The Super Eagles of Nigeria will today, in Kaduna, take on the Pharaohs of Egypt for a place in the African Cup of Nations’ championship in 2017. For the Eagles, it is an opportunity to redeem their sagging image before their compatriots who are beginning to see them as killjoys. Given their poor performances in the recent past, one cannot blame the average football enthusiast for forming such an opinion about the team that, hitherto, was the toast of the continent and had produced, in quick succession, Africa’s best footballers. In the days of yore, playing on home ground, the task would have been presumed to be easy. Not anymore.
It is sad to recall that, for a long time, Nigerian football, especially at the senior level, had not given football lovers much to cheer as the performance of the National team has remained flip-flop at best. It is so bad that Nigeria is ranked by FIFA at 62nd position in the world and 12th in Africa. And this is in spite of the nation’s victory at the Africa Cup of country’s championship in 2013 and the mediocre display at the World Cup in 2014. Curiously, at the youth level, the nation has continued to dominate world football leading many to wonder what the problem is with the senior team. The idea behind youth football championships is to serve as a breeding ground for players who will eventually move up to the senior team. That has not happened to an appreciable level in Nigeria.
International football is replete with Nigerian players whose stellar performances ought to have rubbed off on the country. Again, this is not happening mainly because the football governing body in Nigeria lacks the foresight and the competence to follow up on what those lads are doing out there on the global stage.
In fairness to the team, much of the blame for its lacklustre record must be put on the laps of the football administrators who play more politics with the sport than is practised even at the National Assembly. Officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have often been accused of engaging in corruption, intrigues and a debilitating dog – eat – dog syndrome that has not helped to enthrone effective football administration in the country. With the level of instability in the system that has given rise to a large turnover of not only football administrators but also coaches, it is no surprise that the nation’s football is lying so prostrate. When it is that the coaches are not paid their salaries, it is that the players are not paid their match bonuses. Even with these incapacitating circumstances, the coaches and the players have had to call the reserve of their patriotism to try and buoy the nation’s image. But as always, there must be a material basis for patriotism especially in Nigeria where stars are forgotten as soon as they leave the scene.
However, as the Super Eagles file out today in their quest for a ticket to next year’s edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, we appeal to them to do the best they can to give their ardent fans something to smile about regardless of the inanities of the occupants of the Glass House and their freaky outlook on the game we all love.
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