By Nkasiobi Oluikpe - Lagos
Christian Chukwu
He belongs to the generation that never saw anything good in being a musician, comedian or footballer. Musicians he says, then were referred to as hooligans, comedians got tagged as irresponsible clowns while footballers were never do wells. But since football flowed in his blood, he couldn’t help but hide to play the game.
As a child growing up within his neighbourhood, he had to hawk plantains and other wares for his mother after school. When opportunities presented itself, he will put aside his wares at a corner and sneak to play football. Sometimes, he will come back to meet an empty tray. The wares would have been stolen making it impossible for him to go back home.
For a child whose mother never wanted to see him anywhere near the rounded leather, to come home to tell her he was playing football when they stole his wear, was an impossible task. On such occasion, he would be hanging around the backyard listening to the mother screaming, how can my child play football. This boy is stubborn, he wants to kill me. Can’t you see that they call the other woman, Nne (mother of) Doctor or Nne Lawyer. Then nobody wanted to be Nne footballer. Of course, anytime he is able to make it inside the house, he is sure of having a good taste of the cane.
None of these debarred the young man from entering the field and having his fun with the rounded leather. From his primary school days when he was discovered by the game master through his secondary school days when he played in the academicals to becoming a civil servant, he never gave up playing until he found himself at the national team.
And of course the breakthrough came in 1980 when they won the first Nations Cup and the government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari showered them with lots of gift items including having their home state governors name a street after them, though none was ever named after Christian Chukwu in Enugu State.
Chukwu, former footballer and national team coach would today proudly tell you, it is a different story entirely as everybody not only wants to be called but also wants to be reckoned with Nne Chairman Christian Chukwu, Nne Kanu Nwankwo, Nne Osuofia and a host of others. Those never do well vocations he emphasized are now the most sought after professions.
Chukwu has been in the game of football for quite some time and understands the intricacies both as a player and as a coach. But to many aspiring young coaches, seeing the unsettled mood of coaches of a losing team during a match is off putting. Admonishing them, Chukwu says that though it is that way, it is not enough to discourage them from entering the profession.
“Like every other profession, coaching is one of the toughest professions in the world because it is a game loved by everybody and everybody automatically becomes a coach during a match. I have oppositions everywhere. It is a profession you have to know your onion. You have to be calm and not hypertensive, it is a game of you either win or lose or you drop. Any one that comes your way, so far your conscience is clear that you have done your best you have to take it that way and plan ahead. One thing you should know is that you can never satisfy everybody in whatever you do especially in football where there is a lot of interest.
You have to be composed, fair to yourself and take the right people, he advised. In Africa, especially in Nigeria, people are not too patient as you get fired for losing two or three matches. But the good thing about it according to him is that when you get fired, you will be called up elsewhere.
During Chukwu’s playing days, he and his contemporaries never had the privilege of being advised on how to manage their income ahead of their playing season. That is why today, a few of them are reported as being neglected after playing and serving their country.
“In our days, we never had such because we were not playing professional football, we were amateur civil servants. It is a different thing nowadays, as it is purely professional. Somebody who is going to be responsible is known early in life. Because of the money involved, a lot of them who have not gotten to the age of handling such amount of money go crazy with it and when you talk to them, they will think you are jealous because you did not get such money. But those of them from responsible homes can be advised.
“You discover that after most of them must have finished playing and cannot afford to feed again, people will begin to shout that they are being neglected after serving their country, I don’t share that because I believe that when they were playing, they were getting all their dues. Unfortunately, they mismanaged it so cannot blame anybody. That does mean that whoever wants to help them cannot do so. But I refuse to be a part of the people who blame the government or federation because I believe that we were given all our dues.
But a situation whereby players are being owned their signoff fees, Chukwu retorted, is not good for our football. That is the only time he goes against the federation and government. But if you are being given all your entitlements and could not control yourself with it, he says, becomes your own personal problem in due course.
So as a coach with years of experience, he is trying to bridge that gap of regularly talking his players into saving for the rainy day as they would not remain on the field forever. Most of them as can be seen around today are doing well and comfortable when they stop playing.
And anyone who thinks that he is one of the most relevant heard voices of all his contemporaries would be mistaken. As Chukwu says, in life, after one profession, you can jump into another profession. So many of his contemporaries are doing well in the business world. Because he stuck to football and always in the news that is why he seems to be about the only one being heard.
“I have spent almost all of my life in the game of football that is why it is like I am still relevant. All of us cannot be in sports.
Speaking further on how much he has impacted on young players, Chukwu disclosed that you have to be a role model to the players. Once you are fair and straightforward and make them understand that it is business on which they can survive, then you will earn their respect. It is not only about putting the ball in the pitch. There are other things you have to do outside of football, and when they see you they want to become like you. And once you can achieve that you have got a very strong team. Once they see you as being tribal or corrupt and not being fair, you lose it.
Growing up like every other child from an average family, he did what most of his mates were doing and never allowed any of those exuberances to escape him. Their parents then never enjoyed them because they were not happy with them engaging in the game of football. And today, he confessed to still living the life of his age mates and would want to be most remembered as someone that has promoted, developed and brought out a lot in the game of football.