Mikel Obi, Super Eagles Capt. and a teammate
If the Super Eagles are to fulfil God’s promise to be the first Africa country to lift the World Cup, a foreign coach should not be allowed to tinker the team for the 2018 World Cup tournament in Russia, a clergyman has warned.
The Primate cum General Overseer of the Glory Church of Christ in Benin, Prophet Tommy Yisa Aika, gave the warning while delivering a spiritual message to the country.
The 78-year-old cleric however, admonished that if his spiritual message was ignored, then Nigeria should expect a poor outing at the tournament. Prophet Aika lays claim to have been instrumental to the national teams chain of successes in the past saying “Although I have never been appreciated for all my contributions to the Super Eagles lofty achievements, I am not deterred.” He stressed that for the team to come out victorious at the mundial God’s message through him must be adhered to.
“The message that has been handed over to me for over 10 years now for onward transmission to the world is that the Super Eagles of Nigeria will be the first team in the continent of Africa to lift the World Cup but to achieve this feat, the team should not be led by a foreign coach,” he emphasised
Prophet Aika appealed to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, to intervene in the issue as his previous appeals to the then acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo was ignored, he claimed.
“I will participate in the spiritual aspect of selecting three coaches and two financiers to be attached to the team. The process of the spiritual selection of the coaching crew will involve a girl not older than 7 years picking the three coaches and the two financiers through a lucky dip. One of the coaches would be given the responsibility of coaching the attackers. The second coach would be saddled with the responsibility of training the midfielders while the third will be assigned to training the defenders and goalkeepers. As per the two financiers one will be mandated to cater for the footballers while the other would be in charge of the officials.
“All these will be done in his (Senator Saraki’s) presence and two other prominent personalities, retired Generals Theophilus Danjuma and Abdulsalam Abubakar.
“Of course, I and my team of prayer warriors would be doing the needful in the background,” he concluded.
The Super Eagles currently lead the Group B of the 2018 World Cup to be hosted by Russia and need a win against the Chipolopolo of Zambia in Uyo on October 7 to qualify for its 6th World Cup appearance.