With one CAF Champions League trophy and
three Nigerian league titles to his name, Kadiri Ikhana is one of the
country’s most successful football coaches. In this interview with
ALLWELL OKPI, he speaks about his career both as a player and a coach
The last Nigeria Premier
League season ended with you leading Enyimba to their seventh league
title. How much did that mean to you?
As a coach, I was very delighted winning
the league title the third time. It was a wonderful development for me
as a person. The team worked very hard. I must give credit to the
players, the management, the supporting staff and my technical
assistants. Everybody contributed to that success. I came back to
Enyimba after about 13 years and won two trophies for them in a period
of 15 months.
It’s surprising that after
such an achievement, you had to leave the club now that they are
preparing for the CAF Champions League. What really happened?
I didn’t leave the club. I can’t
specifically say this is what happened. Up till now, I’m still in shock.
I’m still trying to discover what happened. I spoke to the chairman of
the club and he said nothing happened, that they want to do well at the
CAF Champions League and so they are looking for a better hand. I wish
the team will do well at the championship because if they do, some
credit will come to me because I put the team in good shape. Frankly,
I’m still thinking about what happened. When you are doing something,
there is no way you won’t step on some people’s toes because you know
exactly what you are looking for. Everybody contributed but as the
tactical head, I took decisions. Maybe I offended some people in the
course of doing my job.
Have you received any offer from any club?
No offer has come in yet.
You have coached more than 10 top-flight clubs in the past three decades. Which would you describe as your best moment?
I’ve had a couple of great moments.
Lifting the CAF Champions League trophy was one of them and the other
one was winning the league the third time last season.
Winning the Champions League with Enyimba in 2003 was unprecedented. What was the experience like?
Such experiences are difficult to
describe. I can’t describe how happy I was. After winning that trophy,
in the next one month, I didn’t have any problem with myself. I was
always happy. It was not just that I won the Champions League, bringing
it to Nigeria for the first time meant a lot to me.
Was anything special about that 2003 Enyimba team, which had the likes of Vincent Enyeama?
That team had a culture. All the players
were very mature. We had about eight players in the national team then.
They were good and experienced. The only thing I did as a coach was to
harmonise their talents and make sure that their lifestyle was monitored
both in and out of the camp. I gave them a sense of belonging and had
trust in them. I made sure that they recognised that I was the leader of
the team and they had to do what I asked them to do. I also gave them
room to express themselves.
On the other hand, the Abia State
Government under the leadership of Orji Uzor Kalu was very much
interested in the team and very supportive. Everybody stood by us; the
whole Aba and the entire state. I think the level of commitment of
Abians to seeing Enyimba win the Champions League that year contributed
immensely to our winning that cup.
Your stint with the Super Falcons in 2012 didn’t seem to have worked out well.
It was a great experience coaching the
female team at the highest level. We didn’t deserve to finish fourth at
the 2012 African Women’s Championship. The target given to me by the
Nigeria Football Federation was to get to the quarter-final. But before
we left for Equatorial Guinea, I said we would bring back the cup. So
even if we had lost in the final, I would have still left. I left the
team because I didn’t accomplish what I wanted.
Growing up in Ilorin, did you dream of being involved in footballall your life?
I started playing football in primary
school. I was in Primary Six when I stated playing for a club side. We
had Truth and Life Football Team. I was playing there. By the time I was
growing to maturity, my dad took me to Kaduna. I was in Kaduna until I
joined the armed forces. I was in the Army. I played for the Nigerian
Army football team and got invited to the national team while in the
Army. It’s been football all my life. I met some senior players, who
kept encouraging with these words: ‘you’ll play for the nation’. I
believed it until I was invited to the national team in 1976/1977. When I
had my first cap for Nigeria in Dakar, Senegal, it was a big moment for
me to wear the Nigerian jersey. I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep
that night. Eventually, I wore the jersey cold like that and slept. It
was amazing for me because I had been watching players that I respected
wear the jersey and there I was wearing it. That was my breakthrough in
football. When I came back, I joined Bendel Insurance.
Then, you were part of the Green Eagles that won the first Africa Cup of Nations for Nigeria in 1980?
Yes. I’m always the first to win certain
laurels both as a player and as a coach. I was among the first to win
the AFCON for Nigeria; the first coach to bring the league trophy to the
North (having won it with Kano Pillars); the first coach to lead a
Nigerian side to win the CAF Champions League and so on. I think God
loves me. It’s God that has been using me to do it. It’s not by my power
or know-how.
How far did you go in the Army?
I joined the Army during the Civil War in 1967. I joined because I loved the Army. I left the Army in 1977 as a sergeant.
Can you compare the current Super Eagles with your set?
You cannot compare the national team
then with the present day team. Our allowance then was two naira and our
estacode was about six naira. It wasn’t about the money. Playing for
the national team was a thing of pride. Now, football is all about
money. It is a big business now. Those who work hard gain a lot from it
but those who don’t work hard enough don’t make much progress. That is
the nature of the game. You can’t cheat the game.
The Eagles are playing in
the qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and 2018 FIFA World
Cup. Do you see the team, coached by Sunday Oliseh, making it to those
tournaments?
I think we are too much in a hurry.
Oliseh was appointed as national team coach barely six months ago. Let’s
give him time. He is not a magician. Oliseh should be supported by
everybody. I think Oliseh has done well as a coach. If given the room
and support, I think he will do better.
How far do you think Nigeria will go at the Rwanda 2016 Africa Nations Championship?
I think the players in the camp are
quality players. The thing with tournaments like this is that you can
have a good team but you may not lift the cup. I believe if the Nigerian
team get to the quarter-finals they will win the trophy.
How did you end up with two erstwhile Eagles players – Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Patrick Ovie – as sons-in-law?
Maybe you should ask God. I didn’t
choose for my daughters, who to marry. They married the people they
wanted. As a father, I supported them. Some people think because they
are players, I was the one that arranged the marriages. The funny part
of it is that I don’t even know how they met. In one of the cases, by
the time I knew about the relationship, they said they had known
themselves for about three to four years. I was surprised. It was God
that arranged it. But I’m proud that my daughters got married to
footballers. I wish the other ones will marry footballers.
Now that you have turned 64, are you thinking of retiring from coaching anytime soon?
I’m not thinking of anything for now.
When you are in football, it is difficult to leave. It is something I
know how to do and I cannot deny others the opportunity of learning from
me.
