2013; and the second in Africa to attain such feat, trailing Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary.
Keshi was jobless since his disengagement by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), following his inability to qualify Nigeria for 2015 AFCON. He, however, returned as ‘Caretaker Coach’ before he was again kicked out by the NFF after it was rumoured that he was discusing with Cote d’Ivoire’s football body. He was close to picking a job with a top South Africa team before his demise. But for his death, Keshi would have left Nigeria for the United States (U.S.) to see his children and take care of some needs before travelling to perfect the South African deal.
The job, a close confidant told The Nation, was his to pick.
How he died
There was nothing suggestive that his death was near. According to sources close to the family, he had complained of pains in his legs and was given a massage to ease the pain. However, the pain failed to subside and he started feeling uncomfortable and never made it to the hospital. The hospital report stated he was Brought In Dead (BID). His brother-in-law, Ricky Aburime, said the family was still shocked by the news of Keshi’s death.
He said: “I was called when the situation became complicated and I was to meet him at the Faith Mediplex in Benin, but he was dead even before I got there and according to the hospital report he was brought in dead. I took his body into the mogue by 3am.” He also stated that the police was contacted to ensure the pathologist work on his corpse.
Keshi was a patriot
A close pal of the late coach, Tunde Soneye, described Keshi as a patriot who never wanted to see the Super Eagles lose a game. “I am very close to Keshi and he was like an elder brother to me since I met him in the 80’s when he was playing for the Super Eagles. I talked to him on Monday and he didn’t tell me he had any health issues bothering him.
“When I spoke to him, he was eager to know how Samson Siasia was doing with the Under 23 Team at the Suwon Tournament. He was happy to know that the team won the final game against Honduras 3-1 and expressed optimism that the team would learn from their mistakes.
“He also told me that he would be in Lagos on Wednesday where he would connect a flight to the U.S. and was also on hand to get a new job in South Africa. That will not happen again as he has gone to rest in the bossom of the Lord.
“I cant believe that I will not see him again. He was a patriot and he didn’t want to lose any game even as a player and as a coach. He didn’t like how he was sacked and he was of the belief that he still had so much to offer Nigerian football. To lose him at this time is painful and sad.”
Playing Career
Born on January 31, 1961, Keshi started his club career in 1979 with the defunct Africa Continental Bank (ACB), making 10 appearances and scoring one goal from his central defence position. His performance soon caught the eye of his home club, New Nigeria Bank (NNB), where he played for four glorious years, winning the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Cup in 1983. The team’s playing pattern was breath-taking and the ease with which it dispatched its opponents, especially in the WAFU competition, reminded one of the present day Barcelona FC of Spain with their tiki taka (passing game). He made 42 appearances for NNB, scoring four goals in the process.
After failing to meet the deadline in reporting to the national team camp in 1985 for crucial international games, the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), headed by the late Tony Ikhazoboh, Keshi, and three other players from NNB – Bright Omokaro, Sunday Eboigbe and Henry Nwosu – were banned from playing for their club and the country for six months. That ban paved the way for his relocation to Stade’Abidjan, in Cote d’Ivoire, where he became an instant success. He was soon on his way to Africa Sports, where his performance thrilled scouts from Europe and he was transferred to Lokeren of Belgium in 1986, where he scored six goals in 28 appearances.
His sterling performance and leadership qualities off the pitch, caught the fancy of Anderlecht, who signed the towering defender. He played his best football in the club from 1987-1991, scoring 18 goals. He also had further spells with FC Strasbourg of France; Racing While Daring Molenbeek (RWDM), Belgium; Central California Valley Hydra (CCVH) and Sacramento Scorpions, Perlis FA in Malaysia.
National
Team/Revolution
He made 64 appearances for the national team, winning his first cap at 19 in 1981 in a 1-0 win over Burkina Faso and making his final appearance against Greece at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. His suspension by the NFA in 1985 after which he went to Cote d’Ivoire and later to Belgium, opened the floodgate for Nigerian players, who went on to have illustrious career in Europe. He was instrumental to the movement of Nigerian players to Belgium in the late 80’s and early 90’s. He would forever be remembered for his leadership qualities. Though his form had dropped in 1994, he was stil instrumental to the team’s victory at the Nations Cup in Tunisia and World Cup in the U.S.
Coaching Career
After a playing career, mostly in Belgian clubs, Keshi went to the U.S. to sharpen his coaching skills. He was part of the coaching crew for the national team, notably as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship, in which Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Youth Championship.
Between 2004 and 2006, the late Keshi coached the Togolese national football team, surprisingly taking them to Germany for their first-ever World Cup tournament in 2006. Having secured Togo’s unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by a German coach. But after an appalling performance by Togo at the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, the late Keshi was re-engaged by Togo in February 2007 ahead of a friendly against Cameroon.
In 2008, he signed a two-year contract to manage Mali’s national football team. Keshi was sacked in January 2010, after Mali’s early exit in the group stages at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Keshi became the Super Eagles in 2011. He qualifiled Nigeria for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which the country won, defeating Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final. A day after the victory, Keshi filed his resignation letter, only to reverse his decision the following day. He led Nigeria to the 2013 Confederations Cup in which he defeated Tahiti 6–1, lost 1–2 to Uruguay in the second game, and lost 0–3 to World Cup champions, Spain in their final group game.
On November 16, 2013, Keshi as the national team captain, secured Nigeria’s qualification to the 2014 World Cup by beating Ethiopia 4–1 on aggregate in a play-off. On November 18, 2013, he set a record in the 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 the country win the African Cup of Nations trophy and World Cup qualification, both in 2013.
On June 25, 2014, Keshi’s Eagles’ progressed to the knockout stage at the World Cup. They started the tournament with a 0-0 draw against Iran and a 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.
On June 30, 2014, the Super Eagles lost to France in a 2014 World Cup Round of 16 match. After the match, Keshi announced his resignation as Super Eagles coach, but later reversed the decision after the NFF renewed his contract. On October 14, 2014, his team failed to win a single game in Morocco 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifying series. He spoke of a plan to move to another job following mounting pressures from certain quarters, which he declined to disclose. He alleged some people were trying to “sabotage” him. However, he stated that he will continue to coach the Super Eagles because he loved the team and his country.
In July last year, following Nigeria’s exit from the World Cup, Keshi’s contract with the 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 inactions 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.”
He was adjudged the African Coach of the Year 2013.
What the people say
Babatunde Michael “Can’t still believe that Coach Stephen Keshi is no more and can’t even find the right words to express how sad I am on hearing that a man who announced me to the world is gone all of a sudden. I will forever love and respect you my coach, my legend and my father.”
Chief Adeboye Onigbinde “When I made him the captain, I saw some qualities in him and he was also a dedicated player. He has this leadership trait that stands him out so it was easy for me to name him the captain of the senior national team in 1983. After then, we were not that close, but I knew when he worked with Shuaibu Amodu as assistant coach and when he took charge of the team. We will surely miss his service and it is unfortunate that he had to leave us at this time.”
Mutiu Adepoju “Before we joined the national team, we were all looking up to him as captain. He was such a cool and calm person, who never talked too much while in the team. He was very firm and nice to all of us when we joined the team. He was respected in the team because of the way he carried himself.”
NFF chief Amaju Pinnick “This is devastating. We have lost a super hero. The NFF Board will meet and decide on the best way to honour Stephen Keshi. We will be fully involved in the arrangements for the final burial rites.”
Confederation of African Football (CAF) “We have learnt with great dismay and immense sadness the passing away of African and Nigerian football legend Stephen Okechukwu Keshi today. Even if Stephen Keshi left us too early, he achieved an incredible career, both as a player and as a coach, being one of only two people in African football history, along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player, in Tunisia in 1994, and as a coach, in South Africa in 2013.”
Buruj MD “The news of coach Stephen Keshi’s death came to me as a rude shock. It’s a shame that a man of his stature can die just like that because whether we like it or not, the man was a national hero based on his contribution to the development of our football, both as a player and a coach.”
Sunday Oliseh “Horrible news and sad day as our legendary captain and brother Stephen Keshi dies. May his blessed soul rest in peace. We lost an iconic Hero today.”
Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, former soccer star who led the way for many African footballers in Europe and Nigeria’s most successful coach, is dead.
Keshi died on Tuesday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, at 11.45 p.m. of yet unknown case. He was 54.
The late former Super Eagles chief coach’s brother in-law spoke yesterday of his last moments.
Ricky Aburime told The Nation that the late Keshi complained about his leg. “You won’t believe it that Keshi passed on in just 15 minutes,” he said, adding: “I got a call saying that Keshi had complained about his leg which I think they helped to massage. Then he told those with him that he was feeling funny. He asked that he should be taken to the hospital.”
Fighting back tears as he spoke on the telephone from Benin City, Aburime, who was at the Faith Mediflex Centre, a hospital on Airport Road, where Keshi was pronounced dead, said he was woken up from his sleep and asked to rush down to Keshi’s house – a few minutes away.
“When I got the distress call, I told my wife that I needed to go and find out what the problem was. He was massaged, only for him to complain again. By this time he was gasping for breath. When the doctor arrived at the hospital, he confirmed Keshi dead like the nurse said when she checked his pulse. The nurse said he had no pulse. It was about 11. 57pm. In fact, from the way the doctors spoke, there was nothing that they could do,” Aburime, adding:
“I got inside where he was being treated. I found Keshi lying down, dead. I was the one who put him in the morgue. We have informed the police to incident the matter, considering Keshi’s status.
‘ I’m here with the Edo State Football Association (EDFA) Chairman, Frank Ilaboya. We are waiting for the police pathologist, Wilson Akiru, to perform the autopsy. I don’t know what is happening to my family. Only in January, we laid my sister Kate, Keshi’s wife, to rest. Now this shocking death,” Aburime said before handing over the telephone to Ilaboya.
When The Nation asked Ilaboya if he had seen Keshi’s remains, he said: “My brother, I’m standing before Keshi’s body. It is true that he is dead. In fact, I’m looking at a lifeless Keshi, lying on the tray, still looking handsome. It is as if he is sleeping. The difference is that he cannot communicate with us. Otherwise, I could have handed over the phone to him.”
“I’m still in shock. We will leave here for the stadium, where we will open two condolence registers at the boardroom and the Football office for sympathisers. We will open another register or two at Keshi’s residence,” Ilaboya said.
Keshi’s body was yesterday moved to the Stella Obasanjo Hospital morgue in Benin City.
Aburime said the autopsy will not be done until the coach’s first daughter arrives from the United States. She insisted that she must be present at the autopsy.
The daughter is expected in Nigeria at the weekend. “We need to respect her decision,” Aburime said.