It was a pleasant surprise. No one expected it.

When the Super Eagles players and members of the technical crew were leaving for Abuja to attend the Appreciation Dinner organised by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in honour of the team for picking the Group B sole ticket, all they had in mind were speeches and what the nation would do for them. However, by the time they were through, team Head Coach, Shuaibu Amodu, was N1million richer.

In addition, he had a brand new Kia Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to the bargain. His assistants got half a million each for their efforts while the players, all foreign based, got customised Rolex wrist watches. Courtesy of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Nigeria's qualification for the 2010 World Cup billed for South Africa.

Although, it was not the first time Nigeria would qualify for the Mundial, it is the first FIFA World Cup to be held on the continent. Why is this one so special?

No one gave him a chance to succeed. Not for anything, but for the heartaches and near heart attack which attended the last qualification. But the Ikpella, Edo-State born tactician, was pleasantly shocked. Also if not all, most of his ardent critics were on the last day of the matches for the race to the first Mundial to be held on the African continent, when Cartage Eagles of Tunisia slipped and the Super Eagles slipped through into South Africa courtesy of Super Eagles' 3-2 victory over the Harambee Stars of Kenya and Tunisia's 0-1 loss to Mambas of Mozambique.

As an icing on the cake, the Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) endorsed the former Orlando Pirates of South Africa gaffer as the handler of the team to both the Nations Cup in Angola and South Africa with a proviso that the Eagles play in the semi final.

Announcing Amodu's endorsement after the meeting, Shehu Adamu said the Federation is 100 per cent satisfied with the performance of the Amodu-led technical crew.

Twenty-four hours earlier, the Taiwo Ogunjobi-led Technical Committee had scored the former BCC Lions of Gboko FC tactician 100 per cent. According to Ogunjobi, Amodu did not lose any match in the race to the run-up.

The Federation's president, Sani Lulu, puts it succinctly: "We made a pledge to stick with Amodu and we will not go back on that now".

"Coaching, as in most sectors of football, has to do with results. Let us forget the sound and fury, and work with statistics. In his 15 years in and out of the senior team as head coach, Amodu has lost only one competitive game. In 12 matches during the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, he won nine and drew three, losing none.

"It is hard to find a man with such record in today's international game and who has also qualified his country for the FIFA World Cup on two occasions.

"The NFF wish to make it clear that there is no vacancy for the head coach position.

"Remarkably, some of those championing the debate are ex-players who were never good enough to wear the country's colours during their time," he argued.

"It is time that we started appreciating what we have as a people."

But his critics were not crying for the sake of it. While Ghana and Cote D' voire won their respective tickets to the final with a match each to go, Nigeria had to be banking on permutations and calculations for Tunisia to fall while Nigeria wins her last match in Nairobi.

Nigeria found herself in such situation right from the blast of the whistle. In Maputo, where it was expected to pick the maximum three points, it ended up playing a barren draw. Tunisia on her own defeated Kenya at home. Eagles got its first maximum points when it defeated Kenya 3-0 at the Abuja National Stadium.

Soccer-crazy Nigerians thought that the Eagles had found its rhythm. However, they were proved wrong as the Super Eagles took the lead in Abuja in the reverse match against Tunisia and twice, it surrendered it in a match most people thought was within reach. And most people gave up on the team.

Before then, President Umaru Yar'Adua set up a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to oversee the Eagles qualification. The 10-man committee, which was headed by Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, also had some prominent Nigerians who had made their marks in football administration and media.

The committee had the ears of the president as it raised money for the Eagles campaign. Winning bonuses were paid as at when due and in the match against Tunisia in Abuja, the players and their technical crew were paid double the wining bonus upfront. When the chips were finally down, the Eagles failed to soar. This riled not a few people who started calling for Amodu's replacement with a foreign coach. Several foreign coaches including Guus Hiddink, Giovanni Trapattoni and Ruud Gullit were linked with the top Nigerian job.

Amodu himself replaced Betis Vogt after the Eagles disastrous outing at the Nation's Cup held in Ghana in 2008.

The appointment as well as confirmation of Amodu generated reactions not in a few places since it was officially announced.

But the reactions were more or less mixed as most sports analysts and commentators appeared sharply divided over the choice of the former BCC Lions of Gboko coach for the Eagles top job.

As to be expected, 'bus-stop parliamentarians', most of who are ardent football lovers and followers, were in the thick of the verbal fray as they gathered to discuss the issue.

That was the case at the Igando Bus Stop, Lagos, where 'parliamentarians' argued heatedly for over two hours when the matter was introduced for discussion.

It all began with 'Parliamentarian' Alfred Okhomu who observed thus: "So, they have finally confirmed Shuaibu Amodu as the chief coach of the Super Eagles.

Hmn, but can Amodu really handle the Eagles? I'm saying this because I don't know if a local person will be able to handle the superstars in the Eagles now. Most of these players play professional football in big teams abroad where they are handled by world-class coaches.

So, I don't know how they will feel coming home to meet a local person like Amodu as their coach in the Super Eagles".

In response to Alfred's comment, 'Parliamentarian' Kelechi Uwakwe said: "Ah-ah, what are you saying? Amodu is the best man for the job; it does not matter whether he is a local coach or foreign.

What we need is a coach who can deliver; I mean somebody who can lead the Super Eagles to qualify for the next World Cup in South Africa. Our experience with Berti Vogts has shown that success does not necessarily lie with hiring a foreign coach; including those you call world-class coaches.

What we need is somebody who is dedicated and who has the knowledge and ability to coach Super Eagles to greater heights. That's all".

Almost two years after he took over, the situation is no less different. Hear what a columnist wrote about Amodu: "This is the fourth time Nigeria has qualified for the World Cup now. Two of the four are the handiwork of Coach Shuaibu Amodu which is equivalent of 50 per cent. Most importantly, he is the only Nigerian to have performed that feat so far.

But what I cannot understand really is that what is the reason being advanced by some Nigerians for thinking of removing Coach Shuaibu Amodu? Is it because he has taken the Super Eagles again to the World Cup for the second time in less than 10 years? It is possible that if he was in charge in 2006 he would have taken Nigeria to the World Cup anyway. Let us cast our minds back to 2002 briefly. Coach Shuaibu Amodu did the impossible for being the first indigenous coach to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup. Those who did it in 1994 and 1998 were the so-called "foreign technical experts". Hardly had he finished congratulating the players for a job well done then the usual black-man sentiment took over that we needed a foreign coach, while the rest as they say is history.

Now another golden opportunity has presented itself for Coach Shuaibu Amodu to showcase his talent at the World Cup, but enemies of the development of football in Nigeria have suddenly woken up from their slumber that he does not have the experience and the respect of the players to go to World Cup.

By the way, the 2002 World Cup was Nigeria's worst outing at the World Cup. What I saw then was a coach planted unto his seat and never for once came to the touch-line to instruct his players on the field. The Super Eagles were like a sheep without shepherd. Of course they lost their three group matches. Compare that to Coach Shuaibu Amodu in Kenya, he was on his feet, read his match brought in Obafemi Martins who did the damage.

Yet again what happens to the rule that you do not change a winning team during the middle of the game?

Nevertheless, Amodu's 'enemies' are not impressed. "In Nigeria, they do not respect a local coach. A foreign coach will get whatever he asks for. It is then he can succeed. The current Super Eagles needs a foreign technical adviser to be able to do well in South Africa," submitted former Super Eagles technical adviser Clemence Westerhoff.

While the debate was raging, the PTF did not respond. When it did, it did it in a big way.

This, former Super Eagles handler Paul Hamilton, said has relieved Amodu a lot of stress. "He can now smile and concentrate on his job," said the one fondly called Wonder B.

Will this translate into the team improving on its Nations Cup record? One cannot be categorical. But one thing is certain, Amodu is grinning from molar to molar.