We are back in turmoil. Our stuttering has reached its crescendo. Our football eggheads and coaches have thrown us all once more into that ruinous path that often leaves us gasping for survival almost all the time. In no time, we will all resort to the usual and now cultured way of mathematical ingenuity.
Ours has become a system that takes so much delight in doing things in reverse gear.
While standards are upheld with utmost priority in other nations, ours is to continue rubbing mud on the faces of soccer-loving Nigerians and our football in general.
If FIFA hammer is not hovering over our heads, our coaches are at loggerheads with the NFF over unpaid wages and contractual issues. And the death knell often takes centre stage when players and our over-hyped coaches throw verbal missiles at each other over issues bothering on the criteria that should be used in inviting one to be part of the Super Eagles. We just always hobble from one crisis to another with shocking abandon. The leadership tussle at the NFF is still raging like wild fire. Factions are springing up here and there. Football governing body, FIFA are not finding government meddlesomeness in football matters funny. They have warned us of the imminent disaster in the waiting if we fail to do things the right way. Since 2010, we have remained somewhat adamant by continuing to flout what the FIFA’s statute books prescribes for her member nations.
The obnoxious decree 101 has remained a major snag to our alignment with the tenets of the modern game. Those we have saddled with the responsibility of managing our football have abandoned their primary responsibility in pursuit of their personal and selfish ambitions. They operate with so many swaggers without caring a hoot of how the game thrives here. In this season of politics, they have been enmeshed in one political battle or the other.
Their mandate to salvage the image of our football does not bother them much. That’s why we always struggle in major competitions. We have lost our football culture to the vagaries recklessness. The urgent need to unite the football house so that in no too long a time, we will be on the path to falling in line with global standards have regrettably become a secondary item in the minds of our football eggheads. Our administrators care little about how we are rated in the comity of nations. They know that Nigerians are simply crazy about the game. It’s one game that pulls the nation together in the face of ethnic wars.
Nigerians forget their religious and cultural yearnings when Super Eagles play. They hug each other in ecstasy when our boys win. During such times, the sickening uprisings mostly occasioned by the Boko Haram madness relegates to the background as patriotism reigns supreme. Need I enumerate the economic benefits that accrue from the game? Why then can’t we press the right knob to move a step further from this self-inflicted morass? I refuse to believe that we have been cursed. No. even if there are powers fighting against our unity and progress, aren’t we religious enough to pray ourselves out from the grip of ill-luck and stagnation?
It’s high time we turned our attention to the grassroots for budding talents. The country is immensely blessed with individuals that can hold their own anywhere in the world. They are scattered all over the nation. The time we waste in fighting over whose turn it is to run our football could better be deployed in foraging the nook and cranny of the country for talents who are brimming with life, skills and vim. We cannot just politicise everything in our land. Sometimes, our collective progress should supersede our personal interest if we must keep pace with the rest of the world. This constant infighting among those that should supposedly lead by example is not only injurious to the system but has the tendency of spilling over to other institutions in the country.
We are too blessed both in human and material resources to allow charlatans who know next to nothing about the game to run rings around us. We must rise and say no to inept leadership as condonement of it only breeds backwardness.
Today, clever climes are being holistic in the way they operate their system. They take these things serious. They don’t pay lip service to matters of utmost necessity. Why then can’t we follow suit? Is it that a different blood flows through our veins that precludes us from knowing that white is white and red is red? Oh no!
We have exposed our linens in public glare so much that it multiplier effect is gradually being felt in the way other nationals view us. They see us as unserious species. They don’t believe that anything good can come from this part of the globe.
The efforts by the few good ones to better the system is being dwarfed by a majority who believe in milking the system dry not caring a second whose ox is gored.
The crisis at the NFF is another sad and unfortunate chapter in our beleaguered history. This show of shame must stop forthwith if our football must grow beyond the level it is at the moment.
One had thought that we will build on the success recorded in South Africa in 2013 when we won our third nations cup diadem but we have taken our foot off the pedal in pursuit of ephemeral ties. These have in more ways than one left our qualification for the biennial fiesta in the balance. A hurriedly assembled Super Eagles by a high-demanding Stephen Okechuwku Keshi huffed and puffed in Calabar. We tottered on the turf of the Garden City. We played with no guile and urgency. We allowed ourselves to be run-ragged by a more purposeful and determined Congolese side. As minutes melted into hours, our boys simply lost steam. Coach Stephen Keshi’s mien on the bench betrayed the high salary he wants the NFF to pay him.
He lacked the tact and nous to ring the right charges to counteract the attacking forays of the Red Devils. Even when he finally made the much anticipated substitution, we did not really fare better. His undying was fielding half-feet and match rusty lads to execute our nation’s cup qualification series. Why he opted to leave our most prolific strikes, Emmanuel Emenike on the bench remains a big puzzle for soccer experts to solve. What has really gone wrong in the Stephen Keshi – led Eagles? Isn’t this the same side that stunned the global community in South Africa in 2013? Or, is it that our over-rated players along with our coach achieved the feat by a dint of luck? I hope the latter is not the case. While the NFF cannot be absolved from having a hand in our lackadaisical outing in our two games, can’t our coaches prove their mettle by rising above such booby traps to shame critics and doubters? The poor outing against Congo and South Africa in Cape Town is another blot on the profile of Stephen Keshi.
It only leads one to wonder why he is so adamant on being paid enormous wages when he cannot lead our boys to execute these matches. Without sounding critical or hateful, our two matches, one lost and the other drawn does not inspire confidence. It was not the best of performance by the Super Eagles. The most painful side to all these elementary issues is Keshi’s insistence on not re-calling Ike Uche to the squad. This is pure ego-trip that is beginning to backfire in the harshest of ways. How can one go to battle without her best warriors just because of unfounded puerile reasons? I have pointed out here before now that the true test of top coach is when he is able to manage the ego and foibles of his players. There’s no way you’ll have 22 lads under your control and whims without having two or more among the group display their eccentricities.
The mark of a renowned coach is to get the best out of such players and mould them into better characters. Stephen Keshi was not better off in his hey-days. The name ‘big boss’ did not just fall on his lap. No. it was his domineering posture and stubborn disposition in the camp that earned him that appellation. He was not crucified on that ground because of the potential he had and the huge influence he wielded on the group. It’s of no use throwing away the baby with the bathwater.
Keshi, must today, swallow his pride and recall Ikechukwu Uche to the fold. Those that have his ears should impress it upon him to bring back players he has shut the door on. The Nigerian project is a collective one and not an individual affair. We need our best legs now more than ever to prosecute the remaining games one point from a possible six smacks of backwardness on the part of the defending champions. Invitation should also be extended to Man City’s Kelechi Iheanacho. That lad is a genius. Keeping him out of the team on account of age and experience is flimsy and poor.
John Obi Mikel has proven that he has lost that creative spank that made him the toast of the world in 2005. It is needless to keep playing him in that creative role. Iheanacho fits this bill. He should be slotted into this role with dispatch. Mikel Obi who is supposed to be the poster boy of the national team has become a shadow of his former self. This has led to calls from reputable ex-internationals that Mikel should be dropped from the team. Even Siasia has come out to say that Mikel’s problem is that he doesn’t take corrections. If this is true, then it’s unfortunate for a professional of his stature. We can only hope that Mikel ups his game both for his club and country. Will he?
Our coaches must be made to go for refresher courses to further update their knowledge in the game. Football is a dynamic sport that is constantly giving room for change. Hence, in order to keep pace with the times, one needs to be up-to-the minute with the trends. Our remaining matches are must-win matches. We must give it our best shot if we must avoid the last-minute resort to miracle as if other countries don’t pray!
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