when he resigned from his role in charge of the Super Eagles
just hours after they won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in
South Africa.
The 53-year-old has now given reasons why he took the
crucial decision that threw Nigeria into disarray and made
the country's leaders run helter skelter late in the night to
get him to rescind his decision.
Moments earlier, Sunday Mba's 40th minute goal had seen
the Eagles edge Burkina Faso to win their third Afcon crown,
the first since Keshi captained the team to the title 19 years
before in Tunisia.
While giving reasons for his resignation, the former defender
said that many people were interested in his job in South
Africa, therefore undermining his work.
“Too many problems. People were not doing their jobs and
they wanted to do my job for me. So, I decided to resign and
let somebody else do the job. Too many people were talking;
too many people wanted to coach, wanted to decide for you.
And I said okay let them have the job,” Keshi said in a
revealing interview with The Cable , days after burying his
late wife.
“They were not there to know how we suffered there. We
were neglected. How we were abused. They didn’t have to
say anything. After abusing us and cursing us like we were
babies, we just said that was it. It is football; someone else
will come and start it. So, I decided to let go at that point."
Nigeria began the tournament with two draws - both 1-1
games against Burkina Faso and Zambia - leading to
pressure on Keshi and his technical crew from the Nigeria
Football Federation, journalists and fans back home.
The team went on to win their crucial third group game
against Ethiopia (2-0), before stopping tournament
favourites Cote d'Ivoire 2-1 in the quarter final, and a 4-1
mauling of Mali in the semi final reunited them with group
stage opponents Burkina Faso, which they won by the odd
goal. And then Keshi announced his resignation on a
Johannesburg radio station before the celebrations had
petered out.
"All that happened in South Africa. All the threats happened
in South Africa, South Africa was where the AFCON took
place, it was in the same South Africa that they wanted to
sack us after two games, where they were insulting us, so I
might have ended it in South Africa. So, why do I have to
take it to Nigeria – to do what?,” he continued
Keshi recalled that the NFF were ready to strip him of his
duties in a foreign land while the tournament was still on.
“They should have allowed us to finish our tournament and
announce sack or no sack. They were not ready to do that
but rather during the tournament. Why is it that it is when
Keshi did his that everyone started talking? But when the
NFF was doing their own, nobody said anything," he
concluded.
After announcing his resignation, he was prevailed upon to
return and he eventually took the Super Eagles to the 2014
World Cup in Brazil where the team reached the Round of
16, the first time since 1998.
However, Keshi would be finally shown the way out following the Eagles' failure to qualify for the 2015 Afcon
that took place in Equatorial Guinea.
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