Why Keshi Made U-Turn On Eagles’ Contract

A clearer picture on why Coach Stephen Keshi swallowed his pride to accept the new deal offered to him by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is beginning to emerge.

Keshi initially took charge of the Super Eagles in November 2011, after former handler, Samson Siasia, was sent packing for failing to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 African Nations Cup hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Keshi’s contract ran out after Brazil 2014 World Cup, and his failure to qualify the Super Eagles for the recently concluded AFCON in Equatorial Guinea prompted a debate on whether or not to give him a new contract.

The ‘Big Boss’ has now been offered a two-year deal by the NFF. He had earlier declared that the deal amounts to a “slave contract,” a statement that did not go down well with the NFF. “From the clauses I have seen so far, I don’t know what words to use, but the contract can be described as a ‘slave contract’”, Keshi said, in reference to clauses which make him answerable to several persons and committees.

But an official of the NFF told The Guardian yesterday that both the NFF Technical Committee and Keshi sat down in a round table to iron out some of the ‘clauses’ in the contract. “One of the key issues Keshi and his lawyers hammered on, was the clauses, which makes him answerable to some persons in the NFF. He insisted that instead of the clause to read ‘work under’ it should read ‘work with’, which we have accepted.

“Every other aspect of the contract, including his monthly take home, what he will get as match allowance and winning bonuses have been taken care of,” the official said. Keshi won the Nations Cup as a player with Nigeria in 1994. However, the decision by the NFF to hand Keshi the new deal is not going down well with many Nigerians who feel that the coach does not deserve it after failing to qualify the Super Eagles for the last Nations