By Vera Chinonso Aliyu and Ishola Adeleke, YeyeNews.com, November 21, 2021
The former governor of Abia State Senator Orji Uzo Kalu has told officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that he is better qualified to manage the Super Eagles than their current German coach Gernot Rohr, sources in the NFF revealed to YeyeNews com. According to one the sources the Senator met with Mr. Pinnick last week in Dubai to lobby the NFF to fire Rohr from Super Eagles and hire him.
“Orji Kalu swore that he will make a far better coach than Gernot Rohr. He said during his time as governor he was the brain behind the success of Enyimba FC. He claimed to be in charge of the team selection, technical formation and every details of the team that guaranteed their success, and that the coach only carried out his instructions. The NFF president seems to be satisfied with the Senator’s technical ability and promised to consider his request after the Cape Verde game”, the source said.
The occurrence of the meeting was further corroborated by an aide of the former Abia State governor but the aide denied that the Senator expressed interest in coaching the Super Eagles. “Though it is true that Senator Orji Kalu is a technically sound football coach but he never asked for the job of handling the national team. He only met the NFF president to share his knowledge and experience with him, and also suggest possible names that can replace Gernot Rohr if he was eventually sacked for his poor performance. The idea of hiring Senator Orji Kalu came from Amaju Pinnick who was highly impressed with the Senator’s technical knowledge. But we all know that Orji Uzo Kalu is a very busy man. I don’t think he will have the time for that job even though he is desirous to assist the Super Eagles to a become a team to reckon with in world football once again”.
A resident of Abia State has however dismissed the credentials of the Senator as a football coach. He accused him of looking for relevance by all means as he knows it is impossible for him to return to the Senate in 2023. “If he likes let him go and become a boxing coach, that is his business. We know he just want to please to president so he can escape the EFCC. But even if he succeeds in dribbling past the EFCC with his antics, he can never escape our verdict come 2023. We are waiting”, the source posted.
