Posted by By BEN MEMULETIWON on
Former Super Eagles' captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha may have called it quit with the Super Eagles, but two bigwigs of the new Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Board have described his tenure as Nigeria's football captain as the worst in about two decades.
Former Super Eagles' captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha may have called it quit with the Super Eagles, but two bigwigs of the new Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Board have described his tenure as Nigeria's football captain as the worst in about two decades.
The FA members (names withheld), who spoke with Daily Sunsport in Aba, Abia State recently, said it was largely because of Okocha's poor leadership quality that Nigeria failed to pick a ticket to feature in the summer World Cup in Germany.
"Okocha's reign as Nigeria's captain was a disaster," the FA member from the South South Zone said.
"He may be a good player, but he has to be humble to be a good leader.
"Okocha did not show commitment to our World Cup dream. Honestly, Sunday Oliseh, Uche Okechukwu and Stephen Keshi would have done better under the circumstance Okocha played his role as Nigeria's captain."
The board member stressed that the new NFA would pay special attention on who steps into Okocha's shoes as Eagles' captain, adding that there might as well be a code of conduct for the Eagles.
"It's going to be a new dawn in Nigeria's soccer," he said. "The NFA will not take it kindly with any player or players who will try to hold the nation to ransom. Players must learn to show commitment and must take Nigeria first.
"That's why I must commend Austin Eguavoen for what he is doing with the Super Eagles. It's now apparent that Nigeria have a team of today and tomorrow, what the NFA should do is to encourage the young man as he builds his team for the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana and 2010 World Cup in South Africa."
Another top member of the NFA, who was also in the last board, condemned the Bolton Wanderers' playmaker, saying he was one of the major reasons the NFA had to sack Coach Christian Chukwu.
"What Okocha did in London when we were preparing for the match against Rwanda was to say the least, a betrayal and lack of commitment, especially from a national team captain," the man said. "In fact, Chukwu was sacked because of the lukewarm manner he handled the issue as a coach. I called him (Chukwu) into my room in Kigali and asked him what he would do about the captain, who claimed he missed his way in London, and the coach told me that Okocha would not captain the Super Eagles in the next match, which was against Angola.
"I was shocked, because for me, that punishment was too mild for the kind of offence the captain committed. But I did not want to interfere in his affairs; after all he was the chief coach. But when we got to Kano, Okocha did not only captain the team, he was highly instrumental to the players' selection for the match.
"That was one weakness Chukwu had. He's not a man of himself in team selection. He failed largely because he was not in good terms with Eguavoen when it comes to team selection. He relied heavily on using the old players. That's why Eguavoen is doing well now.
"After the Kano match, it was apparent that Chukwu had lost touch with the team. And we had no choice than to ask him to go. We had no regrets sacking him, we even delayed his sack. If we had sacked him after the Kigali draw with Rwanda, we would probably have qualified for the 2006 World Cup.
"Let me also tell you that we won the match against Gabon in Port Harcourt because of Eguavoen's input at the 11th hour. Chukwu did not consult with him when he made his selection, and when it was just about 15 minutes to the end of the match and there was no goal, he went to Eguavoen and asked him what to do. But Eguavoen snubbed him. He did that twice before I met Eguavoen and told him to do something to salvage the situation. That was when he said that Kanu should go in for Obafemi and play from the right wing.
"Kanu moved in and Nigeria scored two late goals. That was the day we would have sacked Chukwu, but we had to show restrain.
"What Eguavoen is doing now is to express himself and confirm that he can do the job."
The bigwig also told Daily Sunsport that the FA had to stop the former coach from coming to Abuja from Enugu boarding night buses.
"We had to stop Chukwu from boarding night buses to Abuja," he said. "I personally told him that such action was a national embarrassment. Not after receiving N800,000 every month. I was visibly angry with him, warning him that in case anything happens on the road, how would he want the FA to explain it. That was why he stopped joining night buses to Abuja," he said.