Shuaibu Amodu was born in April, 1958 and hails from Edo state. He was a Nigerian football player and coach who played as a striker during his playing days.
Playing and Coaching career
As a player, he was a striker, and played for football teams such as Dumez and Niger Tornadoes. His playing career was however brought to a tragic end after breaking his leg.
Shuaibu Amodu however, was more popularly known as a football coach; managing a number of club sides both home and abroad, as well as coaching the Nigerian National teams at different times. As a coach, he managed club sides in Nigeria, such as BCC Lions, El-Kanemi Warriors, and Shooting Stars; he also managed Orlando Pirates in South Africa. After his stints at managing football clubsides, he ventured into the management of the National Team of Nigeria. He first managed the Nigerian national team from April 2001 to February 2002. However, he was dismissed informally; a dismissal that Amodu later stated and regarded as “unfair”, and in addition to the fact that, a month later (after the purported dismissal), he had yet to receive a formal letter confirming his dismissal.
A few years later however, He was re-appointed manager of the Nigerian National Side, in April 2008. He was appointed Coach of the Nigerian national team again in April 2008 and led the Super Eagles to 3rd position in the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola and was appointed technical director of Nigeria’s national team in May 2013. He left to be named Technical Director of Bendel Insurance F.C in November 2013.
In December 2009 the Nigeria Football Federation stated that Amodu was under pressure, and in January 2010 there was speculation about his future. A speculation that culminated in his sacking in February 2010. Amodu was appointed technical director of Nigeria’s national teams in May 2013. He was re-appointed Nigeria manager in October 2014, replacing Stephen Keshi. It was his fifth spell in charge of the country. Keshi returned to the role two weeks later but was fired in July 2015 and Amodu took over the Eagles again temporarily. He was replaced by Sunday Oliseh on a permanent basis later that month.
Following the resignation of Sunday Oliseh, the NFF again, appointed Amodu as the new interim coach of the national team. Amodu’s other accomplishments include Nigerian FA Cup titles with BCC Lions of Gboko and El Kanemi Warriors on multiple occasions.
Later life and death
After the series of back and forth as Nigeria’s coach, Amodu died on 10 June 2016, three days after the death of Stephen Keshi, another Nigerian National Team’s Coach. Shuaibu Amodu contributed immensely to Nigerian football, besides the fact that he has been the ‘fall back’ plan for Nigeria so many times, having also coached the National team the most frequent number of times.
A stakeholder in Nigerian sports, a true patriot given his commitments. Shuaibu Amodu has a name that is worth being crested on concrete!
Featured Image Source: Naija Loaded
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