Not many Nigerians are aware that the African Cup of Nations is currently ongoing in Gabon. The palpable disinterest of Nigerians in the championship is apparently because the 2013 AFCON champions, the Super Eagles, are not participating in the continental showpiece, having failed to qualify for the tournament for the second time in a row.
It is indeed pathetic that Nigeria, the largest contributor of footballers to the European league and three-time African champions, is now a captured giant only four years after returning to the acme of African football. Not a few Nigerians have called attention to the failure of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to put its house in order, and the failure of the Ministry of Sports under Solomon Dalung to advance the round-leather game in the country.
The NFF routinely makes a mockery of the beautiful game by treating the national team players and the coaching crew shabbily, owing them months of arrears. The case of the Super Falcons who, after winning the AWCON championship, had to stage protests in Abuja before they could be paid their hard-earned allowances readily comes to mind. If the Ministry of Sports and the NFF cannot advance the cause of sports, what are they doing in office?
Since winning the AFCON in 2013, the Super Eagles have been coached by Samson Siasia, Sunday Oliseh, Amodu Shaibu and now the German, Rohr. The problem, I believe, is not the coaches but the NFF which has always failed to give them a free hand to do their jobs and treated issues of welfare with levity. Clemens Westerhoof, the man who brought global acclaim to the Super Eagles by making them the fifth best team in the world, had direct access to the levers of power, and took time building the 1994 killer team. Those were the days of Rashidi Yekini, Jonathan Akpoborie, Stephen Keshi, Finidi George, Austin Okocha, Mutiu Adepoju, Uche Okechukwu, Victor Ikpeba, Samson Siasia, and the like. They devoured teams from anywhere in Africa and put up an unforgettable performance on the global stage in USA 94. They were so spectacular that the coach of the Italian team, which then had Roberto Baggio, the world’s best player, stated in awe: “We learnt a lot from the Nigerians.”
So, what is happening to Nigerian football? Where are the great players? Is football dead in Nigeria? Why are Nigerian players not making waves in the elite teams of Europe? It is time that a stakeholders’ meeting of the who-is-who in Nigerian football in convened to chart the way forward.
James Dominic
Abuja.
and then