Izuchukwu Okosi
Nigerian coaches have been successful in some continental competitions and won laurels for the country in the past.
We had seen coaches like (late) Amodu Shaiabu qualify Nigeria for the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2010 when it seemed like the country was not going to achieve those feats.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelCoaches like Sébastien Brodericks Imaseun, Tunde Disu, Fanny Amun, Manu Garba, Emmanuel Amunike, Ndubuisi Egbo have all won either continental or world titles – or finished major tournaments with runners up medals.
Egbo became the first African coach to lead a European team to a league title, and qualification for the UEFA Champions League — or any European competition, for that matter with FK Tirana of Albania.
He became the first Nigerian to have put the country on the world map in terms of coaching a team in the UEFA Champions League.
Perhaps Sunday Oliseh could have reached that milestone if he had won the confidence of more Dutch sides after his stint with FC Sittard.
The former Nigerian captain has worked in the technical committees of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), as well as the 1994 African Footballer of The Year winner, Emmanuel Amunike.
Amunike, meanwhile, won the trust of FIFA in its Technical Study Group after his methodologies and coaching style piqued the interest of football’s governing body when he led the Nigeria U-17 national team to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile – Nigeria’s fifth shot at the title.
The two achievements seemed to be the last time that Nigerian coaches were duly acknowledged on the global level.
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Recently, Kolo Toure got the job but was later sacked as Wigan Athletic manager.
It was a thing of pride that an African was seemingly about to work his way up the ladder which should interestingly rob off positively on other African coaches.
But why hasn’t any Nigerian coach come close to this level?
The answers could be found in the lack of trust in African coaches or black coaches in general.
Crystal Palace’s Patrick Vieira is an exception.
It could also be due to factors like discrimination, lack of professionalism and development of structures in the game on the African continent.
On several occasions, there had been talks of attaching Nigerian coaches to some of the top clubs around Europe where they will improve their skills under world class managers.
The Nigeria Football Federation might need to revisit this idea.
Kolo Toure may have endured some bad games at Wigan which culminated in his sack, but who knows: A Nigerian coach may not be so unlucky if he learns his ropes under great managers like Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti to name a few.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
