GOD OF JOSE MOURINHO
King of glory, give me the wisdom and the maturity to write this piece about your son, Jose Mourinho, the man whose story inspires me a great deal. A man whose story is like a parable: Parable of the talent.
Thank you Jehovah for this one, this 'Special One' whom you created in your own image, then blessed and ordained with a special talent that no money can buy and which no one can take away from him. In Exodus 31: 3, you said that you have filled your artistic son 'with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.'
You also said in your word that we should not bury our talents. Instead we should use it to the highest level so that your name would be glorified.
What happened to the man in the parable who buried the talents you gave him? You took it away from him and added it as a bonus to the one who used his talents so well. God, help us to discover our talents and use it to the glory of your Holy name. In the world today, one needs to identify his area of strength to be able to compete and win. Help each and everyone reading this piece to score his or her goal, like Diego Milito and like Didier Drogba, the man Mourinho discovered and developed into a goal-scoring machine. Mourinho, the great coach, manager, motivator, psychologist, talent hunter and leader.
Today, the whole world is celebrating and glorifying you for the man Mourinho whom you used to prove a point: that the downfall of a man is not the end. Yesterday, the world mourned when Mourinho was unceremoniously asked by his employer, the rich Russian Abramovich to leave Chelsea, believing that Mourinho was finished, that he no longer had what it takes to win the European Championship Cup for Chelsea. Only Abramovich can explain why he fired the man who has turned out to be the greatest coach in the world today. Ah, man's judgment is different from God's judgment!
With tears in their eyes, the fans of Chelsea cried and cried for Jose Mourinho, as he crossed the bridge to go into exile. At the stadium, they still chanted his name long after he had left. They chanted in match after match: Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho…
But on judgment day, Mourinho came back to haunt Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. And Mourinho wept. He wept on the day he found himself playing against Chelsea and winning against his beloved Chelsea. Deep down, Chelsea is Mourinho's dream team. His heart would always be there for Chelsea. Thank you Mourinho for this big brand Chelsea and the great height you took it to and the culture you left there which still bears your mark. We, the fans of Chelsea, would forever be grateful to you. Wherever you go, we pray that God would continue to uplift you into greater glory. As you plan to go to Real Madrid, our hearts would follow you there.
After beating Chelsea, you went ahead to beat the unbeatable Barcelona. After Barcelona, you beat Bayern Munich on Saturday to win the European Cup for Inter Milan. In just one year, you had won three Cups for Inter Milan - two in Italy and one in Europe.
You won the Coppa Italia, Serie A and the Champions League. You had earlier won the European Champions Cup for Porto. And you have proved it again, that thunder can strike twice in the lifetime of an achiever. Or more.
As I ponder over the Mourinho saga, all I can say is: to God be the glory. I am happy for Mourinho. The whole world is happy for Mourinho. He has inspired me. He has inspired all of us. If you check your Twitter, you will be amazed at the comments that people all over the world are making about Jose Mourinho, the man whose time has come. The world loves success stories. The world loves records being broken. The world loves history being made. For Mourinho, the glory days are back. In life, setbacks do come. But the true mark of a champion is to rise up and head for the mountain where success and glory lie.
I would frame a big picture of Jose Mourinho and hang it in my library. Every day I would look at it. I would look at it for inspiration. It is not to worship Mourinho. I don't believe in idol worship. It is just to inspire. In this world, we all need inspiration. We all need heroes. We all need people to look up to. Mourinho is one of my heroes.
After finishing our book on the unstoppable Mike Adenuga, the only man in the world today who singlehandedly funded a telecoms company from ground zero to hero, we would love to write a book on 'Jose Mourinho's Leadership.'
Don't laugh, because, in life everything is doable. Adenuga did not grant us any interview, but we still went ahead, with dogged determination to write a biography on him, which you would get to read soon, this very year. After reading it, you can then judge whether it is a good book or not. In life, everyone should have a motto. My motto is taken from the book of Philippians 4:13, which says: 'For I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength…' (New Living Translation 2007).
I adopted this as a motto many years ago when Evander Holyfield was taking on the fearsome fighter Mike Tyson. In the ring, Holyfield had Philippians 4:13 boldly inscribed on his pants. Using the word as his inspiration, he went ahead to beat the daylight out of Mike Tyson who infamously gave Holyfield an ear bite in the second fight. My brother, there is power in the word of God.
Don't play with this Holy Book. It is there for you to meditate on, day and night. And success would be yours. Success would come your way. I pray that you will succeed in all you do. I pray that your children would succeed. I am praying for all the children who are taking their exams. You will all come out with flying colours and make your parents proud. The God of Jose Mourinho would be your God, in Jesus' name (IJN).
In our book on Jose Mourinho, we would be trying to say that one man can actually make a forest. One man can change the destiny of a team. One man can change the destiny of a nation. For a team or a nation to succeed, all that is needed is effective leadership. Charismatic leadership. Inspirational leadership. Strategic and tactical leadership. Visionary leadership. Creative leadership. Knowledgeable leadership. Spot-on leadership. Hands-on leadership. Get-the-job-done leadership. That is what Jose Mourinho's leadership is about. It is not about fancy football or artistic football as played by Arsenal or Barcelona. It is about effective football. It is a form of benevolent Machiavellianism—getting the job done by all means. Doing what it takes to win. Playing the psychologist to your players and lighting the fire of victory in their souls.
With a good leader at the helm, you are ready to play for him and die for him, if necessary. One of the reasons Inter won is that they played for their coach. They played their hearts out for Mourinho to win and write his name in history. Against Chelsea, winning for Mourinho, was their inspiration. And against Barcelona, it was the same spirit of committing seppuku for Mourinho. With just 10 men, they faced the star-studded Barcelona and defended with all their blood to smash out Barcelona at San Siro. For me, that was the real final. The last match against Barcelona was the decider. After that, Inter Milan had their names and the name of Jose Mourinho written on the European Cup in a case of victory foretold.
My dearly beloved reader, mind what you call yourself. Mohammed Ali called himself the Greatest. And he is the greatest. Babangida called him the 'Evil Genius' and the name has stuck like barnacles. Our President Jonathan was named Goodluck at birth. And ever since, good luck has been trailing him. Jose Mourinho calls himself the Special One. And there is no doubt about it: he is truly the Special One. In the days when journalism was journalism, a man like Jose Mourinho would be on the cover of TIME and Newsweek and be the topic of editorials and commentaries, celebrating the indomitable spirit of man and the triumph of talent over money and moneybags. These days, I don't know what is happening to our beloved journalism. Maybe we need a Special One in journalism too!