Column
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| By Paul Okolo |
AS the referee blew the final whistle signaling the end of the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa, Coach Stephen Keshi, stood on the sideline, sighed and raised both hands to the sky as if saying “Thank you, Lord.” Players and Nigerian officials mobbed him, jubilating over the feat that had just been recorded. On Feb. 10, 2013 in Johannesburg, when Nigeria’s Super Eagles last won the African Cup of Nations with a 1 – 0 defeat of Burkina Faso, Keshi became one of two people ever to have lifted the trophy both as a player and as a coach. It wasn’t an easy task. From the first round to the final, he was bombarded with strong criticisms from millions of hard-to-please Nigerian football supporters, not to mention vested interests in the country’s football bureaucracy, which itself often scored below par with shoddy planning. Despite all the odds, Keshi’s love of the game, the team and the nation helped him to stay focused.
“Winning this is mainly for my nation – when I came on … my dream was to make all Nigerians happy, and to construct a great Nigerian team,” a relieved Keshi was quoted as saying later. Knowing what football meant to the ordinary folk across the country, he always wanted to win for them and to make the Super Eagles the best team in the world. This was one ambition that motivated him.
I was privileged to have played youth football with Keshi at the Eledu playing field on Akerele Street in the Suru-Lere suburb of Lagos where we grew up in the early 1970s. Together with Henry Nwosu, we featured for a team called the Seven Reformers. We won a few area tournaments on our Eledu “home ground”, so called because one trader sold charcoal sold beside the field. Our fame grew and invitations to other tournaments came from nearby neighbourhoods or sometimes from further afield. Our team played at Ile Gogoro, around the multi-storey blocks of flats in Shitta area, at the beginning of Akerele Street. We were also invited to games on Bank Olemoh and Olawale Dawodu Streets to name a few. Organizers often covered the venues with dozens of sleeping mats and charged gate fees to defray their expenses. It was such a joy to play and win and to be lifted shoulder high by appreciative fans.
My own playing career soon ended quietly. But Keshi’s and Nwosu’s blossomed. They were admitted into St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka, famous for their many successes in the Principal’s Cup competition among Lagos-based secondary schools. After leaving secondary school, the duo joined ACB Football Club of Lagos, New Nigerian Bank FC of Benin, and later travelled to Cote D’Ivoire in the mid eighties to sign for Stade D’Abidjan and later Africa Sports. Keshi later headed for Europe to taste action in the Belgian league. First he played for Lokeren. Before long, his qualities as a dependable defender caught the eye of Anderlecht, the leading Belgian side based in the capital Brussels. Although we rarely saw or spoke after our days in the youth team, I, like most football-loving Nigerians continued to keenly follow Keshi’s career abroad. I was also fortunate that as a sports reporter, I covered the Super Eagles extensively. This enabled me to see him, even as he had become a national star, from a vantage position.
Keshi and I had a long conversation in 1992. I’d just met Emmanuel Maradas, the Chadian journalist turned football administrator in the London office of the News Agency of Nigeria. He asked me to write a profile on Keshi for his African Soccer magazine. So I sought and got Keshi’s phone number and called him up, unsure if he’d remember me. He did straight away. After a few banters, we went into business. We discussed the thrills and challenges of an African professional footballer in Europe. Fortunately, his skills won him admirers, especially in Belgium where he did most of his playing. This robbed off positively on Nigerians visiting the country. Their Customs and Immigration officials at the airport would ask if you knew Keshi and, regardless of your response, a friendly conversation would ensue after which you were most likely to be waved to go and told to have a nice stay in their country.
So Keshi became a goodwill ambassador for Nigeria. This was at a time when some of our compatriots chose to tarnish our image through their questionable activities. The story was told of how Keshi’s residence in Brussels became home for a number of Nigerian players who followed in his steps to play in Belgium. His generousity was not limited to Nigerians alone. Players like our own Philip Osondu and Ghana’s Nii Lamptey enjoyed his hospitality. Keshi looked after them like a big brother. And knowing how desperate some of the newcomers were to sign a contract and join a club for any pittance offered, he endeavoured to see that they were not shortchanged by crooked club officials. This caring disposition even in the national squad earned him the respect of other players and team handlers. It was easy for them to name him team captain. His nickname, the Big Boss, was a perfect fit.
Despite his many successes – he was capped more than 60 times by Nigeria, was manager of Togo’s national team twice, qualifying the country for their first ever World Cup outing in 2004, manager of Mali and eventually Nigeria — Keshi did not lose his humility. While he was courted by the high and mighty, he was equally at home among the ordinary people. In the African tradition, he deferred to elders and treated all with courtesy.
My phone interview with Keshi was published in the December 1992 – February 1993 edition of the colourful quarterly under the caption “Stephen Keshi – Nigerian Ambassador”. The story, spread over two pages, had three accompanying pictures. Two of them showed Keshi in action on the field. The third was a family portrait with his late wife Kate, his sister-in-law Patience, and their four children. Keshi died in Benin City on June 8 aged 54.
— Jun 9, 2016 @ 15:10 GMT
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