01062019 - APC lawmakers move against party

24 —SATURDAY Vanguard, JUNE 1, 2019
Westerhof inspecting the
three bedroom flat being
renovated for him at
Federal Housing Estate,
Gwagwalada.
From right, Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babat
Certificate of House to Former Super Eagle Coach, Cl
Representative of Minister of Sport , Mrs. Oremem
Presentation of Certificate in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga
CLEMEN
A new life with
•Speaks on Fashola, his Abuja
We were returning to Abuja
city from Gwagwalada
when, at a checkpoint,
the police stopped us and
asked us to park beside the road.
One of the policemen got closer to
the car, bent to stare steadily on the
occupants at the back seat. He
looked at the driver and turned his
eyes again on us. He stood erect and
shouted to his colleagues who were
checking on other vehicles few
metres away: “Come and see
Westerhof, yes, Westerhof. Come and
see Westerhof.
The officers left what they were
doing and came to us, hailing the
coach. “Westerhof, Westerhof,” they
shouted excitedly. Warm greetings
followed, and as we were driving off,
one of them said “But we must drink
Pure Water.” Facing me, the
policeman asked “we no go drink
water from Westerhof? I adjusted on
the seat, drew out a note and parted
with it. “Thank you coachee,” the
man said, apparently knowing that I
did that on behalf of the coach.
“Here, you must be nice to the
police, I’ve always known that,”
Westerhof quipped Monday evening,
few hours after the presentation of
the letter of allocation for a threebedroom
flat.
We had gone to inspect the house
at the Federal Housing Estate in
Gwagwalada. It was a house
promised each member of the Tunisia
’94 Eagles squad that won that
year’s Nations Cup for the country.
It was the second Nations Cup
trophy won by Nigeria, and the first
time the cup was won outside the
country.
Honourable Minister of Power,
Works and Housing, Raji Babatunde
Fashola, a sports enthusiast, made it
possible for the government to fulfill
the promise it made to the team 25
years ago.
Few minutes before the
presentation of the allocation letter,
Westerhof had met with Fashola in
his office. It was only then that
Fashola knew that many members of
the team were yet to receive their
allocations. I told him so. It was also
in Westerhof’s letter of acceptance.
Fashola expressed shock. He was
hearing that for the first time.
When, therefore, Shehu Diko,
NFF’s Vice President who
represented his President appealed to
the minister to revisit the case of
players who have not benefited from
the allocation, Fashola
made it clear that such
requests must be made
officially in a document.
Diko had read out the
names of those yet to receive
from a paper jotting. That
didn’t impress Fashola, and
he promptly made it clear,
although subtly. He said that
federations must not only be
concerned about preparations for
tournaments but also the welfare of
their teams and staff.
During his brief stay in Abuja,
Westerhof paid glowing tribute to
Fashola not only for ensuring the
Federal Government fulfilled the
promise made by Sani Abacha, but
also his contributions to sports
development and his performance as
Lagos State governor.
As we walked out of Fashola’s
office, Westerhof said “always a
sportsman,” referring to the
minister’s interest in sports. “Why
was he not governor when I was
here”, he asked?
At 79 Westerhof
still eloquently
discusses football
but his passion
appears more
pronounced in
discussing family
matters. That makes
him happier than
any other thing
now. His humour is
still alive, and he
entertains when he
cracks jokes on
family matters
especially his new
daughters, Lana
who is three, and
Kloe who is one.
“I lived and
worked in South
Africa and
Zimbabwe when I
left Nigeria. From
Zimbabwe, I took
the best of Africa,”
he said of his new wife, Lilian. They
have been married for ten years now
but they have been together for 15
years. “She is the best you can think
of, the best woman from Africa,”
Westerhof repeats all the time. He
has always had an eye for beauty
just as he has an eye for good
players. The wife is a black beauty, a
model.
He longed for a companion and he
got a beautiful one in the
Zimbabwean lady. He had hoped to
share the rest of his life with only
Lilian. But one day, according him,
they were chatting when Lilian
asked ‘what must happen when you
close your eyes and go to heaven?
Who will stay here with me?’. Lilian
wanted children and Westerhof said
to her, ‘you want me to have baby at
this my age? She said yes, and I said,
okay, we must go upstairs and see
how it goes. We go upstairs to begin
preparation. The result is that we
have two beautiful daughters today.
They make me happy. They are
babies, but they are gangsters,” he
joked.
Interestingly Westerhof repeated
this story during the presentation of
his letter of allocation, causing
everybody to burst into laughter as
he thanked Fashola, the Federal
Government, and Nigerians for the
house.
“In Holland, people ask me every
time about my house in Nigeria, the
house the government gave to me. I
tell them I have a house in Nigeria,
but someone else has the keys.”
Fashola and the rest in the new
Conference Hall of the Ministry
laughed hilariously. It was a full
house. The ministry’s directors and
top officials, the media and up to ten
NFF top officials including the
Secretary-General
Dr Sanusi and
spokesman
Demola Olajire.
Westerhof
continued: “But, I
tell you, I’m very
happy now that I
have the house. I
feel more
Nigerian than
before. This is my
second
fatherland, and
now I have a
house here. We
worked hard
when I was here
and throughout
my stay, we won
matches and
never lost at
home. We were
one family. We
took Nigerian
football from 79
in Fifa ranking to
number 5 in the world. When we
qualified for the World Cup, I wanted
to be in USA as African champion,
and we won in Tunisia and came to
the World Cup as African champion.
It is sad that some members of that
team are no more. It was shocking to
lose Keshi, Yekini, Oliha,
Agbonibavre, and Uche Okafor.
May their souls rest in peace”. The
hall chorused ‘amen.’
In Holland people
ask me every time
about my house in
Nigeria, the house
the government
gave to me. I tell
them I have a
house in Nigeria
but someone else
has the keys
HIS DAYS IN EAGLES
t different settings, Westerhof
Arecalled the past and
entertained with stories of the
Eagles. He recalled how he battled
poor administration in his first two
years before he stabilized few things.
Saturday Vanguard columnist, Dr.
Ugoji Egbujo was almost rolling on
the ground, laughing when he met
Westerhof. The Dutch recalled how
the team curator forgot match
jerseys, and they only discovered they
didn’t have jerseys for the game only
in the dressing room, few minutes to
kick off. Yekini advised that they cut
their tracksuits to shorts. They beat
Burkina Faso 7-1 in that match at
the National Stadium in Lagos. He
spoke about rats in NFA offices and
how he made T-Shirts from Holland
and inscribed ‘OK, NO PROBLEM’
on them. Officials always told him
not to worry as his complaints were
being addressed. But the problems
persisted. So, on return from one
vacation, he shared the T-Shirts as
gifts to many, including officials who
failed in their duties to solve the
problems.
The officials even struggled for the
T-Shirts. Westerhof told the story of a
player who had the potential to be
one of the best players from Africa
but who lacked the discipline to
achieve that. “I always told my
players that women and alcohol
could destroy their careers.” The
player (name withheld), Westerhof
said kept two girls in one of the hotel
rooms and had two in his room. The
hotel manager informed the coach.
“We asked the girls in the separate
room, and they named the player
who invited them. We went to his
room, and another two girls were
there with him. I asked him if he was
a sex machine. I sent him out of the
camp. That was how he lost his place
in my team. But he was a good
player, an exceptional player, I tell
you. With me, it’s discipline first.
Keshi begged me to forgive him,
but I said no way. Another regret I
had was Friday Elaho. He did not go
far in Europe as a professional. He
was a very good left attacker, the
best, I tell you. He went to
Brondby in Denmark with Uche
Okechukwu. Uche
Okechukwu remained but
after Elaho’s one-year
contract was over, he was
back. It pained me that
Elaho didn’t go far in
professional football. He was
the best left attacker I saw
in Nigeria.”
He told the story
of Nigeria’s last
USA ’94
World Cup
qualifier in
Algeria
and the
battles he
had with
then
chairman
of the
National
Sports
Commission, Alex Akinyele.
Akinyele had stormed the dressing room
at half time when Eagles were leading 1-0
to tell them that they were not playing
well and that he expected Nigeria to score
four goals.
Westerhof insisted that he was the boss
in that dressing room and asked Akinyele
to excuse them. Akinyele, in Westerhof’s
estimation, knew little about football but
when the man left he did not condemn his
comments before the players. He told
them the man meant well but as they had
one leg already in USA, they didn’t need
to be too adventurous and expose their
defence. Algeria was not in contention for
a World Cup ticket. They had lost
matches. But if Nigeria lost and Ivory
Coast won their home match they would
qualify at the expense of Nigeria. Ivory
Coast had sent officials to Algiers before
the game and Algeria wanted to win for
them. It was a difficult match for Nigeria
but the game ended 1-1 and Nigeria
qualified for their first ever World Cup
finals.
Akinyele tried to stop Westerhof from
leading Nigeria to the World Cup, saying
even on television that “Westerhof is not
the coach that will lead to the World
Cup.” This was after the qualification. On
arrival from vacation Westerhof told me
“I’ll go to World Cup with Nigeria,
Akinyele will not be there, I tell you.” It so
happened. Sylvester Akinwumi was the
National Sports Commission Chairman at
the time of the World Cup.
Hakeem Bello, Special Adviser to
Fashola had the privilege of listening to
some of Westerhof’s stories when he
visited the hotel to say hello to the coach.
He was entertained and left there with
more respect and greater regards for the
Dutch.