At the height of the search for a new coach for the Super Eagles, the Sports Minister warned top NFF officials: “Abuja will burn if Amuneke is not the new Super Eagles coach.”
Such were the high stakes riding on the decision of who will be the new man to lead the Super Eagles.
It was like an absorbing soap opera, filled with intrigues, suspense, blackmail, rumours and barefaced lies.
Apparently, Amuneke had been promised the job by many highly-placed persons.
He was so confident that finally his turn had come, so much so that those close to him were only talking about if Finidi would be ready to work as his assistant.
SCORENigeria gathered that a point Amuneke was to be the one to be named as the coach of the national team.
Former NFF president Amaju Pinnick got the ball rolling when he went on national television to endorse Finidi George as the best man for the job.
However, social media was also abuzz with a clarion call for Amuneke to get his chance to lead the Super Eagles after serving as the No 2 man in two different spells.
The social media will even go on to announce his appointment, probably a tactic to arm twist the NFF.
But in the real world, the NFF technical committee which had insisted in the first place that Finidi take charge of the Super Eagles in an interim capacity for the friendlies against Ghana and Mali last month, had set its sights on a foreign coach to carry on from where Jose Peseiro left in February.
Officials later admitted that this proposal was later jettisoned because the NFF could not afford to pay the salary of a foreign coach.
The turning point of this search was Thursday morning, when the Sports Minister met with the NFF delegation led by Ibrahim Gusau in Abuja.
John Enoh demanded a role for Amuneke in the new dispensation, while going as far as accusing the NFF technical committee of being bias towards the former FC Barcelona winger.
He then dropped the bombshell – “Abuja will burn” should Amuneke not be the man.
He made it very clear to the NFF bosses that the Federal Government will not pay for a foreign coach and instead they should look inwards.
Gusau and his kitchen cabinet were jolted.
“They were battered men,” a source informed SCORENigeria
“They didn’t like the position of the Minister particulary as it concerned Amuneke, but they were also afraid not to rock the cordial working relationship they have enjoyed with the minister since he assumed office.”
The technical committee subsequently met virtually to rework their recommendations.
Now Finidi was the preferred choice with Amuneke and Daniel Amokachi the other options.
Enter Pinnick, Bukola Olapade, Kunle Soname, who reached out to various power blocs to caution the Minister he should let the NFF make the final call on the new coach.
On Monday afternoon, Gusau appeared before the House Committee on Sports headed by Ekene Adams and he told them they have finally settled for Finidi.
An official press statement then sealed the deal.
The battle ground has now shifted to who will assist Finidi.
