Mr President, please stop these Eagles

Why did the nation’s senior national team, the Super Eagles, struggle to secure a draw against the Tunisian side in its last World Cup qualifying match in Abuja? The answers are likely to vary but the

conclusions the same. This is because the issues surrounding the failure of our sports teams, especially football and more so the Super Eagles, are virtually the same. The sad aspect is that the issues are not being tackled. Rather, when such failures occur, we set up panels that will remind us of what the problems are, proffer the same solutions that are in previous reports gathering dust on the shelves and see some people smiling to the bank for sitting on such unproductive committees.

I was actually not going to watch the match against the Tunisians for the obvious reason the Super Eagles, under the tutelage of Amodu Shuaibu, would not get it right. I was not going to delude myself like my friend, Paul Odenyi, the image maker of the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, who, wait for it, took his son to the National Stadium in Abuja, to, not only spoil his own fun, but that of the boy. If Paul thought this was his own way of being patriotic, I am sure he would by now have redefined patriotism. I am not sure even President Umaru Yar’Adua would have been that optimistic and patriotic when it comes to the issue of the Super Eagles.

But not watching the match was only a matter of time. A call from my cousin, Dotun Gbolagunte, from London, pleading to know the standing of both teams way into the second half changed all of that. And then I became a part of the crowd the Nigerian players almost subjected to another round of heart attack. One of my senior friends in Abuja, quite unlike him, could not pick his call for almost one hour after watching the disaster we call our senior national team.

What are the issues? Let us start from the basic: a country without a robust football league should not expect not to falter like we are doing in major championships. Check out the countries that are doing well on the continent and you have a clear understanding of why they will, with a well run league, almost consistently, make it to the World Cup. Tunisia is one of such countries. Egypt is also there. So also is South Africa, though still growing. Cameroon and Ghana are struggling to be part of this group.

A robust local league ensures that there is a stream of players for the national team. Though I did not listen to the match statistics of the Nigeria/Tunisia match, I am almost certain that over 90 per cent of the players in the Tunisian team are from the country’s local league. Indeed, they are usually from at most the three best clubs in the country. There is a consistent interaction among the players even when they play against themselves in competitive games locally and on the continent. A look at the continental championships in Africa will drive this point home better.

It is not out of place to see two Tunisian or Egyptian teams qualifying for the semi-final stages of continental championships such as the Champions League. Why? Because the leagues in the two countries are robust. What do you achieve with this when seeking to qualify for world championships such as the World Cup? It becomes easier putting together a team and not just array of stars who do not have a perfect understanding of themselves. They would have played together in the local league. It is easier to organise friendly matches and have all the players in camp on time. This has been the case with the Tunisians. Only few foreign based players are invited during crucial matches to beef up the national team.

This is not a strange concept in Nigeria. In 1994 when Nigeria qualified for the first time for the World Cup, majority of the players were picked from the local league by the then Coach of the Super Eagles, Clemens Westerhof. Though as at the time the World Cup was being played a lot of them had moved into Europe and other African countries with robust local leagues, based on encouragement by Westerhof to refine their raw skills, the fact that they had played together consistently for a couple of years before then manifested at the World Cup proper.

Then, we had what came close to being called a league. Many, with relish, recollect the glorious day of Shooting Stars Football Club of Ibadan, Rangers International of Enugu, Abiola Babes, Leventis United of Ibadan and the darling of Lagos soccer fans, Stationary Stores. And where did these clubs pick their players? From suburbs such as Ajegunle in Lagos that produced the likes of Samson Siasia. Then, it was not out of place to have the stadium filled to capacity when league matches are being played or during Challenge Cup matches, especially the final.

I also believe that the commitment of our players, especially the foreign based ones, to the cause of the country, is very low. Or how do you explain their attitude towards national calls, especially reporting to camp on time. The excuse given by the former Captain of the national team, Austin J.J. Okocha, when he reported late to the camp in London at a time speaks volume of the commitment of our players to the national cause. Okocha, who was then playing in the Premiership in the United Kingdom, said he could not find his way to the training camp for two days because he kept missing his way. It can be that absurd. And it has been. Nigerian players, especially those of the Super Eagles, only report to camp days before crucial encounters, even when their clubs have released them for the match or even on break.

But it has become very easy to explain the reasons for this attitude of the players. The endemic corruption within the system encourages this. Some players know that even if they report to the camp a few hours before the match they will be featured because they split their match bonuses with those in charge, coaches inclusive. These facts are not hidden. Yet, nothing has been done to check it. This is one of the major reasons why indiscipline is the order of the day in the senior national team. A coach who takes money from a player to feature him for a match should not expect any respect from the player. And so does it also extend to situations in which administrators force players on coaches. When a player is recommended by a godfather to a coach who cannot say no because of the circumstances surrounding his employment, it is better imagined the level of discipline such a player will exhibit in camp.

As a sports reporter with Newswatch magazine, I overheard a discussion a former Coach of the Under-17 team, Fanny Amu, had with the head of the Technical Department of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) while preparing for the World Cup. He had received notes from very high quarters demanding that lads who did not possess the skill required for the Under-17 World Cup and had even exceeded the age limit be featured by him. The consequences of not doing so? He would be starved of funds for the game. Some coaches have openly complained about this. By my estimation, only few indigenous coaches have been able to say no in this regard. One of them is Chief Festus Adegboye Onigbinde. And this is why mediocres have, most of the time, been in charge of our senior national team.

Indeed, a recent revelation by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports and Social Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, on the hiring of the Coach of the Super Eagles, Amodu Shuaibu, was shocking. This was after the shameful 2-2 draw with Tunisia. Lokpobiri said it was the Coach of the Under-20 team, the Flying Eagles, Samson Siasia, that emerged tops in the interview for the job of the senior national team. So, who influenced the choice of Shuaibu above the real winner of the interview conducted by the Technical Committee of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), headed by Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi? Hear Lokpobiri in a recent interview, “”You journalists were responsible for the selection of Amodu. That, I am aware of. Your editors came and voted Amodu. Ogunjobi ‘s committee recommended Siasia to be the best but your editors were invited and they voted for Amodu. You people are also virtually responsible for whatever problems we have in this World Cup.”

Can you believe that? Sports Editors chose Shuaibu over and above the winner of the interview that was supposedly conducted by a committee with the technical know how of the game? Incredible. I am not saying that there is no role for those whose job it is to report the game in the selection of coaches. At least that happens in other countries too and during competitions organised by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), where journalists are encouraged to assist in picking coaches and the tournaments’ best players and coaches.