BY Victor Akhidenor
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 third 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.
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