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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Former Super Eagles’ welfare coordinator, Sunmonu Bello-Osagie, has expressed unhappiness that the management of Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) board has not been sacked after the disastrous ouster of the Super Eagles for Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Bello-Osagie, who was reacting to the elimination of the Super Eagles by Black Stars of Ghana, said only the template adopted by Clemens Westerhof, the Dutch former manager of Super Eagles, who discovered Finidi George, Daniel Amokachi, Jay Jay Okocha Kanu Nwankwos and Emmanuel Amuneke, would rescue the dwindling fortunes of Nigerian football.
He said: “My take as regards us not going to Qatar, particularly the match between Nigeria and Ghana, was a national embarrassment. But I would also say that it was also a blessing in disguise. Why do I say that? It is an opportunity for us to look back and reflect, and open our strategy book that we used when we had great results in football.
“From the 80s to the 90s, we had a great man called Clemens Westerhof. He came, he stayed in Nigeria, and he was the foreign coach but constantly was always going around our league venues and started recruiting players. Finidi was playing for Sharks of Port Harcourt, when he discovered him. Daniel Amokachi was with Ranchers Bees in Kaduna; he discovered him. Jay Jay Okocha was in Rangers, Kanu Nwankwos, all these other players that are now a household name in Nigeria, the goalkeepers, all of them played in our league. Our league those days was like our premiership, the stadium was always filled to capacity.
