Coach Godwin Izilein led the Super Falcons to their fourth African Women Championship triumph in 2004 in controversial circumstances. The ex-Golden Eaglets gaffer tells ’TANA AIYEJINA that 10 years after, he has not been paid his bonuses from the competition
What have you been doing since you left mainstream coaching?
I am with Edo State Youth Football Development programme in conjunction with Shuaibu Amodu since 2010. I am enjoying his leadership and we have a superb understanding.
Despite Insurance winning the 2014 Edo FA Cup, people seem not impressed with the current standard of football in the state. Do you agree?
The question I am asking is that are the players under pressure? Is it that the boys are recalcitrant and don’t want to learn from their coaches? Or is there no coaching at all? I believe it is the nature of our young ones now, who refuse to learn. Otherwise, they have reputable coaches working with them and I would have expected a better final in the state FA Cup. Even if goals are not scored, they should entertain the crowd; let them know that they have something to offer.
What do you think are Nigeria’s chances at the 2014 World Cup bearing in mind the crises between the coach and the NFF before the release of the provisional squad for Brazil?
With my attitude to life and the game itself, I believe in fluctuation. If life fluctuates, you live longer. If it doesn’t, you have to be very careful. I am jubilating because the crises have given us the inner dept of what is happening at the NFF. The undue interference they wanted to carry out in terms of selection of players was vehemently resisted and I am assuring you that (Stephen) Keshi knows what he is doing. My prayer is that he does not succumb to the whims and caprices of the FA, otherwise all of us will regret it.
The Super Falcons are no longer the strong force they used to be in Africa with other African nations springing up. What do you think is responsible?
The painful aspect of all these is that we have no standard, no records and nothing to refer to. If we had a standard, we should know those who passionately took care of this female team. Some of us went to South Africa (AWC) and we were not given a chance but we taught all the nations that participated that year actual football. I had this fluidity in all ramifications but it was dumped because of sentiment. I want to classify it as man’s inhumanity to man. What do you get at the end of it all? I did everything within my scope as a Nigerian to help that female team. I resisted the inclusion of tired legs and that was how I drew anger from different corners.
Can you recount what happened when you led the Falcons to AWC victory in South Africa 10 years ago in controversial circumstances?
When the main Falcons team was in Athens for the Olympics in 2004, I was told to raise a new team that would qualify Nigeria for the AWC, which I did. But as soon as they came back from Athens, they said I should disband the team but I refused because the girls helped me to qualify. I thought that there was going to be perfect continuity. Crisis started in South Africa because arrears of bonuses and allowances of the players were not paid and the girls said they were not going to come back to Nigeria. But I said, “No, this will not happen in my time.” Before the competition started, I was told to meet the girls in Johannesburg. That I should appeal to them that to avoid distraction, they shouldn’t ask for their allowances from the federation. I did; (Ibrahim) Galadima was there, Mrs. Ayo Omidiran, the leader of delegation was there too. In fact, I walked majestically to the girls and I appealed to them and they respected me. But after the final match, I told the secretary, “Can I have my money? I want to buy some things on my way to Nigeria.” He said, “No. You are going to be paid in Nigeria.” I replied him, “You must be recalcitrant. How can you tell me that? Go and tell Galadima and Omidiran that I cannot carry such message to the girls. Initially I was used to appeal to these girls. How can I go back again to them telling another story? They will never respect me again.” That was the beginning of the problem. During a press conference, the late Bassey Koma, Ben Alozie and other Nigerian journalists were there. They were surprised; they said I should go back, that my camp was burning. I got there and I knelt down for these girls. “They will think coach Izilein asked you not to go to Nigeria. Please because of me, let’s go.” At the heat of the argument, Galadima came and gave me my flight ticket (back to Nigeria). He said I should follow him and I told him, “No. I am like a general here, how do I explain this to Nigerians when I get home?” How can I be in Nigeria and my girls are in South Africa?” So, I told him I was not going. I stayed with the girls and at the end the Nigerian Consulate came in and one of their officials saw me on my knees. I knew why I did it. Some mischievous writers went about writing stories. I was saddened when they said there was a riot and the girls carried Biafran flags. What is my business with that? I have never set my eyes on a Biafran flag since I was born. How many Igbo girls were in that team? The ones we had were disciplined. Perpetua Nkwocha was my most disciplined player, who would never do such a thing. The girls merely grumbled and said they won’t go back if they were not paid. They wanted the reassurance of the leaders of the group. At the end, I don’t know how they got money through the embassy and they paid the girls. They pleaded with me and my coaches that when we got back to Nigeria, we would be paid. But do you know that when we got back to the country, nothing was done. I wrote my report before, during and after the competition. The then minister said, “There is N2m for you and N1m each for your assistants.” But up till now, my money has not been given to me. My win bonuses in South Africa and the Presidential reward was not given to me. We scored 18 goals and conceded just two in five games; nobody has equaled that record. That was enough for me and my crew to be commended but instead, the girls were paid. So, I should be given my money too. Up till now, I still believe they are saving the money for me and the other coaches.
How much are you being owed?
They are owing me $28, 750 in allowances during the competition in South Africa and the N2m Presidential reward. My assistant coaches are also yet to be paid their N1m each.
Despite the crises during the 2004 AWC, how did you manage to keep the girls playing such good football and scoring that record number of goals?
Here comes in the psychological pep talk and the good relationship between me and my girls. The Cameroonians wanted to pay each of their players CFA1m. The news got to me through one of the girls and I assembled the girls in my room immediately; this was unknown to Omidiran and co. I told the girls, “Do you know the equivalent of CFA to naira? That CFA1m is about N20, 000. Rubbish, I can pay you that.” I talked to them and they were convinced. I told them there was nothing like honour; that if they won the AWC, they had a lot to gain. I told my girls to entertain the crowd; they were playing like men because I treated them like men. I was on daily telephone conversation between 4am and 6am with late Mrs. Stella Obasanjo, the donor of the cup. She told me to give her a daily update of what was going on. On one occasion, her husband (Olusegun Obasanjo) intercepted the phone and asked me, “Are you the one discussing with my wife every morning?” I said, “Yes, I am the coach and the only thing I am discussing with my sister (Stella) is to let her know how we are faring here (South Africa).” When I told her of what I was going through, she said, “If they don’t pay you, I will pay and get the money back from my husband.” Unfortunately, she died and that has been one of my saddest moments. May her soul rest in peace.
Which other means have you employed to ensure that you get paid?
I have written; I have talked and I have phoned. There are three FA bodies that have come and gone after then. There is no vacuum in governance. The immediate past NFF board promised to pay me half of the money, which I rejected. Sadly, the main file vanished but they didn’t know that we made photocopies of the file. They have refused to work on the file. How can we be sure that the file wasn’t hidden by mischievous people? If you say I carried Biafran flag, who investigated it and what was the final decision of the people that did the investigation? There was nothing like that. If you find out that I had nothing to do with these allegations, I think it’s only fair to give me my money. I am praying every day that God should come to my aid. There was a lot of mischief. By now, Omidiran should be aware of it. Now that she is the Dputy Chairman of Football Activities in the House of Reps, she can pursue my case and that of (Sylvanus) Okpala because we have similar problems.
After the Falcons issue, you got the Golden Eaglets head coach job in 2005…
At a stage, I was told to handle the three categories of the female national teams because the coaches had some problems. I told (Kashimawo) Laloko, who was then the Technical Director to forgive them. He did and the coaches got their jobs back. Surprisingly, I was told to go back to the Super Falcons but I took the U-17 job. We would have had a good team but there was nothing like what the present teams enjoy now: remaining perpetually in camp. It was a fire brigade approach then. (Segun) Odegbami bailed me out at a stage in Abeokuta. When we got to the camp there was no money and he paid part of the money. The then NFF accountant said if I took the boys to camp and incured any debt, they were going to deduct it from my salary. When Odegbami saw the letter, he almost wept. There was a lot of set-up. I had several bundles of letters asking for favours. It was alleged that some people sent me recharge cards (to include players in the team). If you did, you were only helping me in my job to contact people. I didn’t ask for it. How did these people get my phone number? I had a lot of temptations; people coming with money asking me to include their children in the team. But I stood my ground so that I could go to Gambia with the best players I had. I didn’t know I had stepped on so many toes. They called me to NFF secretariat saying two boys sent recharge cards to me. And I told them, “This is arrant nonsense.” So many clubs wanted their players in the team. Even Laloko— to tell you how hard I was— and I almost quarreled. He brought a lorry load of Pepsi Academy boys but I said, “It was unfair. Let’s pick randomly from all the states instead of taking a whole academy to this place.” I only took about six of them; Elderson Echiejile was among them. If I could do that to Laloko, my direct boss then, who are the others that I cannot deal with? There were lots of people who were not happy with my movement from Falcons to U-17. But nobody could come out to say that Izilein demanded anything from him. So the U-17 could have done better at the African championship in Gambia. We won one, drew one and lost one. While we were in the field sweating it out with opponents, my officials were in the swimming pool enjoying themselves. They were calling me on phone to ask for the results of the matches.
Did you witness lesbianism in the Falcons during your time as coach of the team?
In Nigeria, nobody told me about it. It was while in South Africa that I got to hear of it. I took a very drastic step, asking for the players phones. I did it for just two days and the Nigerian media said Izilein was too hard on the players. So, I slowed down a little bit. I told my assistant coaches that the only way we could try to curb it was to embark on sporadic checks without allowing the girls to know. I told the girls, “On no account must you lock your rooms anymore. Leave your doors open.” They did. Secondly, I told them, “I am to choose your partner,” which I did. I noticed in the morning when we were going for training that some of the girls looked drowsy and tired. I used to ask them, “Don’t you sleep at night?” But because I didn’t have concrete evidence, I couldn’t do much about it but I was able to reduce it.
Do you think the NFF has learnt its lessons from the way they treat Nigerian coaches?
It’s a common phenomenon in the NFF now, they have little or no regard for coaches. They treat us with disdain and it has a natural effect: the Law of Karma. It can serve as a boomerang; it could be detrimental. Since 2004, when they became inhuman to me, what have they been able to achieve? Before they can succeed, they will need to right the wrongs. Where they fail to do that, there will continue to be problems. Don’t tell the man you made to cry to stop crying; if you want him to stop crying, pacify him, so says a proverb. I need my money; my coaches need their money too.
Do you have any regrets coaching Nigeria’s national teams?
Because I have no other country, I don’t have regrets. But my regret is about officials of the NFF who have refused to listen to a crying voice.
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