Oliseh, The Hand Tool Of NFF

It is no longer news that Lille FC of France goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama has retired from international football, but the events that led to his “early retirement” (as many believed he could have played on till after the 2018 World Cup) have generated a lot of talking points from stakeholders and fans alike.

The 33 ­year old shot­stopper, who is the Nigeria’s most capped player, having made 101 appearances, buried his late mother last weekend after which he reported to the Super Eagles’ camp in Belgium on Tuesday, one day later than the deadline given by the chief coach, Sunday Oliseh.

The former Enyimba of Aba player, on getting to camp that night accosted Oliseh during dinner, wanting to know why the captain arm­band has been transferred to Ahmed Musa, but the coach shouted him down, saying the platform wasn't right for that discussion.

Paraphrasing Enyeama's comments on his Instagram page, he said that the coach insulted his late mum, despite his 13­year of dedication to the country, and also instructed the hotel's security to bundle him out. 

However, Oliseh in an interview with the team's media office, Toyin Ibitoye, on Friday claimed Enyeama maligned his character with all his comments on the social media.

Oliseh also added that he knew Enyeama would arrive late due to commitments on his mum's burial, and so wasn't angry about it. 

In other words, we can deduce that this matter was all about the captaincy of the team, which Enyeama wasn't satisfied about and felt the team's dinner was the right place to thrash the scenario.

Without any fear, we can safely say that this row goes beyond the coach, Sunday Oliseh, as the NFF, who have played little or no role in solving this issue orchestrated the whole matter.

Ask me how:

Before the 2-­0 victory over Chad in Kaduna, which incidentally was Stephen Keshi's last game, even though what he did was appalling, Enyeama made security alert claims about the venue of the game, which didn’t go down well with the NFF, as he was subsequently summoned by the NFF's disciplinary committee for grilling, after which the reaction of Nigerians made them sweep the case under the carpet.

But, what is surprising is the inability of some dumb Nigerians to link issues, regardless of its time and location.

It is also a fact that someone or some people in the NFF weren't satisfied because they felt Enyeama should have been dealt with, the same way they sacked Keshi after traveling all the way to Ivory Coast to inquire if indeed the big Boss submitted an application to their FA for the managerial job while he was still contracted to the NFF.

Although, most people have forgotten that the NFF claimed they didn’t have money, yet they could afford to send a delegation to Ivory Coast, just to roast Keshi at that time.

Another question: when was the coach going to tell Nigerians about the change of captain, or is Oliseh telling us that we don't deserve to know until the altercation in Belgium?

Oliseh agreed that Enyeama wanted to ask a question, which we believe was on the captaincy issue, but said they would discuss that in private, we agree that the coach has the right to choose the captain, but does he also own the right to inform the over 170 million Nigerians who put him in his current position? I doubt.

It is really unfortunate that just after three games in charge of the Nigerian senior national team, Oliseh failed to manage his first major crisis with the team's oldest player, preventing the 33­year old from setting an enviable record for himself and the country, and also the African continent.

In the real sense of it, Oliseh has little or no coaching skill, but we would have expected that he used his man­managerial skills to cover up for his lapses on the pitch. But it's obvious that the 41­year old former skipper lacks both, a refresher course won’t be a bad idea.