1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="2zxnxo8G7M"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/amodu-shaibu-my-tribute/">Amodu Shaibu – my tribute!</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/amodu-shaibu-my-tribute/embed/#?secret=2zxnxo8G7M" width="600" height="338" title="“Amodu Shaibu – my tribute!” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="2zxnxo8G7M" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Amodu.jpg2412092016 must go down in the history of Nigerian football as a year of calamity, a year of unprecedented loss of some of the country’s greatest football heroes. One week after paying a painful tribute to the most successful coach in the history of Nigerian football, I am about to pay another tribute to the country’s most accomplished indigenous coach ever. Within the space of four days, Stephen Keshi and Amodu Shaibu died under similar shocking circumstances. No notice was served and both took place in the same city – Benin. Their departure has left the entire country disturbed, mournful and sorrowful. Now many people have become interested in the welfare of retired footballers as well as those that go on to become coaches. Their plight is the same. Nigerian football has never been this riddled with tales of death. In the past few weeks former national team players in the 1960s, Niyi Omowon and goalkeeper/coach, Olu Onagoruwa, also quietly passed away. These deaths, all painful reminders of our fragile mortality, at the end of the day make us confront the reality of life’s vanity and meaninglessness! This past week I received several calls from retired players down with crippling chronic arthritis, heart-related challenges and so on, all needing help. There is a long list of players and coaches in need of help to survive basic living. They lie in wait, forgotten, riddled by poor health and poverty, with no jobs or even hope of work to take care of their basic needs, wasting away like dead leaves. Although death will come when it will come, I am beginning to worry and think more seriously about three things. The first is the growing incidences of sudden and early death amongst retired sportspersons and coaches. There is a need for a forensic inquiry. The second is about reviving my intention to take the federal government to court over the state of retired sports heroes who ignorantly overused their bodies in the service of their country only to spend the ‘second half’ of their lives paying dearly for it with resultant poor health and abject poverty. The third is how to promote other opportunities beyond coaching for retired players. Coaching is a slow killer because of the pressure-cooker nature of the job – ceaseless criticism, the stress of winning or losing matches, abuse, rebuke and even ridicule by an overcritical public, insecurity of the job, poor or often unpaid wages, etc. Now I can reason with Sunday Oliseh who left the lucrative job of coaching the Super Eagles to save his life!