By Mark Baber
October 16 – The first meeting of the new Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, following the disputed but FIFA-supported election of Amaju Pinnick as President, has sacked national team coach Stephen Keshi (pictured) whilst appointing Dilichukwu Onyedinma, who caused international controversy with her campaign to drive lesbians out of Nigerian football, as Deputy Chair of the Committee of Ethics and Fair Play.
Wednesday’s meeting of the new board issued a communique praising Keshi, Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorounmu as “true national heroes” for the “glorious accomplishments” of the national team in the past three years, whilst stating: “However, in the interest of Nigeria football and the desire to ensure qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals, the Committee decided to relieve them of their duties with immediate effect.”
The sacking of Keshi came just hours after he had led Nigeria to an impressive 3-1 victory over Sudan, giving the country hope of qualification for next January’s African Cup of Nations.
The board state in their communique that: “In recognition of their contributions to the Nigeria game, the Executive Committee also approved that the trio of Keshi, Amokachi and Shorounmu should proceed to any coaching course of their choice in any country of their choice to build their capacity, at the expense of the NFF. All their entitlements will be paid within the next fortnight.”
Keshi has been part of the Nigerian team coaching staff on and off since 2001, led the Togo National Team to the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the Nigerian National Team to victory in the 2013 African Cup of Nations and secured the country’s qualification to the 2014 World Cup, so it is unlikely the offer of a coaching course will erase the memories of the way he has been treated in recent weeks.
The board announced Keshi will be replaced by a “consortium of coaches to lead the Super Eagles for ONLY the two concluding matches of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series (against Congo in Brazzaville and against South Africa in Uyo), after which an expatriate Coach will be appointed. The consortium, led by Amodu Shaibu, also has Salisu Yusuf, Gbenga Ogunbote and Aloysius Agu.”
The Executive Committee also constituted the Standing Committees of the Federation (see details below) which include Dilichukwu Onyedinma, not only as head of the Women’s Committee but also as deputy Chair of the Committee of Ethics and Fair Play.
Onyedinma earned international notoriety after she gave an interview in which she pledged that lesbianism should not be tolerated saying: “Yeah, we don’t tolerate lesbianism and we always discuss it whenever we meet. We always warn clubs and club chairmen, to please tell their players to desist from it, because any player that we pick for national competitions, and we hear a little story that is involved in that, we disqualify the player.”
It has not been explained quite how Onyedinma’s views and discriminatory actions can be reconciled with her duties as deputy head of the NFF Committee of Ethics and Fair Play and Article Three of the FIFA Statutes which aim to abolish all forms of discrimination in football including “Discrimination of any kind against a Country, private person or group of people on account of race, skin colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.”
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