BY TONY UBANI
Sunday Oliseh sounded the traditional trade closing gong of the Nigeria Stock Exchange yesterday and that bell also signified his commencement of job as Super Eagles coach, taking over the reins from Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.
And moments after, he also released the list of 18 players who will do battle with Tanzania’s Taifa Stars in the Nations Cup qualifier in Dar es Salam. A lot of firsts were recorded in his first official function on a Super Monday but he did not lose track of the bobby traps that could undermine his job in the Eagles.
at the Closing Gong Ceremony at The Exchange yesterday
‘’I’ll not sell players or manage players as coach of the Super Eagles’’, he said bluntly to a question.
Selling players while am still coach of the Eagles is like selling my country. Why should I do that? Agents or Managers get 7% or at most 10% of what players are paid. That is like getting $7,000 from a player. It is like selling my country. But I know that if we play well and perhaps get to win or even get to the semi-final of the World Cup, I will make more money than that.
If I visit Lagos State Government for instance after such a feat, he won’t give me $7,000. I won’t even engage in any deal with any player in the national team. Such dirty things destroy everything you have in a team. I need money like any other person.
I need money for my family, I need money to pay school fees. I need genuine money. Selling players is useless. Let me also clarify that my brother is not an agent. He owns a football club and he is a lawyer. He is my lawyer. I want to succeed and I want to do the right things to succeed’’.
Asked if he would resign if he fails to qualify for the Nations Cup, Chan, or World Cup, he said that the question does not arise as he was starting from a scratch. ‘’We’ve potentials in Nigeria but they’re not branded yet. In one year, Nigeria used 62 players. It shows that there are no regulars in the team. We need to start this journey together and build a team that we all will be proud of’’, he noted.

President Mohammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria is erroneously being regarded as a rich country, stating that indices and parameters of evaluating a rich country such as economic advancement, improved social services were lacking.
He however enjoined the Nigerian elites to be prepared to make sacrifice to rescue the country.
The president spoke when he received the outgoing President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Dr. Donald Kaberuka and other officials of the bank.
According to him, the privileged and influential citizens clearly have to do more now than in the past to help the country deal successfully with its economic and security problems.
President Buhari also Kaberuka that his administration will welcome more support from the AfDB for projects in versatile sectors like agriculture that can easily be explored to create more jobs for unemployed Nigerians.
He said: “With the shock of falling oil prices, lack of revenues, and insecurity, the Nigerian elites must now wake up and provide the right guidance in their communities, and also lead the economy on the right path more than they used to do”

ABUJA – In his bid to cut cost of governments, President Mohammadu Buhari has announced that there would be no federal government delegation for this year’s hajj in Saudi Arabia.
He however stated that the government shall play its traditional roles of providing consular, medical and security services to Nigerian pilgrims.
With the decision, the government is expected to save about $1 million and N30m in local expenses.
President Muhammadu Buhari
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu who stated this on Monday quoted the president as saying that the decision was not targeted at any individual or group.
He also stated that States were at liberty to sponsor their pilgrims, if they so desired.
“The states can deal with that (meaning appointment of own delegations) but this year at the Center, we will not be involved” Shehu said.