• Says it is in the Interest of Nigeria
Former Nigeria coach, Sunday Oliseh has withdrawn a lawsuit against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), saying it is in the interest of the country.
“I have instructed my lawyers to withdraw the lawsuit against the NFF; after speaking with well-meaning Nigerians whom I respect a lot, I also believe that it is useless joining issues with people who are bent on deceiving and misleading Nigerians and diverting attention from reality.
“The reality is that I decided to resign on February 25 because certain vested interest in the NFF put their own interest first before the interest of our country.
“I also believe that Nigerians deserve to know the truth. I feel that it is important to know that my position as regards Nigeria coming first was a hindrance to the personal interest of certain vested interest in the NFF and for that reason anybody who is coming in as Chief Coach and puts Nigeria first will always have problems; that is for sure.
“This also explains why the importance of very necessary expenditure that are important for the progression of our country like wages of the players, benefits of players and coaches are always placed secondary whereas other expenditures that have little bearing to the progression of our country will always be first.
“For example trips that are not important for our national team to progress. I also feel that in order for Nigerians not to get the true picture and tarnish my credibility that is why they have come out with this story that they paid me and then I left.
“I have attached underneath here-since I am not going ahead with the lawsuit- the statement of my account of my Zenith Bank-the bank the NFF have used in the few occasions I have been paid.
“You can see from the month of February that there is no payment that was paid from the NFF to me up to the time I resigned on the 25th and even after that to the 29th, the month ending.
“I asked the technical committee for materials to help us against Egypt, I asked them in July 2015 and as at the time I resigned on February 25, 2016, there was no information for us even though I had reminded them on several occasions by email and there is proof of it so they dare not deny it.
“What I feel they found more important to them was trying to influence who plays for Nigeria, who gets invited and obviously I refused because they are not coaches. I also feel that it is unfair to treat players the way they have been treated because it influences how the players perform and how they react.
“So for that reason I have attached here also, of the food they are saying I didn’t buy in South Africa. I have attached it here for you to see. Where in the world does the national team coach buy food for the team to eat and we are the richest African nation, I leave it to judge yourself.
“Since I didn’t want to be part of this, of putting Nigeria secondary and personal interest first, there was no way this could continue and I felt it was time to let it be. That was why I resigned. Nothing else.
“On February 16 I wrote a demand letter to the NFF and I gave them an ultimatum for the 25th to settle issues dating way back to July 2015 and almost at midnight why that ultimatum was not met, I resigned.
“No phone call was made, no email was made to try to address this demand letter and it was clear and when I resigned, I resigned by email and also by post mail and even afterwards the president and vice-president called me and we spoke about this till almost 2am and they tried to convince me not to do that but the decision has been taken.
“Before even that I had contacted the Minister with due respect to Nigerians and to him before I even reigned I called him to tell him and alert him what I had decided as father of Nigerian sports.
“So I don’t really think you need too much convincing because you have always known our federation, what they are like. But once again it was a pleasure to serve as Nigeria’s coach and long live Nigeria. Thank you.”
