By Onochie Anibeze
Nigeria may opt for a foreign coach to handle the Eagles, it emerged yesterday. And in that case, former captain of the team, Stephen Keshi may be appointed the Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation.

As Technical Director Keshi will be mandated to supervise all the national teams. He will play a significant role in the development of football in Nigeria.

“I don’t think that Keshi’s appointment as Eagles coach will be without controversy as, only few months ago, he was considered for the job which was eventually given to Samson Siasia,” a top member of the Football Federation said yesterday, adding “I think that the best job for him will be to assume the office of Technical Director so that he can move things in all the national teams which his office will be supervising.” The NFF member says Keshi’s pedigree suits the office of Technical Director.

The Football Federation member opined that football will “grow better if a sound foreign coach is appointed and Keshi takes the job of Technical Director because they will all marry their programmes for the benefit of Nigerian football.”

Another Technical committee member said that the foreign coach who may be engaged may not earn more than the equivalent of what coach Samson Siasia is currently earning.

Siasia earns N5m monthly.

“If we are sincere to ourselves we could get a good foreign coach who may not earn more than $40,000 per month. How much is Guinea paying their foreign coach?”

A member of the Executive Committee said that the only way that Siasia could continue as Eagles coach is “for him to resign and file in a fresh application so that another contract can be made.”

“It is possible that Siasia is hired but it has to be on another contract because the current one says that his job would end if he did not reach the semi-final of the 2012 Nations Cup which he did not eventually qualify.”