NFF still acting on President’s directive, says Ezeugo

FORMER Super Eagles player, Emeka Ezeugo, has urged those calling on the  Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) not to reinstate out of contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, to stop wasting their time, saying that the board lacked the power to do that.

According to Ezeugo, the order given by President Goodluck Jonathan to reinstate Keshi when the federation sacked the former Mali boss remained sacrosanct.

Ezeugo noted that the federation decided not to look elsewhere for another coach for the Eagles because of the respect it has for the Presidency.

He, however, wondered why  Keshi should be asked to go after equaling the feat achieved by Clemence Westerhof, who Nigerians acclaim as one of the best coaches to ever handle the Super Eagles.

He reasoned that in other climes, national team coaches were allowed to continue building  their team even if they failed to deliver in one championship, adding that Keshi should still be allowed to complete the job he started with the national team.

Ezeugo believes the Super Eagles could become great again if committed players were injected  into the team.

“From my own point of view, Keshi should be allowed to continue with the Eagles after all he has achieved all that Westerhof did with the team.

“Westerhof won the 1994 Nations Cup and qualified Nigeria for the World Cup in the same year and got to the second round of the championship. Keshi also achieved the same feat. This shows he has more to offer.

“Because Keshi did not qualify for the 2015 Nations Cup people are asking him to go, it is not right. The Spanish team, who were the defending champions at the 2014 World Cup, were disgraced out of the championship and their coach Vicente del Bosque was not sacked. This is a country that believes in continuity. We must learn to keep encouraging our coaches to excel even if they failed to win a match or performed below expectations in a particular championship,” he added.