Stephen Keshi has been relieved of his duty as
Super Eagles coach by the Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF), and former coach Shaibu
Amodu will now take charge of the remaining
qualifying matches for the 2015 African Cup of
Nations.
The executive committee of the NFF, at a meeting
held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on
Wednesday night, relieved the coach and his
assistant of their duties with immediate effect.
Nigeria defeated Sudan 3-1 in Abuja a few hours
earlier but still lies fourth in Group A and is in real
danger of not making it to the finals to defend the
trophy Keshi led them to win in South Africa in 2013.
In recognition of their contributions to the Nigeria
game, the executive committee approved that the trio
of Keshi, Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorounmu
should proceed to any coaching course in any
country of their choice to build their capacity at the
expense of the NFF.
The committee also, unanimously, approved the
appointment of a consortium of coaches to lead the
Super Eagles for only the two concluding matches of
the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series ?
against Congo in Brazzaville and against South Africa
in Uyo ? after which an expatriate coach will be
appointed.
The consortium, led by Amodu Shaibu, also has
Salisu Yusuf, Gbenga Ogunbote and Aloysius Agu.
The team also has a new coordinator in former
international Garba Lawal.
Keshi has been having a run battle with the
authorities since after the World Cup in Brazil, where
he could only win one match.
He initially said he had resigned, but later
recanted, saying his contract expired and had not
been renewed.
For months, he was engaged in negotiations with NFF
for a new contract, and his match-by-match
agreement to coach the Super Eagles has not
produced any positive results.
He has been saying recently that several countries
are waiting to engage his services.