Bolaji Abdullahi, national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Party (ADC), says former President Goodluck Jonathan almost sacked him as sports minister following the late Stephen Keshi’s sudden resignation after Nigeria won the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa.
Abdullahi revealed this in his new book, The Loyalist,
saying the former president believed he was acting on the agenda of ex-Senate
President Bukola Saraki.
In chapter eight of the book, titled Winner stands alone,
the former minister recalled the intense moments that followed the Super
Eagles’ triumph under the late Keshi, who became the first Nigerian to win the
title both as a player and as a coach.
Abdullahi said he was heading to the airport in
Johannesburg, basking in the euphoria of the victory, when his driver suddenly
asked him why Keshi had resigned.
“This was my last night in South Africa. The next day, I
would return to Nigeria a hero. Of 31 ministers of sports since independence,
only two had achieved what I had just achieved,” Abdullahi wrote.
He said he dismissed the claim that the coach had resigned.
“Keshi did not resign. “I don’t think you know what you are
talking about. Just drive,” he said, responding indignantly.
The former minister said a news report on the car stereo
confirmed the development.
“Keshi had resigned as the national team coach a few minutes
after leading Nigeria to Africa Cup of Nations victory,” Abdullahi quoted the
report as saying.
According to Abdullahi, the development left him shocked and
confused, prompting him to ask the driver to return to his hotel.
“It could not be true,” he recalled thinking.
He said Waziri Adio, a friend, also called from Nigeria to
ask about Keshi’s resignation and the plan to hire former Barcelona coach Frank
Rijkaard.
“Well, we heard that Keshi has resigned. That you wanted to
sack him, so he decided to resign,” Abdullahi quoted Waziri as saying.
“They said you want to bring Rijkaard.”
Abdullahi said Stella Oduah, who was the minister of
aviation at the time, later called him and revealed that the president believed
he was carrying out former Senate President Bukola Saraki’s agenda with Keshi’s
alleged sack.
“They told the president that you engineered the sacking of
Keshi to cause a crisis so that the president would not be able to take full
benefit from the victory,” Abdullahi quoted Oduah as saying.
“They said you were carrying out a Saraki agenda,” she
added.
THE MEETING WITH KESHI
He recalled seeking the intervention of Mike Itemuagbor, a
sports marketer, who, according to him, had helped him gain considerable
insight into the inner workings of the football federation, to tell him about
the real situation with Keshi.
Abdullahi said Itemuagbor he had already boarded a plane to
Lagos, but he pleaded with him to disembark and meet him at his hotel.
“Mike, you cannot go with that flight. You have to come out.
Please, please, you have to come down,” he said.
Abdullahi said when Itemuagbor came at 2am, he was with Yobo
Joseph, the team captain, and Keshi.
He said Keshi looked unsettled, “like a petulant child who
had lit a small fire but now had a conflagration in his hands.”
He recalled confronting the late coach over his decision.
“Coach, is it true? That you have resigned?” he asked.
“It is true,” Keshi answered while avoiding eye contact. I
am not happy with you,” I said.
“Well, I am not happy with you too,” he said, and turned to
face me as if ready for a fight.
“But why? Why are you not happy with me?” I asked.
‘I heard you wanted to sack me. That you were planning to
hire a foreign coach even in the middle of a competition.”
“Really! Is that all?” I asked.
“It is clear you and the Federation don’t believe in me.
Before our match against Côte d’Ivoire, they booked our flight to Abuja because
they thought we were going to lose that game.”
“Coach, forget that I am your minister. You are seven years
older than me. You are 51. You mean you could take such a serious decision
based on mere rumours? Do you even have an idea how much confusion your action
has caused?
“When did you hear this thing about me planning to sack you?
And many times, have you seen me since then?”
He added that with the intervention of the sports marketer,
Abdullahi said they all agreed that the only way out was for Keshi to withdraw
his resignation.
“The only thing is for Coach to withdraw the resignation,’ I
said. Keshi started to protest. His reputation would be affected if he withdrew
the resignation only hours after announcing it,” he wrote.
Abdullahi said Oduah later confided in him that the
president would have sacked him the following morning if he had not gotten
Keshi to withdraw his resignation.
“I believed her. Someone also revealed to me much later that
it had actually been decided that I should be sacked, but the president only
changed his mind after it was pointed out to him that the story of my sacking
might overshadow, or at least, dilute the victory,” he said.
“Still, I found it incredulous that the president would
believe the worst about me and actually considered sacking me without giving me
the opportunity to defend myself. But strange things happen in politics.”
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