{"id":33930,"date":"2014-12-04T11:10:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T10:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=33930"},"modified":"2014-12-04T11:10:09","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T10:10:09","slug":"jonathan-keshi-little-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/jonathan-keshi-little-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan, Keshi & The Little Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Egbejumi-David<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

President Jonathan has meddled in Nigerian football matters before.\u00a0 Then, as at now, it ended in a fiasco.\u00a0 That first time, June 2010, after Nigeria crashed and burned at the World Cup due in large part to the incompetence of one Lars Lagerback and a small helping hand from Sani Kaita, Jonathan imposed a two-year international ban on the Super Eagles.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, FIFA came down hard on Jonathan and threatened Nigeria with expulsion before that ridiculous ban was rescinded.\u00a0 If Jonathan had been allowed to have his way, Nigeria would have missed out on the qualifications for the AFCON championships which we eventually won in February 2013.\u00a0 We also would have missed out on the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.<\/p>\n

But, Jonathan did it again!\u00a0 After the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) did what was long overdue and showed brother Keshi the door, Jonathan stepped in and forced Keshi\u2019s reinstatement.\u00a0 The net result?\u00a0 We failed to qualify for the next championship.\u00a0 We don\u2019t even have the honour of defending our title.<\/p>\n

Often, in governance, it is not the major speeches or policy initiatives.\u00a0 To the average citizen, it is those things that they see that are often important to them.\u00a0 Societies are set up by and large already, and life will continue, regardless.\u00a0 The mark of the astute leader is not just how you shape the general direction of your society but by the perception you create among your citizens.\u00a0 And you do this by the little things that you do; the things you allow to happen or not to happen over time.<\/p>\n

A President is not meant to run the whole enterprise himself.\u00a0 The policy direction must be amenable to allow Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Administrators and others get on with implementation.\u00a0 The leader then does the little things that let his citizens know that their welfare comes first and that they are in safe hands.<\/p>\n

Ministries such as Agriculture and Aviation excelled not because Jonathan imposed himself on them or interjected himself into their daily minutiae but because they have competent Ministers who have free hands to be creative and to do their thing.<\/p>\n

\n

Over-ruling the NFF was as short-sighted as it was damaging.\u00a0 Keshi and subsequent Managers will know that they only need drop the name of the President to have their way.\u00a0 Worse, NFF administrators have been castrated, their authority yanked from them in a humiliating manner.\u00a0 Going forward, they would triple guess themselves to ascertain that whatever decision they want to take would be palatable to an interloping President or his anointed(s).\u00a0 What an untenable position to find oneself.<\/p>\n

With Keshi gone, our players would have been motivated anew for those two last games.\u00a0 They would have been playing to impress the new man, to keep their place in the team now and in the future.\u00a0 They certainly wouldn\u2019t have played any worse than they did for Keshi.\u00a0 Rather, you have the same ineffectual players been played in every game whether they perform or not and the players know it!<\/p>\n

Under Keshi, the Super Eagles played with no discernible pattern or tactics.\u00a0 Our team was easily and painfully outfoxed tactically by opposing managers.\u00a0 No new players were groomed or given a look-in.\u00a0 Established players that were doing relatively well around the globe were menacingly ignored.\u00a0 Instead, apart from possibly Vincent Enyema and Mikel Obi, we had a national team comprising of middle of the road journey men from obscure teams and unheralded leagues.<\/p>\n

When you start losing to teams like Iran and Sudan, you ought to know that you\u2019re not just having bad days; something is fundamentally wrong.<\/p>\n

I have always felt that Keshi is a decent enough football coach but that is as far as it goes.\u00a0 I think that he is good for a Mali or a Togo; teams that are looking to come to the level where Nigeria currently is.\u00a0 However, I don\u2019t think Keshi can take a Nigeria or a South Africa to the level where Argentina or France is.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Nigeria was ranked by FIFA as the 9th<\/sup> best team in the world.\u00a0 In 2008, we were 19th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Under Keshi, we have plummeted to number 42.\u00a0 In Africa we are currently number 9 – two places below one country called Cape Verde!\u00a0 This is the manager for whom Jonathan went to bat and forced on the NFF and on Nigeria for more agony.\u00a0 Well, we are all beneficiaries of that splendid intervention today.<\/p>\n

A leader\u2019s involvement must be dynamic, and it must be for the greater good.\u00a0 It is not acceptable to cut a forlorn figure afterwards as all manner of malfeasance happens around one the way Keshi cuts a pitiful figure on the touchline as Amenike runs aimlessly, his head downwards, hacking down defenders.<\/p>\n

It is the little things.\u00a0\u00a0 Jonathan, our Commander-in-Chief has not visited Chibok or the Northeast to reassure the folks up there. \u00a0Lagos State, First Consultant Hospital and Dr Adadevoh helped us immensely in curtailing the dreadful Ebola disease, I don\u2019t know if Jonathan has paid specific visits to these places or written to relevant families to show appreciation and solidarity.<\/p>\n

Citizens don\u2019t tend to remember big policy statements, but they will remember an Alamieyeseigha being given Presidential pardon.\u00a0 They will remember Mrs Jonathan as a paid Perm Sec in Bayelsa.<\/p>\n

People remember double standards, impunity.\u00a0 People will remember the assault on treacherous Tambuwal and the National Assembly.\u00a0 People will remember the circus, the wastefulness, the tastelessness and the Abacharism of an incumbent democratic President being \u2018begged\u2019 all across the nation to seek re-election.<\/p>\n

Now Jonathan has gone and dropped another clanger.\u00a0 He only went and added the Super Eagles\u2019 debacle to his list of accomplishments.\u00a0 How about that for a campaign run.<\/p>\n

\n

demdem@hotmail.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter: demdemdem1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Egbejumi-David President Jonathan has meddled in Nigerian football matters before.\u00a0 Then, as at now, it ended in a fiasco.\u00a0 That first time, June 2010, after Nigeria crashed and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nJonathan, Keshi & The Little Things - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/jonathan-keshi-little-things\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jonathan, Keshi & The Little Things - 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