Fire the Coach, Slash the Salaries, But who fires Kanu and Ekwueme?

Good morning All

Shortly after yesterday’s blog, news broke that Enyimba had slashed players’ salaries by half. First they fire Eguma, now they cut wages. On the surface, it looks like decisive action. In reality, it is nonsense. The same old nonsense packaged as discipline.

At the end of last season, Kanu Nwankwo, Ifeanyi Ekwueme and their management team owed players 16 match bonuses. The State Government had already released the money, yet somehow it never reached the players’ accounts. It vanished in transit. Magically.

Their solution? Tell the players to leave. And they did. Happier to walk away from the circus the club had become. What followed was a frantic street-level recruitment drive. No quality checks. No real scouting. Just find anyone who can wear a jersey and announce them as “new signings.”

Then came the coach — a man whose best tactical ideas expired years ago. Only the imcompentent Enyimba management still believed he had something to offer. They paired him with a squad built on panic and shortcuts and expected miracles. But football does not reward delusion.

Barely a quarter into the season, the truth had become obvious. The players were not good enough. The performances were flat. And Enyimba had dropped more home points than any club in the League. Instead of accepting responsibility, the management began hunting for scapegoats.

First, they dumped the coach. Predictable. Convenient. But then came the real insult — cutting players’ salaries by half. Government’s allocation will still come, but the players will be too intimidated to complain. And the balance? No one will ask questions. It is a brilliant scam trick if you have no conscience.

Remember, these same players have been owed match bonuses since this season began. What kind of administration makes you work, refuses to pay you, and abandons you if you get injured? This is who is running Enyimba today. We blame politicians for being wicked, but give some people even a small taste of power and you will see cruelty in HD.

You cannot demand excellence from players who are owed bonuses. You cannot expect consistency from a team built on shortcuts. You cannot shout “professionalism” when the conditions behind the scenes are anything but professional.

Kanu and Ekwueme and their entourage are responsible for creating this environment and until they are willing to look in the mirror, no coach appointment, no tactical shift, no interim solution will deliver the change we crave.

Enyimba will rise again; but only when those at the top stop treating the club like a personal ATM and start managing it with vision, integrity and competence. Until that happens, the sacking and the salary cuts are nothing more than decoration on a house that needs structural repair.

Because the real problem is not the players. It is not the tactics. It is the management. And until that changes, everything else is noise.