Clemens Westerhof has a place in Nigeria's football history.He was the first coach to take us to the world cup and took us to 5th in the world ranking.The highest ever by an
African team.With a record like this he should have the Key to the City of Lagos and Nigeria,but he was shocked when he went to the National Stadium in Lagos Nigeria,to film a documentary about his life.He was refused entry and asked to get clearance from Abuja.
This is something that could have been done with a simple phone call..it's not as if the stadium is in use now..it has been abandoned and used now for church revivals and frivolous activities.
But i bet you they saw an "Oyibo" crew and thought it was a chance for them to make some dosh..shame he has been treated like this really.
Jacob Ajom for Vanguard News
Former Nigeria coach Clemens Westerhof yesterday received the shock of his life at the arena he achieved his life dream some twenty years ago.
Westerhof who arrived Nigeria on Wednesday with a television crew in his entourage is telling the story of his life at 74.
The crew from VPRO, a nationalTV network in Holland is doing a special documentary on the man who first qualified Nigeria for the FIFA World Cup and took the Super Eagles to the fifth best national team in the FIFA rankings..
The crew wanted to take visuals of Westerhof standing at the centre of the main bowl of the
national stadium, where he had his best moments as a coach. When Westerhof got to the national stadium with the TV crew, he was told they could not enter the arena because they needed clearance from Abuja. “It is a shame. It is a pity,” Westerhof said, while speaking to journalists at Hotel the Diplomat yesterday. “The crew wanted to take pictures of where I achieved glory with Nigeria twenty years ago. We have been to Ota, the Honda pitch where we used to train.”
He said he will repeat his trip to the stadium today with his class of 1994 Eagles to be led by Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, Dan Amokachi, Peter Rufai among others