by Ayokunle Odekunle

Quiting when the ovation is loudest cannot be overstated.

Look at this instance:

If you are a regular visitor to Yoruba parties, you will know there will almost always be a stand where a Fuju/Juju/Apala/Sakara/Saje will inundate the crème-de-la-crème of the society present with heart-busting-pocket-draining songs.

So basically, at these parties, the musician picks you out and praises you to high heavens. You bring out a wad of crisp pound notes to spray on him and he changes gear from 1 to 4. He sings about how, before your parents had sex to ‘make’ you, he already knew you will be great. He tells you you were born to be rich and will never go broke. You spray and spray. People hail and hail you. You are on cloud 9

Two things are possible

1. Another ‘money-miss-road’ who wanta his ego massaged is waiting right behind you. Your time is up. Or almost up. What do you do? Leave the stage jejely while your name is still on the Juju musician’s lips.

2. You refuse to leave and keep dancing and dancing. The musician gets tired of you and starts hailing another money-bag who will probably shove you to one side. In this instance, you will leave the stage shame-facedly. Disgraced! Ego at the lowest possible ebb.

This is the story of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.

Now, I am not going to go into his performance as I will leave History to judge. I know History isn’t an unfair Judge- It delivers its verdicts based on facts and figures , not emotions and sentiments.

What are the facts and figures? The guy qualified for the World Cup, Won the Nations Cup and qualified for the 2nd Round of the World Cup with a group of rag-tag team. Surely, History won’t be unfair to him.

After the world cup however, I was one of the many who felt he ought to have walked out on the Job, like a boss. Quit while the audience are still cheering your name-loudly. Like a big boss. Not to wait for the traducers to embarrass him off the stage- That will be a big loss.

There were rumours and rumours of rumours going round the airwaves that the guys at the Glass House (NFF building) had become so angry with Keshi as he now had a larger than life persona. Remember these were the same guys who had booked a ticket to fly the Eagles home after the end of the group stage of the Nations cup even when the team was still in the competition?

After the World Cup when Keshi’s popularity was already dipping and the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) were waiting for him, begging him to become their Head Coach, I expected that he would take the offer as that was a new challenge. He had NOTHING else to prove as coach of the Super Eagles. He had succeeded where others failed. But I was shocked when he chose to stay on. Stay on to be rubbished?

Did he stay on due to patriotism? Or because he had a point to prove? Or ego problems? We might never know.

Keshi didn’t do himself any favours after the World Cup when he chose to stay and thus chose to taint the legacy he had built, to taint the goodwill he had garnered.

Tragedy.

Is Keshi finished? No! Having successful stints with Mali and Togo shows that he is no fluke and that he is capable of staging a comeback from the imbroglio.

Lesson?

In Nigeria, develop the native intelligence to know when to put a stop to something. When the applause from the audience is at its loudest, sneak away and let them miss you. Should you wait to find out if the applause will be louder than it is? No. Just go. History has shown that Nigeria almost always rubbishes its heroes. We have had tales of Nigerians who were once crowd favourites but simply because they didn’t know or pretended not to know when to leave the stage gracefully, they were embarrassed and their good works rubbish.

It is a tragedy watching yourself getting booed off the stage and watching yourself jeered by people who cheered you endlessly but hey, this is Nigeria.

Like Kenny Rogers said in his smash hit – The Gambler:

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done

I hope someone has learnt one thing from Keshi’s  fall and demystification?

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Lawyer by day, writer by night, Ayokunle Odekunle is a Graduate of the University of Ibadan where he was the Most Outstanding Student for the year 2011.