http://www.vpro.nl/buitenland/nieuws/2014/06/clemens-in-nigeria.html

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By Micah Peters

"I had never been in Nigeria. I read that the capital Lagos was known as The Hell of Africa. But I'm not as quickly scared, "says football coach Clemens Westerhof, who in 1989 became coach of that country. He was one of the first Dutch football coaches who went to an African country. The football in Nigeria was the late eighties hardly developed.

It also emerged that a country with a bleak political regime. That was even worse when General Sani Abacha in 1993 came to power through a coup. "Abacha is seen as the hardest dictator Nigeria has ever had," said Edwin Schoon, researcher of the program of the power of the ball, a book about politics and football in Africa. And writer "Abacha made everything that is smacking of democracy down to size."

However Westerhof did not care of the political situation: "You should not engage in politics and your boating own course, otherwise you turn." But he did have good political contacts. According Finidi George, one of the Nigerian star players of that time, Westerhof had access to the highest boss. "Problems were resolved very quickly." Westerhof forged a solid national team. George: "In the period Westerhof came and everyone went as he wanted. But Westerhof changed all that. The team was a unit. "