BY JUDE OPARA, ABUJA

Football loving Nigerians were shocked last Tuesday when the news filtered in that Frenchman Paul Le Guen had turned down the offer to coach three time African champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Dalung and Amaju Pinnick

This rather ugly development was even more confusing because just the previous day, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) through the spokesman of its technical and development committee, Paul Bassey told the entire world that after interviewing Le Guen and Nigerian coach, Salisu Yusuf they had decided to give him the job.

This scenario, no doubt, has thrown a spanner in the works of the NFF in their bid to qualify for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup, especially with the back to back failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Already the other three countries that will slug it out with Nigeria in group B have all began serious preparations for the qualifiers which will kick off in October 3.

According to the president of the NFF, Amaju Pinick, Le Guen raised some issues that bothered on security which made him to demand to coach Nigeria from France. This sounds far-fetched because before applying for the vacant position, the former Indomitable Lions of Cameroon manager knew that Nigeria was battling with Boko Haram amongst other concerns.

Apart from the explanation of the NFF, we also know that the issue of the fund to pay the wages of the new coach was very contentious with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung insisting that there is no budgetary provisions to cater for the salary of an expatriate manager.

Another school of thought blamed the sudden decision of Le Guen to back-out of the job he had so dearly desired even when it was offered to him in the face of the alleged threat of the group led by Amb. Chris Giwa that any foreign coach that attempts to come to work with the Super Eagles at this time is doing so at his own risk.

Giwa whose action is aimed at frustrating the administration of his rival, Amaju Pinnick was also quoted to have offered the job to Salisu Yusuf who did not even waste time in turning down the offer.

From the refusal of Le Guen to accept the terms of the NFF, the only option left for the embattled football house now is to begin to shop for another coach if they still do not have the confidence in Yusuf to pilot the affairs of the Super Eagles at this time.

The truth is that there is not enough time left for the ritual of asking for applications from interested coaches from around the world after which some will be short-listed for an interview that may last for another two to three weeks.

The NFF must realise that despite the seeming distractions from its detractors Nigerians will not entertain any excuse if we fail to grab the sole group ticket to fly to Russia in 2018. Therefore the way to go now is to ensure that within the next one week, it must have tied up the issue of engaging a substantive coach for the national team.

Many analysts still believe that given the seeming lack of interest in the Nigerian job by some of the foreign coaches that may have had some experience on the African continent, the best thing to do now is to hire a Nigerian coach who must be given the same level of support and comfort that a foreign coach would be given.

It is still very possible for Nigeria to qualify for the next world cup but we must begin now to do the needful. Apart from naming a substantive coach without delay, the NFF must ensure that whether he is a foreigner or a Nigerian, he must be given the best of environments to operate in.

The idea of treating the foreign coaches like kings while the locals are treated with disdain must be stopped. Currently the NFF is still owing most of the past indigenous coaches back-log of unpaid salaries.

If the federation can guarantee some of the basic needs the coach would need to succeed, then it also goes to suggest that the NFF should on the other hand give them a code of conduct to sign, especially for the Nigerian coaches. This is to checkmate the rumour mills that always go viral with claims that the coaches demand gratifications to select players to represent the country.

The federation must equally impress on the new coach to throw the camp open so as to accommodate some of the players currently with the Flying Eagles as well as the Olympic team. Surely, every effort that will see the Nigerian flag fly in Russia must not be spared. The time to act is now.