Football-loving Nigerians on Saturday were shocked to their bones when the news broke about the death of ex-skipper of the then Green Eagles, Christian Chukwu. He was a legend of the game at club and national team levels. Chukwu was 74.
Tributes came in like torrents from various parts of the world because a huge football figure just deserted at a time his wealth of experience was still needed. Chukwu was full of life.
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His sense of humour was as legendary as his football career. There was never a dull moment with ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu. He was always cracking jokes among his colleagues and also making people feel good around him. In the past two years, Chukwu has been in and out of hospital within and outside the country but good enough, he became hale and hearty at some point, living a normal life.
Thanks to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and Chief Femi Otedola. The football legend lived a good life. Not many remembered he was an assistant coach to late Sebastin Brodrick when the Golden Eaglets ruled the world for the first time in 1985 in China with Nduka Ugbade as skipper.
He was also the skipper of the Eagles when Nigeria won her first Africa Cup of Nations in Lagos, Nigeria. Chukwu played a pivotal role in the success of the team on and off the pitch. As a coach, he also won laurels with the Super Eagles at various events including the bronze medal in Tunisia in 2004 under severe conditions.
President Bola Tinubu and many state governors, the National Sports Commission and Nigeria Football Federation paid glowing tributes to the departed legend.
While we were still mourning, news broke that the legend was being owed by the NFF untill his death. It was emotionally shocking.
The NFF, rather than allow the issue slide and allow the hero to rest in peace, responded swiftly that the body was not owing Chukwu or any other coach. It was bizarre! How can the football body be talking about owing or not owing the late legend at a time the nation was still in mourning? Who are those advising these officials who cannot see beyond their noses?
We all know the federation does owe players and officials. Till his death, Chukwu granted interviews, stating that he was being owed but the NFF never responded but after his death, the body came out to deny ever owing the late hero.
This ongoing saga on the late legend is a big lesson for all the domestic coaches in the country. The Nigerian coaches should stop taking up appointments by mere verbal agreements; it is important to sign contracts just as coaches from other parts of the world will insist on.
The current coach of the Super Eagles is an African, a Malian precisely, and he is on contract. The NFF makes appointments of Nigerian coaches on the pages of newspapers and they also jump at it only to later cry out that they were not well treated. This has been the case over the years.
I will give two examples. Coach Fatai Amao came out to say that he is still being owed till date. A former international, Ifeanyi Udeze, also spoke on a live radio show, Brila FM, that he was being owed over $13,000 till date. He added that he was not ready to press for it but was only stating the records.
I spoke with some indigenous coaches who handled the national team in recent years and they are also being owed. The NFF as we speak is owing secretariat staff members and one wonders why the noise about late Christian Chukwu at a time we should be talking about immortalizing the football legend and also see what to do to make the family comfortable.
Recent reports also have it that one of the children of the late hero has decided to go to court and this is as a result of the utterances of the NFF after the death of Chukwu. The soul of the legend should be allowed to rest in peace. Chukwu deserves that. He was a peaceful man.
Going forward, the NFF should extend the same respect given to a foreign handlers to the indigenous coaches. They are the pride of the nation and they deserve to be encouraged. They can as well do the job but the same society we are will disturb them, put pressure on them on their interests respectively in the national team.
Nigeria is a big footballing nation and everything being done in the country should be in conformity with the best practices all over the world without sentiments.
If this is done, the national teams including the Super Eagles will be making the lovers of the game happy with good results.
Football is surely more than what we see in 90 minutes but also so many hours, days, weeks and months of hard work by the federation staff members to get things right.
May the soul of Charles Bassey, another legend of the 1980 squad who joined his skipper Chukwu on the flight to heaven, rest in peace. The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.
