Fifty-one years ago (1960) Nigeria
gained its independence from Britain
-- the birthplace of the beautiful
game, football. Thirty-four years
later (1994) we were ranked as high
as the fifth best nation in the world
by Fifa.
Nigeria was voted the world’s
second most entertaining team of
the 1994 World Cup in America --
boasting players like Rashidi Yekini,
Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George,
Emmanuel Amunike, Victor Ikpeba,
Stephen Keshi, Uche Okafor, Peter
Rufai, Uche Okechukwu, Tijani
Babangida, Ben Iroha, Mutiu
Adepoju, Michael Emenalor, Jay Jay
Okocha and my humble self,
Sunday Oliseh. Nigeria dominated
the African football scene and
became, in the eyes of the world, a
world footballing power and the
team to beat in Africa.
However, times and Nigeria’s
football fortunes have drastically
changed. Nigeria was eliminated
from the upcoming Nations Cup
2012 by modest Guinea – a
predicament that has not befallen
Nigeria since 1986. Nigeria is no
longer among the best 16 teams in
Africa, much less the world. Tragic.
We are yet to record a world cup
match victory since the 1998 World
cup in France. Nigeria needed a
miracle to qualify for the last World
Cup in South Africa. Nigeria’s
football is in the doldrums, to say
the least. So why is this so? Can
Nigeria’s lost glory be re-instated?
With an estimated population of 150
million people, Nigeria is the most
populous black nation in the world.
Football is miles away its number
one sport. Loved passionately like a
religion, it is the number one
unifying force in Nigeria.
In 1980 we won our first major
football title on home soil, the 1980
African Nations Cup. We had to wait
14 years (1994) to win the African
Nations Cup once again in Tunisia;
then followed the Afro-Asian cup in
1995 and the Olympic football gold
medal in Atlanta 1996. This was the
golden era of our football and I am
Grateful to God to have been an
active part of this era. We had a
result-seeking technical crew. The
players were hungry for victory,
they played in major European
leagues and the fixed venue for
national matches was the National
Stadium in Lagos. The Football
Association was blessed to have the
likes of Sanni Toro and Samson
Emeka Omeruah administering
Nigeria’s football, coupled with the
“one-eyed overseeing” of the Super
Eagles by Admiral Augustus
Aikhomu.
That the administration of Nigerian
football is bad is well known. Some
of the nation’s former
administrators were even arrested
and tried for corruption and
embezzlement recently. The new
football federation’s legality is
contested in the courts.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s Nigeria had a
very competitive local national
league, producing great players.
Some of our players went as far as
playing for the best clubs in the
world. Today we have just one
player -- Chelsea’s Obi Mikel.
Today the local league in Nigeria is
just short of being called a joke. It is
not a secret that the populace
neglect it and spend more time
watching the major European
leagues, where the credibility is
guaranteed, spectacle is available
and no match results are “pre-
determined”.
The devastating effect of this is that
the nation is no longer producing
home-made quality star players,
because children are not dreaming
anymore. The ones who genuinely
can play are denied. Experience has
shown us that every great athlete
started out by dreaming of
achieving greater heights.
We could go on and on but the aim
of this blog is not to point fingers,
rather it is to propose solutions to
get us back to where we belong.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
1. Genuinely assemble qualified
soccer professionals, native,
to diagnose in detail our
shortcomings and map out a
plan, in line with our peculiar
society, to diagnose our ailing
football. Only after this, can
we start effectively appointing
people to strategic
development positions with
qualities complementary to
our plan.
Our chosen set out objectives
and direction will determine
who we employ to do what.
Before you turn your car’s
ignition, the first thing you do
is have a destination in mind.
This will determine the route.
Shouldn’t football job
appointments and
management be the same?
2. Rejuvenate and update the
national coaching institute to
modern-day level, thereby
improving the football
intelligence and team play
among our talented youths
and teams -- producing good
coaches at the same time.
3. Restructure and have a 20-
team national pro league with
professional, paid referees to
at least try to curb the
nemesis of “alleged” match
fixing. Without a viable local
league there is no way out of
this mess we are in now.
4. Change the mentality of the
Football Association. People
going into the association
should not only see it as a
means of enrichment but also
as a career job worth doing
well, while getting paid.
5. Fix and maintain a fixed venue
for the national team games,
like Wembley in England.
Why? That way our players
feel at home on the pitch.
In summary, the national team’s
state is of paramount importance to
the development of our youths and
local football. Its fortunes have a
multiplier effect on the nation’s
football.
It encourages foreign clubs to buy
more players from the national
team and the local leagues. At the
same time this makes hard
currency available to our people,
clubs and youth development. It will
trickle down from the top.
We can still repeat our 1994
success. I believe. Don’t you?
January 16, 2010, 10:49:01 AM