Stephen Keshi Paid 14 Million Naira By Sport Minister For Two Months Salary

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, is smiling to the bank even as
Nigerians, companies and members of the Nigeria Football Federation
weep bitterly for missing the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. The Minister
of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, has paid Keshi N14m for the past two
months, according to a report by Africanfootball.com.

It was learnt that the transaction was carried out without the
knowledge of the board of the Nigeria Football Federation - a move
experts say further undermines the authority of the NFF over the
coach.

It was understood that Keshi was paid for October and November even
though there is no contractual agreement between the coach and the
NFF.

The Special Media Assistant to the sports minister, Patrick Omorodion,
who confirmed the payment, however told The PUNCH that the money was
not meant for Keshi alone.

"The money was not paid to only Keshi but it meant for the entire
coaching crew. What was done by the ministry was just to fulfil an
agreement earlier reached with the coaches. At the peak of the NFF
crisis and with urgent matches to play, the minister stepped in and
invited Keshi to handle those games after which it would be purely
left for the NFF to retain him or ask another coach to take over."

But the NFF officials say that the explanation cannot stand as the
minister has quietly taken over their role which has ultimately made
nonsense their position as the immediate employers of Keshi and to
whom the coach should report to.

A member said, "The minister has been paying Keshi directly from the
NFF subvention without any input from the NFF. This cannot be good for
the relationship between employer and employee."

Keshi was in charge for the Equatorial Guinea 2015 qualifiers double
header against Sudan in October and then the qualifiers against Congo
and South Africa last month. But he was sacked midway into the
qualifiers when it became very doubtful if the country could qualify
with him in charge. When he was asked to go, the NFF announced a
former coach of the Eagles Shaibu Amodu to take charge of the team for
the remaining two matches but they had to rescind their earlier
decision after Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan asked that he
should be restated. Even though most Nigerians have asked for a new
coach, the NFF members have become helpless under the prevailing
condition.

Even though the NFF president Amaju Pinnick has maintained a contract
has not been agreed with Keshi, followers of the game in Nigeria see
the N7m payment as acceding to Keshi's demand that his pay be
increased to that amount. The amount is N2m raise from what he
received in his initial contract, which ran out after the World Cup in
Brazil.
--PUNCH