Stephen Keshi Says, “I Want To Be Remembered As A Pleasant Man”

 I am not a football fan. No. But I was forced to have an interview with the then Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, who sadly, died this morning. Then, I was STYLE EDITOR, PUNCH. It was one of those crazy weeks when you would not have any personality to put up on the lifestyle cover. It was crazy! With the help of our then Sports Editor, Adekunle Salami, we got to talk to Keshi.

Anna Oboho, my colleague, was also on hand to run the interview.

“I hope you are fine girls,” he humorously asked the two of us as we conducted the interview via telephone.

That was on August 22, 2013.

He was very apt in his answers and he talked about his life as a coach, a husband and father.

As a coach, he said, “One is bound to face attacks and criticisms. Most people blame coaches after every game, they point out what is good and what is not good. Even if you are winning, there are still some people around that would tell you that there are things the coach did not do right.”

We asked if he got angry at such comments and he said, “I respond by   focusing on the business at hand and doing what I have to do.”

Then, he spoke on the tension inherent in any match: “There is no way to relieve tension because tension will always be there long after the game is over. It does not matter the outcome of the game, you just put it behind you and tell yourself that it is in the past. You have to think ahead.  In a game, you have three possibilities— you are winning, losing or drawing. Whichever one comes in, manage it and go ahead.”

Keshi and Kate when their daughter got married in 2015

That year, he was 51 years and told us that his marriage to the late Kate was 31 years. Anna and I became curious and asked why he married so early.

Keshi, who spoke Yoruba very fluently laughed and said, “I met her in Benin City when I was playing for New Nigerian Bank.   When I met her, I knew right away that she was the person for me. I married at a very young age. If I did not marry then, it would have been difficult for me to settle down. It was my decision at that moment and I took to my parents’ advice too.”

Didn’t an early marriage affect him career wise?

He said, “It was not easy because members of our team were all young. Then, very few of us were married and as football players, we would hang out. Some people say that once a man is married, he is in prison and his wife does not allow him to go out and be as free as he used to be. That did not happen in my case because my wife did not tie me down or question my movements. Till date, I still hang out with my friends.”

We asked him on women and how he handled temptations.

Keshi's daughter, Ifeanyinwa weddes March 2015

Quite jovial, he replied, “It is not every woman that you see that you want to sleep with.   Self discipline is very important to your success in whatever you do and the fact that women flock around you should not make you lose focus.”

We told him we heard he was almost tied down with a woman while he was playing in Cote D’ Voire and he laughed heartily. He said, “No. They couldn’t tie me down with a woman. I only played in Cote D’ Voire for seven months and after the competition, I left for Belgium.”

Our cordial conversation almost turned awry when we asked that he has to be styled in suit for our photographer in Benin to run a photo shoot with him. He declined.

“I no dey wear suit,” he said.

We begged and said it was a Style magazine and he had to look dandy.

At a point Slam, our sports editor and I spoke Yoruba to him and begged that he wore suit. Keshi declined still.

His opinion was, “I have had people who have approached me several times, offering to style me in either suits or other attire. But Africa is very hot and I cannot be wearing suits around the place. Secondly, my job makes me sweat at all hours. I am always on my feet, screaming, yelling and jumping about. You should not expect me to put a tie around my neck and remain uncomfortable throughout the day. 

“Again, I want to be on the same attire with the footballers. There is nothing wrong with me wearing a green/white track suit; it is the colour of the Nigerian flag, the colour of the team and I am proud to wear that instead of suits. I don’t even like suits! I used to wear suit when I was playing in Europe, now I am tired of wearing them. Though I may come back to them later, I am not wearing anything other than African attire.”

But what will he not be caught dead in? He promptly replied: “White trousers, I don’t fancy them at all.”

He ended up on the SUNDAY PUNCH S.P.I.C.E cover on August 25, 2013 in a creamy brown native attire.

We enjoyed his jokes and before the interview ended we asked him:

“What do you want to be remembered for?”

Keshi replied, “I want to be remembered as a guy who is pleasant to be with.”

He continued: “I am a reserved person; I like to be on my own as well as with my brothers; I don’t like putting unnecessary pressure on people and I don’t like people putting pressure on me.”

R.I.P Stephen Keshi.