Shuaibu Amodu: Nigerian football so unfair to me

• Lamentations of late Coach Amodu After Angola 2010 Nations Cup

The flight from the Angolan capital city, Luanda to Johannesburg in South Africa was fully booked. The 2010 edition of the African Nations Cup had just ended and players, coaches, supporters club members, officials of the various football federations and even journalists, who covered the championship, were eager to leave Luanda, a city tagged as second most expensive place in the World.

Five Super Eagles players had left earlier in the day on a chartered flight to Lagos, leaving coach Shuaibu Amodu, his assistants, backroom staff of the NFF and other players behind.

The Eagles had lost 0-1 to the Black Stars of Ghana in the semifinal in Luanda, but Amodu was able to salvage a third place win against Algeria in Benguela.

With the bronze medal, Amodu was expecting the NFF, led then by Sani Lulu and indeed his players to show him some level of respect. It was not to be.

As the jumbo South Africa Airways plane was battling the stormy weather to Jo’burg, so many issues were running on the minds of Nigerians inside the plane, including Amodu.

Would the NFF be fair enough to allow Amodu take the Super Eagles to the fast approaching FIFA World Cup in South Africa or would it be another case of ‘no show’ just as was the case after he qualified Nigeria for Japan/Korea World Cup in 2002?

The flight had finally settled on air and it was cruising time. After meal was served, some of the passengers took time to move around. It provided an opportunity for The Guardian to meet with coach Amudu, who was sitting not too far away.

“I am really troubled at the moment,” Amodu said, clearing his throat. “I am worried not because the Super Eagles failed to win the Nations Cup, but the level of ‘ingratitude’ being displayed by the NFF and even my players.

“Do you know that the NFF was already shopping for my replacement even when we were still in the competition? I don’t know what will happen when we get to Nigeria, but from all indications, they are planning to get someone else to take the team to the World Cup. That will be very unfair to me because it happened eight years ago during the Korea/Japan World Cup,” he said.

At that point, Amodu adjusted himself and turned his face towards the direction of some of the players on board the flight and said: “Do you know that even some of these players have joined them (NFF) in this war against me? I have done so much for them, proving the technical expertise on the field and fighting for their welfare, yet majority of them don’t value it.