Former NFF Technical Director Warns Against Reappointing Clemens Westerhof

The Dutch coach led the Nigeria national football team through its most successful period and has expressed his desire to return to the post he vacated 26 years ago, but a former top official of the NFF is appalled by the idea.

Former Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation, Kashimawo Laloko, believes it would be a mistake to hand over the reins of the Super Eagles to Clemens Westerhof almost three decades after he left the team.

Laloko is not a big fan of current Super Eagles handler Gernot Rohr, but the former administrator sees both Westerhof and his one-time assistant Jo Bonfere as unworthy replacements for the German tactician.

Westerhof led Nigeria to triumph at the 1994 African Cup of Nations before guiding the country to her first World Cup appearance in the United States the same year.

The 79-year-old gaffer recently revealed his desire to return as the Technical Adviser of the national team, claiming he had plans in place to make the Super Eagles world champion.

But Laloko questions the coaching credentials of the former Vitesse Arnhem manager, suggesting that he was fortunate with the way things worked out for him the first time.

“As far as I am concerned, Westerhof is not a coach but an organiser,” Laloko told the Guardian.

“He was lucky that during his time as the coach of the Super Eagles, he had direct contact with the late (Vice President Augustus) Aikhomu, and things worked out well for him. He cannot get same treatment now.

“These days, we don’t have people with the kind of interest in football shown by Aikhomu back then, and that is the truth. Westerhof and his former assistant, Bonfere Jo, are birds of a feather, and they are not good enough. Westerhof is even worse than Gernot Rohr.

“Again, the fact that Westerhof succeeded as a coach doesn’t mean he is good. It is because he had people like the late Aikhomu, Amos Adamu, Bolaji Ojo-Oba, who helped him out. Now, he cannot find such people again,” he stated.