Stephen Keshi is a shame to Africa

Although he has shone at AFCON 2013, the Super Eagles’ Head coach Stephen Keshi proven to be a shame to African football, shortly after the Nigeria-Mali (4-1) semi-finals. One Nigerian journalist asked him, “Where does this incredible performance position you as the national coach of super eagles?” Consciously, he explained that this is proof that Africans are better managers of their football. He went on and said, history indicates that foreign coaches, majority of whom are picked from European capitals, are not only underperformers but also incompetent. Mockingly, he referred to them as “Carpenters”. I hope Keshi did not say this out of excitement –after that Mali humiliation by the Super Eagles. First of all, this did not go well with Ruud Gullit, the former Dutch International, who was part of the Supersport panel of analysts. Thomas Sipho Mlambo, the South African Supersport Presenter of Soccer Africa Programme, put the Dutch on spot to react to Keshi’s allegations. The Dutch football legend could vividly not hold his anger. He wondered: “Do these European coaches ever come to Africa begging African football managers to hire them? If he (Keshi) thinks they (African coaches) are better, how come I don’t see them in Europe trading their coaching skills?” I liked the moment. But this points to key issues regarding foreign coaches in Africa. There is always this in-fighting between them (coaches) and their employers, and their coaching staff, especially when things are not rosy.I know Keshi was directly attacking Mali coach Patrice Carteron, a French national. He (Keshi) once managed Mali between 2008 and 2010. He left on a bad note, relinquishing his job to Patrice before joining Togo as an Interim Coach. We all understand Keshi was on a revenge mission, but should he do it in the name of the entire African football fraternity? Keshi, and his assistant Amokachi, have featured on Soccer Africa several times.Listening to them and gauging their attitude tells you a lot about their character. I call them insecurities. If you think you’re a better coach or manager, let your actions and results speak not you. And, it is unprofessional to attack whomever.Back to local football, Rwanda is known for hiring foreign coaches too. We fire them when they underperform. Thank God we don’t name them “Carpenters” like Mr. Keshi. His verbal attack on Mr. Patrice and European coaches, in general, clearly explains his decisions in selecting his first eleven. He dropped majority of Nigerian international stars in favour of the local boys. He was severely attacked by the Nigerian press but thank God his gamble worked.