Ike Shorunmu – Unfortunate poor treatment of a national hero

Ike Shorunmu

By the time you are reading this, I hope Victor Osimhen would have led the frontline of the Super Eagles to ‘destroy’ the national team of football minnows, Guinea Bissau, last night at the Moshood Abiola International Stadium, Abuja.

Anything short of a clear victory, with goals to shore up Osimhen’s chest in his chase of that exalted but difficult title of Highest Goal scorer in Nigerian football at international level, held since 1994 by Rashidi Yekini, and before that by ‘yours truly’ since 1981, would be totally unacceptable at this stage of Nigeria’s football development.

Guinea Bissau are not only one of the smallest countries in Africa in size, there is a whole planet between them and Nigeria in football. Having said that, I hope, at the time you are reading this on Saturday morning, the Eagles would have won well.

Outside of that match, what has engaged my mind these past few days and dominated the media space is the matter of Ike Shorunmu, the shy, quiet, gentleman and former goalkeeper of the Super Eagles. Before now, Ike’s voice in Nigerian football has never risen beyond the decibels of gentle instructions doled out on the training ground of clubs and the national team as goalkeeper-trainer.

He has played role of an assistant coach very diligently for many years and through several regimes of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF.

By the way, the only former goalkeeper to have served as Chief coach of the national team in Nigeria’s history is late Carl Odw’yer in the mid-1970s. This past week, Ike’s voice has been rather loud, bitter and strident, unusually rising above the din of the match between the Super Eagles and the underdogs from Guinea Bissau.

Ike Shorunmu, nick-named Anobi and Omo Alaja, by