The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • Brazil has shocked the world

    Less than two years ago, it was all work in progress. In fact, the contractors were still putting up structures for the 2014 World Cup as the matches began. But the caricatures of what was left to be built in Rio and designated Olympic cities intrigued many.

    Today, Brazil is built up with some of the finest archictural designs ever seen. The awesome structures typify the hilly terrain around the cities. With the hosting of the World Cup and the Olympics,the Samba land can safely be called an industrialised nation.

    Today, nobody remembers the zika virus stories that forced many top athletes to stay away from  the games for fear of being infected with the killer disease. To tackle the virus and the rumours surrounding its outbreak, the government demonstrated remarkable commitment, providing adequate funding for the health sector across all   levels. Interestingly, you cannot walk into any medical facility for medication without the doctor’s prescription, except with glaring evidence of emergency that requires saving a life.

    The two  tournaments hosted by Brazil have changed people’s perception of the country. It is now the new attraction for industrialists bringing in their cash to invest. The first investors are those interested in mechanized farming.

    Travelling by road across the cities are wide expanse of land with irrigation facilities. There is heavy investment in machines. Rice and other agricultural produce are flourishing.

    Indeed, travelling from city to city, mechanized farming is evident on both sides of the roads. It isn’t all about crop farming; livestock is thriving. The castles in the ranches are a delight to the eyes.

    Hourticulture is a major industry in Brazil. The best way to explain how agriculture can be used as a revenue earner for any serious country is to visit Brazil and under-study the agricultural revolution going on here.

    With the massive investment in agriculture come job opportunities. Again, the industrialization of agriculture has brought in investors with the cash that has improved the power sector. A classical example of the effectiveness of the power sector here was the incident that happened Monday night in Maracana. A tree fell on electric poles and caused a massive outage. Believe it, in 30 minutes power was restored in the area. How did it happen? Simple. The electricity company stormed the area with vehicles manned by engineers with the right equipment. The fire service  sent its men. Security operatives stood guard while the outage lasted.

    Businesses  are flourishing. Everyone is savouring the gains of the games. Hotels are jammed in Rio, forcing visitors to find accommodation in neighbouring cities. Parks around the cities have been modernised.Brazil is indeed a major tourists haven.

        Everything is in Copacabana- music, booze and women. The weather is great. Beach lovers enjoy the cool breeze from the Atlantic Ocean. Some just sit around with their loved ones to savour the sweetness of the sunbath.

    Here in Brazil, tourism is a major revenue earner. Tourists’ centres are kept neat. Tourism is also a major employer of labour like agriculture.  I won’t be surprised if Brazil begins to generate revenue from sports because of its state-of-the-art sporting facilities. Sports is business and Brazilians are coming. England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland etc watch out. Soon Brazil would be a new platform for global football. Already, they have the culture of watching games.

    This writer won’t be surprised if international sports bodies start to use Brazil as the hub for all thier competitions. They have during their stay for the Olympics seen that

    government officials can be taken seriously. Health facilities are top notch, security is almost perfect, means of transportation is very effective (inter and intra) and the hotels are world class.

    The effectiveness of the transport sector suggests that it is not only a revenue earner but a big employer of labour. The central nature of the motor and bus centres encourages the large presence of people who engage themselves in various marketing operations that make the place buzz all night long.

    There isn’t any business concern that one can’t find in all these motor centres, including wash-up hotels for passengers to refresh after long haul trips. Movement on the roads is 24 hours. Well laid out seven-track roads most times with effective security ensure that travelling is a pleasure.

    You will marvel at the type of buses here. Brazil is the home of buses and there can’t be enough words to describe many that I have seen here. “Awesome” is perhaps the best word to describe them, especially when you look back at what we find in Nigeria.

    Who do we probe (2)

    Did Nigeria prepare for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games? Is it not true that most of the athletes in Rio secured their qualification tickets from qualifiers such as the All African Games and other qualifiers depending on the teams? Did Nigeria not place third at the All African Games? What was wrong in sustaining that momentum, given our penchant for doing things late? Is this not why we have failed at another Olympic Games, despite the nine-hour session in Aso Rock after Nigeria returned from the 2012 London Olympic Games without a medal? Had Sports Minister Solomon Dalung exercised son restrains and allowed Alhassan Yakmut complete the exercise of preparing for the Rio Olympics, maybe we would have done better.

    Yakmut, as the former Director General of the defunct National sports commission (NSC) understood the dynamics of preparing the contingent, having spent his administrative career in the sports ministry working with several ministers and other renowned administrators. Besides, as former Nigerian athlete, Yakmut knows the body language of sports men and women, many who would trust him better to resolve their problems. Had the minister hidden his disdain for Yakmut by allowing him to complete the process, irrespective of what the new trends were with the emergence of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, it would have been easier now to draw up a roadmap for future international sports competitions, the Olympics inclusive? Yakmut would have used the hiccups of the All African Games to perfect his plans for the Olympics, which is what other African nations at the Games did.

    Yakmut’s removal as the man in charge of our Olympic Games’ plans is chiefly responsible for our uneventful display in Rio. I’m sure that if the minister had pleaded with president Buhari to allow Yakmut complete what he started, Nigeria would have been talking about one of her best appearances at the multi-sports competition. The merger of the sports ministry with the youth ministry created a vacuum which the minister didn’t quite appreciate. Once Yakmut was eased off, nobody replaced him. Nigeria’s preparation was left on the altar of counter accusation between Yakmut and the Minister which remains unresolved.

    With this lacuna, nothing was done to prepare the athletes beyond the doublespeak by the Sports Minister Solomon Dalung over our chances of winning medals in Brazil. In one breath, Dalung didn’t see any sense in our athletes camping in countries reputed to the homes of certain sports. Yet, the minister acknowledged the fact that we don’t have facilities to prepare our athletes here. Besides, the world was shocked to read the minister denounce the country’s Dream Team VI’s stay in Atlanta in the United States of America (USA), insisting that he didn’t know they were going there.

    Rather than institute a probe panel or anybody for that matter to probe Nigeria’s Olympic outing in Rio, the Buhari administration should first separate the sports ministry from its youth counterpart. The government should then name a competent sports technocrat as minister who would function with a National Sports Commission (NSC) like we have in civilised climes. The reason for a commission is that its members would be sports technocrats who would be eager to run the place like a business concern but with the support of the government in their sponsorship initiatives. Those in the commission would then pick the best sports policy in the system which should be the blueprint for sports development across the country. To avoid needless conflicts which could derail the operations, the NSC must seek the government’s support to get the state commissioners of sports to key into the commission arrangement since most states still operate with the commissioners acting as lords.

    The government can get all the states to run the commission system through a proper legislation, a workable template would have been established to run the industry as a business. If this is done, the moribund sports competitions can then be revamped with those needing cash from the private sector repackaged and sold to interested concerns. Sports can only start to thrive if the schools through the states’ ministry of education integrate sports into its curriculum. This would make it mandatory on the school authorities at all level to embrace sports.

    Sports belong to the people, most of who are the youth that you find in the school system. With schools embracing sports, there would be the need to get the games masters and mistresses to the kids the rudiments of the games. Of course, the state sports commissions would also deploy their coaches to the schools to teach specific sports, according to the dictates of the school’s authorities.

  • Who do we probe (1)?

    History has an uncanny way of vindicating the just. It only takes time, as was exemplified with the laughable apology by the sports minister Solomon Dalung in Brazil on Sunday night after the country’s U-23 Olympic Games’ soccer side qualified for the quarter finals of the soccer event. In civilised climes, Dalung should have submitted his resignation letter and head back to Nigeria. Such things don’t happen here because most of these treasured appointments have the backing of henchmen to the seat of power. What a country!

    Dalung wouldn’t be the first Minister to take out his angst against the hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF’s) chieftains. This nauseating trend has continued unabated largely because every succeeding minister sustains the needless fight to always present the NFF chiefs as rogues, cheats and fraudsters. No pity for any minister that has bitten this bait.

    Indeed, Dalung should have resisted the temptation of revisiting the Chris Giwa court case. That was where he missed being fair to the Football Federation. Giwa had already accepted his fate with his team actively involved in the domestic league matches. Nobody knows what pushed Dalung to reopen the case that had been dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), whose decision is final in sporting matters. I don’t want to believe that Dalung is an ethnic jingoist. Many have imputed the minister’s romance with the Giwa saga to the fact that they come from the same state. I don’t perceive Dalung as such a person. Rather, I feel strongly that the quality of advice that he gets is warped. However, it takes the courage of a Christian/Muslim to accept one’s folly, which is why one is tempted to sympathise with the minister, hoping that this would be his last mistake.

    Dalung should back-off the NFF and see himself as being above those in the Glasshouse, instead of his continuous meddling with the body’s affairs.

    The way things are going in Brazil, Nigeria’s surest medal may come from football. And I wonder what Dalung would be telling President Muhamadu Buhari about his support to the Dream Team VI leading to such feats.

    What Dalung must appreciate is that if Nigeria wins the gold medal of the football event, blue-chip companies would flood his office with proposals on what they can do with the team. Everybody loves a winner.

    Dalung should allow the NFF do their job, only mediating where there are controversies. But a situation where the minister persists in running the NFF out in the crease without providing a better template for growth only helps to buoy the corporate players’ resolve not to touch the brand NFF and our football.

    What President Buhari can do to stop this meddlesomeness from sports ministers is to remove NFF from the Youth and Sports ministry and attach it to the office of the Vice President. The President can then get his aide to the National Assembly to recommence the process of repealing Decree 101, which give the minister the power to intervene at any point in time with the affairs of NFF, rightly or wrongly.

    The implication of these two decisions is that NFF will then be able to run its business, knowing that no one is breathing down their necks or waiting to cancel all their decisions taken in a way NFF chieftains may have perceived as the best in the prevailing circumstance (s) to arrive at an amicable solution to promote the game beyond its tottering status. Worrisome, however, is that such reversal of NFF decisions by a “supervising” minister is usually without due consideration for its merits and demerits. I digress.

    So what did Dalung say to the Dream Team players and coaches? “I want to apologise for all the circumstances that led to your late arrival here. I apologise because I am the head, and as such I must take responsibility for anything that happens under my watch.

    “I’m happy you all have put the unfortunate incident behind you and have shown that you are true heroes by making the country proud with your qualification for the quarter finals. This qualification is unique as you guys are the first team to do so in the football event.”

    Speaking further, the Sports Minister disclosed: “I want to assure you that we appreciate your efforts, and I want to say that it’s when a man faces challenges that his true ability is tested. I am sure we all have learnt our lessons and will take the lessons to heart, going forward.”

    Is Dalung telling the truth about lessons learned? I doubt it, given the way he has chased NFF men. Dalung hasn’t been swayed by the FIFA President’s visit to Nigeria to appreciate why he must back the Amaju Pinnick-led board, instead of hounding them about like preys in the forest. FIFA President’s visit ought to have informed the need for the minister to give the NFF men a platform to operate. It is instructive that the first country the current FIFA President visited is Nigeria, not forgetting the fact that 17 Football Associations’ chairmen in Africa came to honour the soccer ruling body’s boss in Abuja. It shows might. It also underscores the fact that this current board may after all be the body to transform our football. Dear Dalung, is it out of place for Nigeria to be the next Confederation of African Football (CAF’s) President? Such high profile offices can’t be ours when Dalung runs the rule against the Federation. Dalung will learn a lot about administration of sports here if he takes his decisions, not fighting his aides’ battles at the detriment of the industry’s growth. Such actions could be phenomenal, if allowed to blossom.

     I also wonder how this NFF, with a paltry N60 million monthly subvention which comes in trickles, run over 11 national teams in these trying times. Certainly, this pittance can’t run the place.

    Reality has dawned on those jokers who promised us that Nigeria would return from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with at least five medals. It is alright to dream. But such dreams must be worked for, since others have perfected templates that ensure no vacuum is created once generation of stars reach the twilight of their careers.  These countries know that for sports to thrive, its foundation must be anchored on programmes that engage the youths in the hinterland.

    Simply put, the foundation of sports rests in the grassroots. The potentials in these rural areas only need to be taught the rudiments of the game, nurtured and exposed to stardom. Every new group inspires those behind them to embrace the sport such that certain areas are noted to produce stars in particular sports.

    This seamless structure happens because the school system creates the enabling environment for kids to combine sports with education. Besides, sport is part of the schools’ curriculum, making it imperative for students to learn the sport peculiar to the schools. Little wonder kids who went to federal government and state government schools of yore embraced cricket, the noble gentleman’s game. Indeed, schools such as Saint Finbarrs, Saint Gregory, Christ the King College, Hussey College, et al produced brilliant school boy players such as the late Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, Henry Nwosu, Tarila Okorowanta, to mention but a few. These schools churned out new stars yearly largely because their principals understood the import of supporting sports in such schools.

    For off campus students, they found solace in cottage playgrounds around their cities, which were invaded by sports-loving Nigerians eager to recreate. Such recreational centres had older men who played the game serving as instructors. Many of them evolved to become sports clubs, with the locals paying to be members in order to use such facilities. These clubs gave rise to competitions that further energised the youth to play the sport.

    Indeed, sport isn’t a business of the government. Rather, the government provides the enabling environment to thrive, just as it encourages blue-chip companies to fund the industry, with tax reliefs granted to those of them who identify with sports.

    Since sport originates from the people, it is easy for the schools to have quality facilities and the communities providing alternative venues for sports enthusiasts to recreate. With this all round setting for sport, not much effort is made to get the corporate world since they can see the activities and choose which sport they want to sponsor. Of course, everything is done transparently, making it easier for sponsors to have value on their investment, unlike in Nigeria, where government has a stranglehold on the industry that is seen as a business in other climes.

    If we must compete favourably with others in big sporting events, then we must be prepared to do those things others have perfected. One of the biggest revenue generating schemes to back sport is the sports’ lottery project.

  • Clapping for our opponents

    The die is cast with the commencement of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. It is the biggest multi-sports competition, where new winners emerge, with former champions humbled. For some previous winners such as Usain Bolt, the Olympics in Rio offers him the best chance to confirm his dominance of the sprint events (100 metres and 200 metres), with many athletics followers wishing that he wins the three gold medals like he did in London in 2012 and Beijing in 2008.

    Since Bolt emerged in 2008, the talk has been who would beat him. Such a feat can be achieved by drug free athletes such as Bolt, who hasn’t tested positive to any banned substance. Bolt signposts the best of athletics as epitomised by the Jamaicans’ superiority over the Americans, who in the past coasted past their competitors with grace and candour. Until the Jamaicans dethroned the Americans, the athletics event was the “birthright” of the Americans, given their dominance of the tracks. And they justified the ratings with their unbeatable template for producing world beaters in the event. Little wonder the Jamaicans went to the United States of America (USA) to understudy the Americans before coming up with their model that has left the Americans in awe, wondering when they would reclaim their “crown.”

    Countries such as Nigeria have gone to Australia to study their model, culminating in the need to improve on the facilities inside the Nigeria Institute for Sports (NIS) to attain the standard required. Sadly, policy somersaults arising from frequent changes in sports ministers have left the NIS in ruins, only producing half-baked coaches, whose certificates are not better than the foil used to wrap bread, only to be flung out the moment the content has been eaten.

    However, the Rio Olympics offer the Americans the best platform to beat the Jamaicans. Will the Americans come up with a new kid to breast the tape ahead of Bolt? I can’t wait. For Nigeria, it would be the place to watch and clap for our opponents, who commenced their preparations when the light was extinguished in London to signify the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

    Being a multi-sports event, the swimming pool would be the place where the Americans, Australians and the Asians will rule. Will Nigeria present a swimmer at the Games? I dey laugh o! Can block float? We have the talents to do well at subsequent games. But that won’t happen given the dearth of swimming competitions in the country and the dry pools, that is if we even have them. Since the time when former Sports Minister Jim Nwobodo told everyone that the black man doesn’t have the innate talent to swim, we have been winking in the dark in swimming. And there isn’t any light at the end of the tunnel irrespective of the renovation of the swimming pool at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos. Soon that place will return to its decayed state where rodents and other dangerous animals will co-habit.

    There will be focus on tennis because of the Williams’ sisters – Serena and Venus, not forgetting Andy Murray of Great Britain. Did I hear you ask about Nigeria’s entrant for this event? Keep dreaming. If we had, he or she would be there to clap for his/her opponents. Tennis has sadly become an elite sport played seriously by rich men and their families who embrace the game as a form of recreation- not to compete for the country. For crusaders of this sport such as Godwin Kienka, their products embrace the game too late to do anything meaningful because they are usually interested in seeking greener pastures for those who got scholarships to play the game outside the country.

    For ping pong, Nigeria has been doing well, except that the Asians dominate the event. Our boys and girls could cause some upsets in the qualifying rounds. That is the best that they can achieve because our preparations were poor. Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola, Funke Oshionaike et al are not strangers to the Olympics but their best years are behind. Quadri could be our best prospect. But the field at the Olympics is tough, with the Nigerian not showing enough character to sustain his quest for the Olympic Games’ medal’s podium.

    Don’t wake me up from this dream when it comes to Nigeria’s chances of winning a medal in basketball. No doubt, our game has improved, but it is not enough to stop the Americans in the dunking game. Good to know that  this is our second appearance at the Olympic Games’ basketball event, yet majority of our players ply their trade in the NBA; but this makes the task of beating us easy for the Yankees. True, they know them but when push comes to shove, the Nigerians would be lacking in technique and tactics. These are the hallmarks of champions developed over time and not through the fly-by-night approach by the Nigerian government and sports administrators.

    Winning any medal at the Olympics is a seven-year project. This means if Nigeria was serious about wining any medal, preparations ought to have started after the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games. Blessing Okagbare was the best prospect for that. But we wasted the opportunity with our rudderless structures and policy summersaults arising from a high turnover of sports ministers.

    Rather than invest in Okagbare after her debut in Beijing, we allowed her to burn the tracks in all the seasonal athletics meets, leaving her unprepared for the big events such as the Olympics. I won’t blame Okagbare for running round the year. She must put food on the table. She must pay for her school fees. She must pay for the services of her technical staff. Little cash many may argue, but when the Nigerian government isn’t forthcoming, Okagbare must decide her future. Of course, with a government that pays lip service to corporate sponsorships for sports, the blue-chip firms are not inspired to take the initiative. Even the few sports federations that seek sponsorship from these firms are unconvincing to a prospective sponsor when asked what a sponsoring company stands to gain from such investments. This will even be worse now considering the tightened noose on the economy- a development that has left many firms rethinking their spending portfolio. And for such firms, every kobo for sponsorship must be worth their while for their return-on-investment.

    In other climes, government has incentives for firms that support sports such as tax holidays and/or rebates. Besides, those climes establish sports lottery funds which help to support their athletes going for big competitions such as the Olympics. Okagbare has a few sponsors but their cash isn’t anything to refer to when compared with what bigger athletes receive.

    Talking seriously about Nigeria’s chances of winning a medal at the Rio Olympics, one is tempted to list wrestling as the biggest prospect. But my enthusiasm waned when I listened to the Wrestling Federation of Nigeria (WFN’s) boss, Daniel Igali’s lamentations on Channels television’s sports programme during the week.

    Igali lamented thus: “In elite sports, little things matter a lot and as a nation, Nigeria must go beyond the stage of depending on luck to win competitions and do things in the right way.

    “I don’t believe in outcome, I believe in process and part of the process is their training partners. We don’t have to do things the Nigerian way.

    “If Nigerians want medals, come forward to us as the Nigeria wrestling team needs to take five training partners and one coach to Brazil. The wrestlers cannot afford to stay off shape as over 200 teams will participate in wrestling,” Igali said.

    For the records, Igali is an Olympic Games medalist at Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in wrestling, but he achieved that feat wrestling for Canada after being frustrated by our sports administrators. Igali is back to Nigeria and wants to introduce those things he found in Canada that were responsible for his feats. Of course, there can’t be a Nigerian way of doing things. Here, we count on luck as if others signed a pact with ill-luck during sports competitions.

    So, how do you drop the wrestlers’ training partners yet you expect them to warm-up properly before their events? Do our administrators understand that a wrestler cannot train with one who isn’t in his weight class?

    Indeed, Igali’s arguments are germane because the wrestlers won’t be competing on the mats until August 17. So, what would they be doing between August 2 and 15? They can’t be starring into the sky for those 13 days. They need their training partners to keep them fit. It is these partners who would be used as the guinea pigs to perfect the strategies to adopt on competition days.

    With this scenario, one isn’t too sure of a medal in wrestling. But with a Nigerian, anything is possible. Who would have thought that Chioma Ajunwa would win a gold medal in the female long jump event at the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games? Ajunwa’s feat that year was not because she had an exceptional preparation for the Games- no, far from it. Rather, it was simply Nigeria’s ninth wonder of the world. And in line with the Nigerian tradition, 20 years after Ajunwa’s long jump gold medal, who has emerged to repeat half the feat?

    The world is waiting for Nigeria’s soccer team in Rio for two reasons. Firstly, soccer pundits are licking their lips waiting to see if Nigeria and Brazil will tangle at any stage of the competition.

  • Broken record

    Anytime something fresh is about to break with our football, former Super Eagles chief coach Sunday Oliseh tweets on his handle to stir up a needless controversy. Coincidence? Oliseh is a gentleman. I also expected that he would have forgiven everyone now that he has left the Eagles job, instead of these sour grapes in the international media platforms.

    Oliseh’s tweets many inaccuracies that elicit responses from those concerned. It won’t do Oliseh’s credibility any good if portions of his tweets are debunked. What it says clearly is that Oliseh’s utterances should be taken with a pinch of salt. It is also not good for his reputation, which has been quite commendable, irrespective of his experiences as Super Eagles chief coach.

    If Oliseh feels strongly that his claims are the truth, he should seek all the available means for redress so that the matter is resolved. Indeed, chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have denied owing Oliseh. It behoves on Oliseh to substantiate his claims with evidence to put any of the parties to shame. I have not had any encounter with Oliseh. From afar, he is a gentleman, willing to defend himself if anyone steps on his toes. Who won’t? It follows therefore that Oliseh forgets the issues from the Eagles job, knowing that he could in the future be asked to do something for Nigeria at a bigger stage. Who says Oliseh cannot be the Sports Minister? Oliseh could use this platform to right all the wrongs that he thinks exist in the industry.

    Since such an appointment is political, many may kick against his choice, citing these unsubstantiated tweets which they perceived to be jibes to impugn those he is talking about. I thought that Oliseh’s first tweets had all the issues settled.  His second looked slightly different but the third was simply a rehash. Oliseh, don’t you think you have said enough?

    Nigeria has had issues with several coaches, with many heading as far as the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to get their benefits. If Oliseh doesn’t know what to do, which isn’t likely, he could call up former Green Eagles defender Sylvanus Okpala to get tips on how to press home his demands through CAS. Okpala is being settled monthly part of his wages after getting CAS to rule in his favour.

    Even with CAS’s judgment, Okpala exhibited statesmanship by accepting that his debts be rescheduled on a monthly basis, even when the judgment said it should be done immediately, largely because he agreed that the NFF was cash-strapped. Indeed, Okpala applied to coach the Eagles recently, which underscores the fact that there are no permanent enemies but interest, in this case coaching the Eagles. Need I waste space to list coaches who have handled the Eagles after being sacked?

    I wonder how Oliseh would have felt reading Vincent Enyeama’s response to his last tweet. I must commend Enyeama for according Oliseh the respect that he deserves as he made his case. Enyeama wisely advised Oliseh to move on instead of dragging him in the mud while making his case.

    Read Enyeama’s tweet on Monday: “Please senior man, I will so much appreciate if you stop talking about me and face your life. Please, please, please.

    “All that glitters is not gold @SundayOOliseh stop mentioning me in your post. I don’t want to get dirty. We all can.

    “You keep saying that you took me to lunch @SundayOOliseh I am wondering if the Resto in Verviers on LILLE. #allthatglitterisnotgold.

    “Move on with your life please. Sort out your issues with the NFF. Please STOP mentioning me in your post. Pretend that we never met.

    “You keep saying that I was insisting on retiring. But my date was set even before you had the nightmare of becoming SE coach. @SundayOOliseh

    “Move on and leave me alone @SundayOOliseh I am running my race with my mouth close. Please don’t let me open my phone inbox,” he warned.

    My take on Enyeama’s tweet? Oliseh should always maintain decorum in the way he addresses people. He must also know that no one has the monopoly of using the media platforms to defend himself. I want to see if Oliseh would respond to Enyeama’s tweets now that he has warned the coach not to force him to open his telephone’s in-box.

    Equally alarming are the insinuations in Oliseh’s tweets which suggest that he was being attacked by evil forces while doing the Super Eagles job. I may be wrong but how else can anyone interpret this last tweet: “…Whilst coaching the Super Eagles in Abuja stadium prior to the Burkina Faso game. All of a sudden, I felt dizziness, light headedness, headache and could barely stand. I managed to finish the session before calling the doctor into my room who was clueless as to what was happening.

    “From then on, it was sleepless nights, loss of appetite, high blood pressure and before I knew it started losing weight. After several visits to doctors abroad, nothing was found, though the doctors found anomalies they couldn’t pinpoint the actual illness.

    “Prior to the away trip to Burkina Faso for the final CHAN qualifier game in Port Harcourt, after lunch, I was struck with the worst feat of this illness again. Could not walk, talk and felt like I was going to pass out.

    “I quickly demanded to the rushed to the airport and travelled to Germany to see specialists. After two days of nonstop tests, I was told that I narrowly escaped a total collapse in Nigeria.

    “For weeks I was bedridden, lost 7 kilos and could barely walk 5 metres without sitting down. My family was petrified and all feared the worst. One thing was for sure though, had I not taken that evening fight to Germany when I did, there was strong possibility of a far worse outcome.

    Thank God for his mercies.”

    Haba Oliseh! How can you say this about your countrymen? How can you say that a qualified medical doctor was clueless about your situation? How do you want the world to perceive Nigeria, if you say that the doctor attached to the Super Eagles is clueless? Did you not also pick some of them? Oliseh, please learn to love your colleagues like yourself. There are better ways to say these things.

    Oliseh, are you saying that those who worked with you are diabolical? Or that they were responsible for your situation? I don’t understand.

    Oliseh, is this not the same team that you played for and captained? How do you want those who worked with you to feel, with these insinuations? Come on Oliseh, you are more civil than the way your tweets portray you? Two wrongs don’t make a right. If you are angry, please don’t tweet because you may unconsciously be hurting many people. And that isn’t the message you want to put across. Better still, you could get someone to edit what you have tweeted before sending it to the world to read. Wanyo, wanyo Oliseh, as the Igbos would say.

    As a former captain of Nigeria’s biggest soccer team and indeed the team’s former coach, Oliseh is an ambassador whose utterances help to shape people’s perception of the team and country.

    Oliseh, you can do better by choosing words that are friendly when posting your tweets. You need to move on before you start sounding like a broken record.

    Mikel as Team Nigeria’s captain

     

    Let us applaud those who chose John Mikel Obi as the captain of Team Nigeria to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. I unconsciously shouted inside my office reading the story sent from Abuja that Funke Oshionaike would be his assistant. Marvelous decision even though I felt like rolling back the tape for Mikel to appreciate why it is good to always choose your country ahead of any club. Those who felt that Segun Toriola should be given the captain’s band are justified, except that there are no rules guiding how such an exercise should be conducted. It is the prerogative of the Nigerian government to pick her captain. They have chosen Mikel. We all need to support him. For Toriola, you have made your mark. Congratulations.

    Mikel is certainly Nigeria’s biggest sports person, matched only by Blessing Okagbare. Oshionaike is also big. The same can be said of Segun Toriola, Aruna Quadri and the female wrestler Odunayo Adekuoroye.

    Many thanks Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for picking Mikel as our torch bearer to the Olympics. Football without doubt, is the King of Sports. It would be great to see Nigeria’s captain to the Olympics returning with the gold medal dangling around his neck. Will somebody shout Amen?

    Good night, Big Boss

     

    By the time you would be reading this piece, Stephen Keshi would have spent his first night in his final resting place. He has finished his race. He would be remembered for all the good things that he did. Keshi is surely seated at the right side of Our Father, who art in heaven. Rest well, Big Boss. Good night, Olubodun ti o teri.

  • Sack federations’ chiefs

    Ordinarily, I shouldn’t be looking for a topic to write. A lot happened in the sporting world last week to write about. A lot can also be written of the European Cup, the competition’s big stars’ performances, Cristiano Ronaldo’s exceptional conduct and that of his Portuguese clan. Serena Williams’ record equaling Steffi Graff’s feat of 22 Grand Slams in tennis is equally exciting. But what is it that one can write about these big events that hasn’t been written? Perhaps, many would argue that I should write mine. True, but won’t I be sounding like a cracked record?

    Honestly, I wanted to write about Ronaldo. I tried scribbling things down during the competition. I noticed that I was always alone watching the matches. It dawned on me that something was missing anytime Portugal played and Ronaldo shone. I couldn’t fix it until the Portuguese missed a penalty kick. Someone inside the newsroom screamed, mogbe! (I’m finished!)

    My countenance changed. I remembered my colleague the late Dada Aladelokun. He would have sighed the same way. He would have followed it up with a chronicle of big stars who lost such penalty kicks. For the late Dada, Ronaldo could do no wrong. His exciting moments were when Real Madrid was playing, with Ronaldo showing why he is the world’s best.

    The late Dada would have been sad, if he had watched Ronaldo cry when he was being taken out of the field in the finals against France. The celebrations would have been unimaginable, had Dada being alive. Ronaldo is an enigma. His passion infects his mates who strive to match Ronaldo’s ambition by giving their best. Besides, Ronaldo showed his mates immense respect despite his larger than life image. Anytime his mates played badly, he expressed his feeling wherever he was on the pitch, but was quick to contribute his quota when given a pass. He rallied his mates after he was stretchered out of the pitch in the final game. They listened because they knew he respected them.

    Said Ronaldo of his mates to UEFA.com: “I’m so happy – very happy. This was something I’ve wanted for a long time now, ever since 2004. I asked God to give me another chance. The Portuguese people deserve this. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for me. I injured myself in the first few minutes. But I’ve always believed in these players. They have quality and ability, along with our coach’s strategies to win.”

    Ronaldo’s comments underline why the Super Eagles of Nigeria are not in the first 10 in Africa and are far flung on the FIFA ladder. If Ronaldo was a Nigerian, he would have been stepping on us while moving on the streets. He would have dictated virtually everything for the team. He would have shown so much disdain to his team mates. The few who play for big European clubs don’t think it is right for their mates to have their contact addresses and phone numbers. They walk apart while in the camp. It is easy to identify all the camps in the Eagles from the way the players interact.

    Of significant importance too is Ronaldo’s acknowledgement of the coach’s strategies, which explains why football is a team game, not a one-man’s show. Many thanks Rondalo for these tips for the Eagles. Of course, Ronaldo recognises the importance of God in any person’s ambitions. He led by example. He was the best player and he rightly deserved to be captain, irrespective of the fact that there were older players in the team. Captaincy isn’t a function of how old a player is but his contributions to the team. A captain should inspire others. He shouldn’t be the leader of crisis like we have in the Eagles. He should be the team’s rallying point to earn his mates’ respect. They knew Ronaldo would be marked, but played their part so well during the matches leading to the finals that it didn’t come as a surprise the way they fought in the final game, after Ronaldo had been removed.

    With these ingredients, it doesn’t matter if the Portuguese gained from the new 24-team format by UEFA. They played their style and got the cherished prize. Under the old format, there was no provision for third best teams, which is what qualified Portugal to remain in the competition after the first round of matches. Equally important is the fact that the Portuguese were unbeaten in the competition like the co-finalist France.

    For a team to win big, there must be an “undertaker” like Ronaldo and mates who are committed, determined and ready to be focused to achieve the set objective.  Ronaldo is out for five months, but he will stay on the sidelines a fulfilled man eager to leave the game now that the ovation is loudest. Here is wishing Ronaldo a quick recovery. He, is a worthy leader and one of the icons of our time.

    Was I so close to Dada? Yes, at least when talking sports. Dada was a passionate lover of football and tennis. He would stay awake to watch Ronaldo and Serena Williams. Dada was at his best when discussing Ronaldo or Serena. I can still capture the way Dada danced when either Ronaldo or Serena was performing. Dada would come early to do his job, knowing that later in the evening it was either Ronaldo’s show or Serena’s.

    I miss Dada’s details on Serena. Let me leave out how he would have described her; the movement of his waist, not forgetting how he would have kissed the air in admiration. Serena’s admirers know what I’m talking about.

    What is it that one can say about Serena that is new? Perhaps, I could predict that she will set a new Grand Slam record of 30 wins. Far-fetched? With an average of three grand slams in the next three years, she can achieve it. Realistically, I predict 26 grand slams, with one or two coming years later. Is anyone shocked at the development of Serena and her elder sister Venus? It is the way to discover, nurture and expose athletes at the right age. Venus, at 36 years, joined the league elders in the female game who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

    Their father Williams Senior encouraged his girls and supervised their development. Lately, he appears to have taken the back seat, knowing the girls are already accomplished stars, who are icons of the game.

    Will I shock you, dear reader, if I tell you that Nigeria’s greatest lawn tennis star, Nduka Odizor doesn’t have a national honour? Will I also shock you if you read here that one of our administrators asked Odizor to bribe him to be listed for national honours? Bless you, Odizor for rejecting that dirty offer.

    Odizor qualified for the last 16 of the Wimbledon in 1983. Odizor (born 9 August 1958) represented Nigeria at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in the first round by American lucky loser Robert Seguso. The right-hander won one career title in singles (Taipei, 1983) and seven doubles titles. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 52 in June 1984.

    Would you blame the administrator who asked for bribe? I won’t. That wouldn’t have happened, if the Tennis Federation chieftains knew their onions. Most times, those in the sports federations see their nominations as another platform to share the national cake. Such names as Odizor sound like fairytales which don’t bring cash. How then do we encourage younger ones to play tennis or to compel Odizor to allow his kids play for Nigeria? Odizor’s absence from the national award list for athletes isn’t one off. Table tennis legend, Segun Toriola, who has created Olympic Games history with hisseventh consecutive appearance at the multi-sports event doesn’t have a national honour. The question is; who are those who get these awards? Or is this the fallout of lesser sports being treated with levity by our inept sports administrators? I hope that the next national awards list for sportsmen and women would include Odizor, Toriola and other deserving athletes.

    If sports must grow in Nigeria, the minister must dissolve all the federations after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. From what we can see wrestling , table tennis and basketball federations appear to have the right calibre of members to change the face of their sport in the next millennium. One would have added athletics federation, except that it appears to be run by one’s initiatives, making others look like errand boys. The pedigree of the federation’s boss dwarfs others and it affects the quality of advice that they get during meetings. Athletics can rival football if the next board has knowledgeable members who can match their boss’ wits for change.

    I would suggest to the minister to appoint chieftains of the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame to take charge of our boxing. What this body has done for boxing is immeasurable. Its members think outside the box, which should be the first quality any member of the new sporting federations must have. For the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame’s chieftains, boxing should be taken to the people. And it starts by building gymnasium in the hinterland. That way, the youth are compelled to box, especially after watching others in their areas shown on television.

    The Lagos Boxing Hall of “Famers” don’t just organise tournaments; they also ensure that they expose their boxers to the new trends of the game by inviting amateur boxers from England to box here in Nigeria. This initiative has grown to such an extent where boxers of the programmes go to England to box in exchange programmes.

    With the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame’s initiative, Nigeria can dream of winning a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games. Indeed, the minister would be shocked to find out how these men source sponsorship for their programmes. Once the corporate firms can trust you, they will support all your progammes. That is the way it works. Simple.

  • Over the bar

    Over the bar

     Let’s live this dream of being the Cinderella at the 2018 World Cup by ensuring that the best tactician is picked to chart our path towards the most memorable outing in the history of the Mundial. We were close to it at our debut appearance at the World Cup, but inexperience stopped us from being the first country to qualify for the semi-finals of the USA’94 World Cup. Did I hear you sneer at this remark? Bulgaria, which Nigeria whipped 3-0 in a group match, became the third best team at the Mundial.

    So, why can’t we live the dream now that the bulk of our players ply their trade in Europe where some of the players who we will confront in Russia warm the bench in their European clubs? I’m a patriot but my patriotism won’t compel me to root for a Nigerian coach to prosecute our 2018 World Cup qualifiers for the simple fact that the assignment involves knowing what is at stake. It is not relying on the Federation to provide information on how our group opponents; it is being proactive in taking tactical decisions that would swing tight games in the Super Eagles’ favour.

    World Cup qualifiers are not blind chase because your group opponents know your strength and will always tackle you with the blueprints prepared on your weaknesses. This is why the Eagles totter during matches with our coaches perplexed, unable to respond tactically. Of course, having not prepared for what they have seen, our caches watch in awe, waiting for one of our marked stars to sparkle and make the difference. Such wishful thinking won’t work against a better prepared side armed with the details of all our players, months before such games are played.

    When the Eagles are flying high, the streets are empty. The over two million viewing centres are filled to capacity. The traders around these places experience bountiful harvests. The blue-chip companies are alive to their corporate social responsibilities to the populace with several mouth-watering packages meant to galvanise the people to identify with the biggest marketing commodity in the country. Suya spots, pepper soup joints and eateries are agog. It is a jamboree, irrespective of when the games are played. Most people prefer to leave the comfort of their homes to watch games in these places as it affords them the platform to freely express themselves without disturbing their neighbours or incurring madams’ angst. Wives are excited during these periods as their husbands’ whereabouts is known – for those who hang out with the boys. For others, their wives rejoice because they watch the matches together. God help them if the Eagles don’t win that game. Wasted food, sadness and the big man sneaking into the room, not wanting to be reminded of what happened. He is easily infuriated. Such is the passion about the Eagles that we must not give the task of qualifying for the World Cup to a Nigerian coach.

    We have already lost grounds in preparing for the 2018 World Cup. A good foreign manager can effectively utilise the two years left to assemble a winning team, given the glut of talents in the country. The task of doing well at the World Cup is a four to eight years project, not the crash programme of two years to any Mundial.

    Sadly, our big stars who excelled in Europe find it difficult to transit from being players into managers. They exhibit those traits of yore. They also can’t take their hands off being scouts. No doubt, many coaches are scouts but most of them allow people do this for them. They also don’t compel players to identify with their scouts; nor do they use it to decide who plays for the team. For these coaches, only the best plays. This is another reason why every World Cup outing for Nigeria always leads to a crisis with the supervising NFF board sacked. At the end, we don’t build on the gains of the previous World Cup appearance. The ripple effect is that we return to the unprofitable template, with nauseating variations that amount to putting the car in the reverse gear, yet we expect it to move forward.

    The first advantage of having a reputable foreign manager for the Eagles is that such a manager’s reputation will open the door for quality international matches. It is easier for the big managers to call up other national team managers for games. With a foreign manager in charge of the country, many of our players in Diaspora would be willing to play for Nigeria because they can find out who the manager is from their friends in other countries, where the manager has worked before. Again, it won’t take a renowned manager anything to call up Manchester City’s new manager Pep Guadiola, for instance, to release Kelechi Iheanacho for the Olympics, with the caveat of allowing Iheanacho play in the club’s pre-season and then join the country’s Olympic Games’ squad. In fact, Guardiola would easily oblige a foreign manager this favour than a Nigerian coach or one without pedigree.

    No less than N30 billion is sunk into motivating people to support the Eagles, whenever the team is performing. Business giants, such as Globacom, Airtel, Etisilat, MTN, Guinness, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Dangote, Nestle, Oando, Mobil, Shell, GTB, First Bank, Union Bank, FCMB, Zenith Bank etc, budget as much as N1.5 billion each to join the train. When the Eagles are flying, memorabilia of our players flood the market. All manner of gift items and stickers litter the country because there is a ready market for the products. The media is awash with different programmes where several incentives are flashed at viewers who watch them. In fact, the country comes alive.

    Our big boys who graduated into coaches of the Eagles failed in the simple task of walking up to foreign managers to seek our players’ release to play for Nigeria. When they are sent to Europe, they visit a few players who meet them in their hotels. The coaches do not go to those clubs’ premises to discuss with managers. A picture of any of our national coaches (Nigerians) being shown around the emirates stadium by Arsene Wenger is a front page picture for any newspaper. The same attention and prominence would be accorded a Nigerian as Eagles coach, if he is seen discussing with Pep Guardiola while Ihenacho and other stars train at the background in Manchester City’s Stadium.

    Most of our coaches are naïve to appreciate this perspective. Such impromptu sessions would help our coaches establish a working relationship with top managers. They could through such meetings arrange to understudy these tacticians in training at their free times. Many a Nigerian firm would bankroll these visits, especially those who have relationship with these clubs.

    Which Eagles star would have the temerity to give a foreign manager conditions why he would play for Nigeria? But Nigerian coaches kowtow to players’ requests, with many doing the bizarre thing of replacing a captain, two days to a crucial game in Kaduna. Did the result of the two-leg ties come as a surprise?

    Even the ex-internationals among the coaches would not visit our players on their clubs’ grounds to interface with our players’ coaches to know why they are always on the bench or are being used sparingly. Most of these ex-internationals return from such visits complaining about being unable to speak with our players in England, for instance. They allege indiscipline and total disrespect for them. Their European counterparts would hire a cab and head straight to the players’ stadia.

    Of course, foreign coaches don’t just barge into these foreign club managers. They make sure that such visits are registered in these managers’ diaries. Where they won’t be available, alternative arrangements are made, which could include change of date, if the national team coaches insist on interacting with him.

    We shouldn’t cling to an imaginary past by sticking with domestic coaches for the Eagles, yet expect a change in fortune. It is clear that our coaches cannot take us to the Promised Land.

     

     #Bring back Okocha

     

    Austin Jay Jay Okocha needs no introduction – his skills, his deft touches and his telescope vision to locate his mates with accurate passes. When Okocha plays, the fans are expectant. He leaves them screaming for more.

    Pundits have argued that Okocha would have been voted the world’s best, if he was European. Easily one of the most talented players in recent times, Germany’s legendary goalkeeper Oliver Khan won’t forget in a hurry how Okocha swept past at least four defenders before leaving Khan sprawling on the turf to score a goal that still rings bells years after.

    Okocha is thinking of returning to the game that gave him fame and wealth. Indeed, his last Nigerian club was Enugu Rangers. And the talk in Enugu is to get Jay Jay to play for the Flying Antelopes. That would be the day. The stadium would be filled to capacity. Okocha’s return will bring back the excitement beyond just scoring the goals that differentiate teams after 90 minutes.

    Okocha won my heart on Tuesday when he launched the Jay Jay Okocha Foundation, a platform he hopes to use to give back to the society. His foundation would help in giving kids and his former mates a new direction in life. Jay Jay, take a bow.

    Okocha said: “I come from a very poor family, I’m not from a royal home but through football, my life changed and I have a voice. What is most important in every kid’s life is education, but some of these kids are out of school and I think I can use football as a tool to help them get back to school,” Okocha said.

    “I will be lying if I say I didn’t know some of my colleagues are suffering. Most of us didn’t have good advisers and were left with nothing after retirement. Another objective of this foundation is creating jobs through football. If I can set up training centres across the country, I will need my colleagues. I believe in empowering people.”

     Gbam! Nothing more to add, Jay Jay Okocha.

  • Leap off the cliff

    Sport isn’t leisure anymore. It is serious business used by countries which appreciate its power to pull the youth away from social vices, to change people’s perception of their countries, as a recreation platform for its citizens and a veritable means for its populace to improve on their health.

    Sport originates from the people through the communities with the products of such an enterprise emerging as ambassadors for the country in international competitions. All that the government does is to provide the enabling environment for the industry to thrive. Since the ultimate target of the corporate world is the citizen, it follows therefore that sport gets the needed fillip for growth when the athletes become big stars in the world. This seamless setting also ensures that only technocrats are recruited to drive the process, such that it is free of scams and controversies that would chase away the blue chip industries which are ready to provide the financial support for growth.

    But in Nigeria, we only start to take sport seriously when it appears that if we will miss out of big competitions. Unfortunately, soccer, which is our poster sport, is under the stranglehold of government personnel, who have refused to free the sport to achieve its full potential.

    A classical example of failed opportunities for soccer to become a megabucks enterprise was after Nigeria won the gold medal at the Atlanta’ 96 Olympics. Rather than build on that feat, a certain government official refused to allow the Dream Team I play games against Brazil, Argentina and others because he didn’t want the Brazilians and the Argentines to avenge the defeats they suffered in the hands of those talented boys at the Olympics.

    If Nigeria had honoured those international friendlies, 20 years ago, we would have understood the dynamics of sport been a business and not mere leisure, which is how we perceive it here. Top firms offered to host the replays against Brazil and Argentina. The cash and business platforms that the two matches would have attracted, 20 years, ago would have made the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) an international brand, which is solvent.

    That is the prize we have paid with that senseless decision, even though it is only during football matches that creed and ethnicity are thrown overboard by Nigerians. Even the criminals abandon their evil trade to cheer our national teams to victory. It doesn’t matter if Nigerians have to stay up late to watch such matches. Soccer is the opium of the people here.

    Since the draws of the Russia 2018 World Cup to determine the five African nations to represent the continent at the event, many a pundit have  condemned the Super Eagles as the weakest of the four teams who would slug it out for Group B’s sole qualification ticket.

    Optimists like this writer have watched in awe as absurd reasons are advanced for why the Eagles should forget about the Mundial in 2018. Even our group opponents have joined the ranting against the Eagles. Our players and indeed chieftains of the NFF are the voices in the seeming wilderness of our 2018 World Cup prospects urging those sitting on the fence to believe in them. But that is where this writer draws his conviction of Nigeria’s flag being flown at the Mundial in 2018.

    Good students of history will tell you that Eagles are at their best whenever they are written off. The problem is that when we eventually win trophies, the coaches take all the glory, with many of those who won the trophy having to virtually lick the coaches’ boots to secure their shirt. The coaches can do no wrong. Their word is law. And it is where the slide in the team’s fortunes begins. It is the reason we are always rebuilding the Eagles, with every failed expedition. Today, not many Nigerians can beat their chests to say the Eagles will be in Russia. The silver lining is that no names of Nigerians coaches are being bandied as those who can do the job instead of a foreign manager. Samson Siasia, who should be the automatic choice in this lacuna, is engrossed in assembling a winning side for Nigeria at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which begins on August 5.

    The debate won’t be fierce when NFF throws up names of foreign coaches tipped for the job. Names, such as the late Shuaibu Amodu and the late Stephen Keshi, won’t resonate because they have joined the saints in heaven. The late Keshi’s and Amodu’s names would have been dropped as potential coaches who would make us qualify. Many would have argued that they should be supported. For the departed duo, it would have been another opportunity to collect their outstanding claims, knowing that nothing would change. The late Keshi and the late Amodu have been through this path before.

    Since the draws were made in Cairo on Friday, an interesting scenario has played out. Algeria, Nigeria and now Zambia are seeking to have foreign coaches, not forgetting that Camerooon is being tutored by a foreigner. The Algerians have hired Ghana Black Stars’ former coach, Milovan Rajevac, since he already knows the terrain. Rajevac, a Serbian, could use the style of the Ghanaians to fix Nigeria. True, there is hardly any significant difference between how the Black Stars and the Super Eagles play, except for the fact that the Ghanaians have been more consistent and dedicated to their national team’s assignments. The Ghanaians play flair football, which the Nigerian side can do, if the coaches pick the right players.

    Rajevac became Ghana’s manager in August 2008, quit Ghana on 8 September 2010 and took up a position with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ahli a day later. He left the Saudi club in February 2011 to become the national team coach for Qatar. He was relieved of his duties in August 2011.

    In September 2011, Rajevac was one of the four managers linked with the Egyptian national team, and in February 2014 he was one of four managers linked with the Burkina Faso national team.

    On 15 June 2016, he was officially appointed as manager of Rudar Velenje in Slovenia. He is abreast of the developments in African football but he knows that Nigeria will be a tough challenge now that Nigerians appear to be the underdog in this group. The beauty of Group B is that all the teams are presently embattled, with the Algerians changing coaches three times in one year. It simply means they don’t have a team that can express itself without depending on their key stars. This is the story of Nigeria, except that the Algerians have a better mentality when playing for their country.

    The Algerians begin the chase for the ticket with a home game against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. The Lions are the most unpredictable side to confront. They are not in a crisis. They are the only country in the group that has a team already, which should stretch the Algerians till the end of 90 minutes. If the Algerians are not careful, the Indomitable Lions will leave Algiers unscathed. And that would set the pace for which of the four teams would get the sole qualification ticket.

    The Indomitable Lions are dangerous customers when the stakes are high. If they get the result against Algeria in the opening game, then the Eagles have their work cut out for them when they meet the Cameroonians in the second game.

    But can the Eagles beat Zambia’s Chipolopolo in Lusaka on October 3? It is a difficult question even though the Nigerians are more talented than the Zambians. But what the Zambians lack in personnel, they have in doggedness and the innate resolve to “shed blood,” while playing for the country. They have imbibed this spirit since the time that a whole generation of the players died in a plane crash on their way to play a game. Many haven’t forgotten how the makeshift Zambian side almost beat Nigeria in the final game of the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria won 2-1 with Emmanuel Amuneke being the star of that game.

    Are the Zambians still formidable? I don’t think so. They are like Nigeria without a coach, although they are courting “White witch doctor,” Phillipe Troussier. Troussier is a good coach but he would need to ask plenty of questions about how the African game is played since his last expedition as the coach of the Super Eagles in 1997/98. Like Nigeria, the Zambians would totter in the qualifiers.

    Of the four countries in group B, Nigeria is the most talented. Therefore, if we expect to get the ticket, we must depart from the past and take the cue from others. Our coaches are handicapped. It would be suicidal for us to hand this 2018 assignment to them, given the large pool of talents available to us. It true that no domestic coach has won the World Cup but the difference between us and those who won the World Cup is that over there soccer is big business and it isn’t run by government stooges.

    Besides, these World Cup winners have thriving domestic leagues. They have systems that allow for a transition of players from the age-grade sides to the senior teams. These World Cup winners have FA bosses, who don’t require a ministerial approval to appoint a coach.

    The operations of these FAs have been perfected to ensure that tasks such as paying coaches would come from existing relationships with international firms domiciled in their countries.

    Not so here, with government officials making unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the NFF, which most times are trumpeted by those who lost out in elections into the federation.  With this type of reputation, no firm would touch the NFF, a body perpetually stuck in crises.

    This is our best chance to leap off the World Cup qualification cliff – if Sport Minister Solomon Dalung can allow the NFF prosecute this task without undue interference. Basketball federation, cricket federation and rugby federation have foreign coaches who have improved on their teams’ fortunes. Football should be allowed to emulate these federations for NFF to be solvent.

  • Blind chase for gold

    Samson Siasia has not learned from history. He has bungled Nigeria’s 2016 Rio Olympic Games’ preparations. He is in a fix what with the panic measures he has employed to get at least 12 Super Eagles players into the country’s squad for the competition.

    Siasia’s tunnel-vision plans have cost Nigeria the platform for nurturing younger boys who will replace the ageing players in the Super Eagles. In other climes, products of the Rio 2016 Olympics will form the bedrock of their national teams to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. We have lost this advantage because Siasia keeps fidgeting with his players for reasons best known to him. Four months ago, Siasia produced Africa’s best for the U-23 category. Rather than strengthen that squad with better players, he threw the camp open to all manner of players, in his quest for new talents.

    In his blind chase for new stars and indeed the Rio 2016 Olympics’ gold medal, Siasia wasted the opportunities of the competitions that the Dream Team executed. It was clear from the African championship that Siasia’s team was weak in the defence, just as it had goalkeeping problems. It has only just dawned on Siasia that these are the problems with his team, two months to the competition. What is lost in Siasia’s myopia is the advantage of blending the Nigerian side through matches. He now wants to rely on the big boys’ talent to scale through. It is unfortunate.

    If the boys excel in Brazil, the credit goes to Siasia. If the team fails, the players and NFF chiefs carry the can, leaving Siasia to scratch his head, like he does after any failed adventure as if that would change anything. The seed for Dream Team VI’s rot has been sown by Siasia. I hope the players can rescue Nigeria from falling into this pit. Otherwise, another crop of talented players would be lost to Siasia’s shortsightedness and presumptive tendencies.

    Siasia will find out in Rio that most of the boys in the football event at the Olympic Games are the first choice players for their countries and they would be playing seamlessly while a highly talented Nigerian side will be tottering through its games. No wonder our coaches always ask us to pray for their team’s success as if others don’t worship God.

    Siasia’s 60-man squad has been pruned to 35. This is laughable. What it simply means is that the majority of those who secured the Olympic Games’ ticket will be dropped in the final selection. I wonder how such a team will excel with many grumbling at home during their matches in Brazil. That is the Nigerian coach for you, always erring on the side of caution.

    Is anyone shocked at Manchester City’s decision not to release Kelechi Iheanacho for the Olympics? Is it any different from what Arsenal did to Nwankwo Kanu in 2000? Our coaches play into the hands of these foreign clubs by demonising our young stars. These foreigners don’t like us dominating football tournaments, hence they stylishly destabilise us in matters like this.

    Had Siasia not misused the friendly games by fielding half-baked players, he would have gotten Iheanacho without breaking a sweat. Siasia would have seen Manchester City scouts in Brazil trying to see the player(s) who replaced Iheanacho, since they want to grab such talents at a cheaper rate.

    Nigeria can still win the gold medal at the Rio Olympics. All that Siasia needs to do is to invite some of the players who excelled at the U-17 World Cup in 2013 and 2015, which the Golden Eaglets won. If Siasia doesn’t know those to pick, he can liaise with coaches Garba Manu and Emmanuel Amuneke for names and how to effectively deploy them during matches. It isn’t too late, Siasia.

    Nigeria can do without the services of Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo, Victor Moses et al. Siasia should pick boys who are younger, stronger, faster and hungry for glory. The legion of fledging players in the country is legendary. Featuring new kids will pay Nigeria more than those who are fatigued after the European season.

     

    Are the referees back?

    The noise from the stadia across the country has been unpleasant. The old refrain of match officials helping teams with big cash get the results that they desire has come to the fore.

    Accusing fingers have been pointed at desperate club officials eager to climb up the league table to avoid demotion. In fact, more pundits are not sure because every game is a must win as rich teams’ managers seek to justify the huge investment in the teams by their proprietors. So, what happened to the measures by the League Management Company (LMC) to checkmate the irate fans when they storm the pitch to take the law into their hands?

    It is instructive to note that the best security in any game is the centre referee. If he handles the game properly, people will leave the stadium in peace, even if the home team loses. Nigerians know the rudiments of the game to understand when a referee is partial or impartial. Violence at match venues starts with poor officiating. Most times, it is because of the referee’s inconsistencies during the game. Most referees don’t keep the whistles close to their chests such that they can blow it as the offence is committed. It is this delay in taking crucial decisions that leads to the allegation of double standard when the referee reacts differently to similar scenarios.

    LMC chiefs must accept this blame because they appointed a referee who had been sanctioned the previous season for such a sensitive game. Can the LMC tell us who freed this referee? When a referee is banned for being incompetent, such a man shouldn’t be given high stake games. I’m sure that referee Abiodun hasn’t stepped onto a football pitch since he was suspended, which is the norm. Yet, he was chosen for such a game. This can only happen in Nigeria. In civilised climes, such a referee would be demoted to the lower rungs and made to improve through the lower leagues’ matches before he returns to the big league. Here it is not so, especially if such a person is “highly connected.”

    Again, the LMC must know games that they give to inexperienced referees. Such games as the MFM FC vs Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) is a regional battle, with the Ibadan warlords serving as the symbol of the Yoruba race. Therefore, the best referee, preferably from the Eastern part of Nigeria, South South or North, ought to have handled the game. Choosing referee, Alaba Abiodun from Ogun State to handle a game between Oyo State and Lagos, isn’t quite wise, even though such a referee could be said to be neutral. The three states are too close for neutrality to befool proof.

    Traditional teams such as 3SC, Enugu Rangers FC, Heartland FC, Enyimba FC and Kano Pillars should be given efficient referees, especially when they travel within their locality. I’m shocked that LMC chieftains didn’t learn any lesson from the Sunshine Stars Akure against 3SC mayhem in Akure. Strictly speaking, MFM isn’t in 3SC’s class. We have seen Enyimba, Pillars, Enugu Rangers etc play at the Agege Stadium without any incident, largely because top referees handled these matches. I had thought that LMC men would pick match officials for the second round from their ratings during the first stanza. Or are they saying that the referee in last week’s game did very well in previous assignments since he was unbanned?

    LMC chieftains must henceforth pick only the best match officials, like it is done elsewhere, now that the domestic league is grinding to a halt. Every game counts on the league table – in terms of teams’ placing. And the fans are poised for trouble at the slightest opportunity.

    LMC’s decision to suspend Ref Alaba Abiodun is belated, especially as many people are in the hospital treating their injuries, with many vowing not to step into any stadium to watch matches.

    The game’s video clips should be given to the police to fish out the culprits so that they can be prosecuted. The police know how to get them. But can the LMC tell us where the hoodlums who caused chaos in the Sunshine Stars vs 3SC game in Akure are? They must be roaming the street free. They must have pulled a few strings and received a slap on the wrist. Is this not one of the reasons why fans take the law into their hands at match venues? Had those yoyos in Akure been brought in and out of the court and reported in the media, perhaps, those beasts at the Agege Stadium would have behaved properly. Those who cause trouble at matches are regular supporters of clubs, who are known to everyone. They are not spirits.

    Thank God the Referees Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has retired referee, Abiodun Alaba of Ogun state with immediate effect, after reviewing the match tape and other reports.

    The Referees Committee’s report stated that: “Referee Abiodun Alaba lost absolute control of the NPFL Match No. 23 between MFM FC of Lagos and Shooting Stars of Ibadan played at the Agege Stadium, Lagos on Sunday, 19 June 2016.

    “He was not able to manage several frustrating antics of players during the match in spite of the helpful support from his assistant referees. The committee recalled that referee Abiodun Alaba was suspended last season from active refereeing for similar lapses.

    “Since it had become obvious that he is not going to be able to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the federation to improve on his art of refereeing in the past one year, the NFF Referees Committee has decided to retire him from active football refereeing with immediate effect,” said a statement to thenff.com.

  • Thank you Amodu

    The quest for the big stories to be published in The Nation and Sportinglife has made me cross swords with most national team coaches and the hierarchy of sports in Nigeria. I’ve also earned the sobriquet “Satanic” as my writings hit those in charge of sports. Luckily, I end up being friends with many of them after they have left office. I was doing my job. If it hurt people, I always apologised, since that wasn’t the purpose of writing.

    But would you blame me? Certainly not, given the difficulties reporters have in reaching government officials to explain certain decisions. The interesting aspect of news reportage is that when it favours one party, the others allege that such a writer has been compromised. What I do in most cases is that when another report favours the crying party, I use the opportunity to rebuke my “new friends”, reminding them of what they said in the past. I really don’t care how others feel when I write my stories, especially if they are factual, knowing that they have a right to seek redress, if they so desire.

    This has been my cross with most sports administrators and coaches. So, when in 1994 I was introduced to Shuiabu Amodu, precisely on August 27, he came across as one hungry for glory. Amodu came for Mike Itemuagbor’s wedding in Benin and stayed at the New Langa Hotel in the ancient city. The way Amodu spoke reminded one of post-match discussions on television in Europe.

    BCC Lions FC of Gboko had been beaten 5-0 the previous week in Benin City by Bendel Insurance FC at the Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia Stadium. Amodu boasted that he would win that year’s Challenge Cup. And he did. That was in 1989 – five years before I met him in Benin.

    He said losing 5-0 to Bendel Insurance, handled by veteran Coach Alabi Aissien, was a learning curve. He said Alabi was his professor and noted the various strategies Alabi adopted to win the game. BCC Lions’ brand of football was alien to us. Amodu adopted the 3-5-2 formation, playing a midfielder at the left back, most times Sam Pam. BCC’s style was a delight to watch. Their offside trap reminded me of Ibadan-based side Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC’s), swift offside trap when they were coached by Alan Hawkes. Another interesting aspect of Amodu’s BCC was that he picked unsung players from the Northwest. This was Amodu’s joker as most teams didn’t know those to mark. It didn’t come as a surprise that Amodu and his BCC Lions ruled Africa, conquering the dreaded North Africans with ease.

    Indeed, Amodu revolutionised the way coaches were dressed on the bench. He introduced corporate suits which stood him out of the pack unlike the scruffy tracksuit that was in vogue. He joined the league of coaches who had official vehicles, not those who accompanied the players in the team’s bus. He was a class act in coaching. Amodu was also a powerful dresser outside the field. He radiated confidence. Amodu was unsparing when angry.

    Not known to keep many friends, Amodu was technically efficient on his job. He didn’t mind if anyone doubted his tactics. For him, results first. It didn’t matter if the game was poorly executed. Amodu would tell you that people ask after the results not how well the team plays. Any second opinion was forbidden. But if you persisted, Amodu would listen. If he respected your views, he would be the first to call to find out your views. If Amodu didn’t respect your views, he will give you the length of his tongue. He never cared if he lost the job to prove his point. I have never seen a man who isn’t scared to fail like Amodu. He took risks. If such risks paid off, he would smile and plot the next stunt to show that he was a master. Take a bow, Amodu.

    The quickest way to get on Amodu’s nerves was to talk about a foreign coach. He would listen to you – he is a good listener – and lash out at you when he thought you were not making any point. Amodu would tell you that he had beaten many foreign coaches. He would tell you that Nigerian administrators and the media suffered an inferiority complex. What also set Amodu apart from other Nigerian coaches was that he watched the tapes of opponents and had contacts who provided him with tips.

    Ever pensive, Amodu wanted the best of working environment. He wasn’t scared to tell his employers what they wouldn’t want to hear, it would make his job easier. Amodu would only react publicly, after subtle attempts of persuading such an employer failed.

    Amodu’s pre-match and post-match analyses were superb. You would think that a professor was lecturing. His diction was flawless. He picks his words and left his audience convinced that he knew the job. He flared up occasionally. But who won’t, if the question is offensive or the reporter is up to some mischief?

    By 1994, Amodu had conquered the domestic league to become Nigeria’s best coach. He became the obvious choice for the Super Eagles job. His first assignment was the game between Nigeria and England at Wembley Stadium. The Eagles lost 1-0 to the Three Lions but Amodu had opened a new vista in his coaching career. Opinions were divided over the way the Eagles played. But it didn’t matter to Amodu. And he said that much at the post match conference, stressing that had he more time to prepare the Eagles, England would have been beaten at home. A nifty header from former Arsenal star David Platt sealed victory for the Three Lions.

    Amodu thrived in controversies, largely because he spoke the truth. He declared that Nigerian players are average. The media, Nigerians and indeed the players descended on him. But when the Eagles failed to qualify for two major competitions, the swansong confirmed Amodu’s position.

    If there was one Nigerian who believed in this country, it was Amodu. Even when he was first humiliated by our football chieftains, he still nursed a return to coaching the Eagles, even when he had a job in South Africa coaching Orlando Pirates. Little wonder he returned to the Nigerian job, leaving Orlando Pirates in the lurch. Thank you, Amodu.

    Many a purist have described Amodu as being foolishly patriotic because he was always ready to rescue the country from its free fall in soccer. I differ from this view. The pressure on Amodu to take the Nigerian job during a crisis was awesome. In fact, respected Nigerians invite the coach for discussions. You need to see Amodu when he decided to respect such people by taking the job.

    He seeks the favour of Allah when under such pressure. If he made up his mind, my phone will ring. Not one to call me often, his voice comes up thus: “Neighbour, neighbour, una people wan kill me again. I never fit sleep since. Better people wey I respect don intervene for this matter. I don gree to coach Nigeria again. I hope dem go respect me. You know me, neighbour, neighbour, I go drop the job o!

    Please, don’t ask me how Amodu reacted when our administrators treated him with levity. No, no, spare me the description. But one thing before he talked to you, you would notice a depressed man struggling to please those he respected.

    Amodu, Amodu, (sorry, neighbour, neighbour) you are resting now. Sleep well.

    Neighbour, neighbour was a popular song of yore rendered thus: “Don’t look out at me from behind the door, come on out and see what I’m made of. I know you are pretty and I can feel it…neighbour, neighbour, I think I love you…” No prize for guessing that it was Amodu’s favourite song. Good night, Shuaibu Amodu.

     

    What is Moses’

    offence?

    I have been pinching myself to find out what Victor Moses’ offence was. It is true that he missed out of Nigeria’s two matches against Mali and Luxembourg. But his absence didn’t come to ardent followers of the English game as a shock. He had not been listed in West Ham FC of England’s matches, which meant he had issues with his injury.

    So, when the story broke that he missed the games because he didn’t want to play, I called a top member of the NFF to find out the true situation? The NFF chief told me that Moses called him to explain why he wouldn’t be available for the two matches. The NFF man said that Moses even wrote the federation seeking to be excused from the game.

    According to the NFF chief: “I want to commend Moses for the foresight in calling his coaches and the secretariat staff to inform them that he wouldn’t be available for the games against Mali and Luxembourg. Moses called me too and I can confirm that he also called the federation’s president. For us at the NFF, Moses has not case to answer.”

    One is therefore shocked to read again that Moses may be dropped from the country’s Olympic Games squad for missing matches after he had called the NFF chiefs to explain his physical condition. Recently, I chipped in the Moses question to another top brass of the federation during one of our discussions. His answer wasn’t different from what the first board member told me. It then raises the poser – who is afraid of Victor Moses? Have we forgotten so soon the efforts we put to get Moses to dump England for Nigeria? Is this how we want to reward him? How do we expect others to perceive us in our quest to get them to play for Nigeria? Can somebody in the NFF tell Nigerians that the Moses’ axe story is a hoax?

    I’m glad that there are insinuations towards punishment for those who missed the games without permission from the federation or the coaches. I also hope such punishments won’t be selective. I’m waiting.

  • Not again, June 7

    What is in a date? Nothing sacrosanct, except that some are  very significant-bringing good tidings or pains. Indeed, I stay up late reading early morning newspapers on the internet and tracking trending sports stories. This routine has no doubt helped me in news gathering. I love to break news.

    Talking about dates, my heart skips anytime I get calls on my telephone in the wee hours. Most times, I try to ignore them. But when the caller is persistent, I pick the calls. Some of the calls bring cheery news from old school mates. But, sadly, most times bad news, such as the death of loved ones.

    And so, when my phone rang in the wee hours of June 8, my mind flashed back to the call that broke the news of Osayande Osunde’s death. Osayande, a close friend, former school mates and a great sports enthusiast died on June 7, 2008. Stephen Keshi died also on June 7.  But the news hit the world next day, June 8.

    Why the Osayande slant? The duo struck an understanding anchored on Osayande’s love for the defunct New Nigeria Bank FC of Benin. Keshi was the team’s captain. I recall how they celebrated the first win NNB had over Bendel Insurance FC Benin in the club’s history. It was a left flank floater from Yamaha (Joseph Egharevba) which Henry Nwosu headed down before rising above the head of a perplexed goalkeeper Haruna Wahab. I remember the NNB crowd, especially Ejiro Omonode. Going to Ogbemudia Stadium was fun, what with the many games we took along to occupy our time before the matches began. Barrister Dudu Orumen, Victor Ebomwonyi, Nosa Omoigui, Peter Nwoko, Osaretin Osunde et al. I remember you all. Indeed, the stadium stuck many of us together and it was fun being teased anytime it was about six days to the local derby. Rains couldn’t stop us from watching games. We came with umbrellas, which also served as walking sticks. Others came with rain coats. Our love was such that the winners didn’t mind dancing if the rain went haywire. It was part of the fun. Trust the blue Demin jeans trousers or shorts to weather the rain.

    As we aged, many moved on. But we enjoyed any reunion with fond memories, with everyone feeling his team was the best. When my phone rang and the bad news of Skippo’s death,was broken, my immediate response was why Keshi? Death is a thief. What could have killed Keshi? Was he ill? He didn’t look it. Could it be the effects of those crunchy tackles and nerve-wrenching moments of matches as a player and a coach? Another Muhammad Ali-like after career trauma.  I reckoned that Ali lived another 32 years with Parkinson disease. Athletes suffer a lot to maintain their fitness levels. Oh, why Keshi, I retorted. But the news gathering instinct in me overshadowed what was clearly a major calamity because I wanted to have an exclusive report when it dawned on me that Keshi had died.

    I must add that Keshi was a strong fellow, not with the loss of easily his biggest admirer Olu Lawal, three years ago in Benin City. Lawal could do anything for Keshi, which the Big Boss appreciated. In fact, Lawal would have been the happiest man, had he lived to see the Super Eagles lift the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa in 2013. Lawal and Keshi were like Siamese twins. I recall speaking with Keshi after Lawal died and his response was a deep thank you, from a troubled heart. Such was their closeness. Sleep well, Olu Lawal.

    I remember meeting Keshi again in Mike Itemuagbor’s office at Lekki, where we relived the good old days. He remembered everything. Old boy, you sef no dey forget things o, he would say. On that day, Keshi talked about his desire to coach the Super Eagles. But he was worried by the bad publicity occasioned by what he did as a player and captain. He said those things were in the past and that he had turned a new leaf.

    Itemuagbor was listening. I offered to interview Keshi in The Nation. Keshi retorted: “Which newspaper is The Nation? Ade you too waka o! No bi Thisday again?

    I laughed and told Keshi all the places he had gone in the course of playing football. We all laughed. Keshi kept the appointment. It did the magic because he called to say that people in high places were pushing his case to get the Eagles job. He got the job and offered me the chance to manage his media. I declined and told him that he could find younger boys for that. We remained friends even though I hit him when things were not looking well with the Eagles. After all a coach is as good as his last game. The business of coaching is about hiring and firing of sloppy soccer teams. Show me a coach who has not been sacked?

    One thing about Keshi was that if he interfaced with you, he would be the first to walk up to you to say hi. Such was his openness, even though he was an independent person. He did things on conviction and wasn’t afraid to tell you his mind, if he felt disappointed, like he usually said.

    Keshi and I had our good and bad times in the course of doing our jobs. I told him when I called to console him after his wife died that my “case” was like his when he picked players for matches. He retorted: “Old boy na true you talk for that one o! I no dey look face o! I wan win, but Ade, you for call me na. You be my brother, nobi so?

    I deliberately started my conversation with Keshi on telephone with prayers for the respose of his wife’S soul. That done, he asked, abeg, no vex, na who bi this o?

    When I announced my name, trust Keshi, he said: “Old boy na wa for you o! It has taken my wife’s death for you to call me. Life isn’t like that.

    I apologised. I told him that I had been calling. Perhaps, he didn’t store my number. I reminded him that I had his numbers since late 1999 when he came for the Eagles job with Johannes Bonfrere. He invited me thereafter to Togo but I never made it. The best I did was to send someone (Desmond Ekwueme of the defunct National Interest to interview Keshi, after breaking the story that he had taken the Togolese job.

    After our frank talk, Keshi promised to call me with my number that he had and did that almost immediately. He wept over the phone while recounting what his wife went through. Friendship rekindled, we spoke several times. But this time, I didn’t report what we discussed since old things had passed away.

    I’m glad that I made peace with Keshi. He left this world a fulfilled man, which is all that we desire. Sun re o, Olubodun tio te ri Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi.

    The alias Olubodun tio teri was given to Keshi by the late Mudashiru Babatunde Lawal, a soccer giant in his own right. If you called Keshi Olubodun tio teri, he would know how far back you knew him. He cherished the alias Olubodun tio teri (the one who is never disgraced).

     

    Wake up, Siasia

     

    Samson Siasia is an interesting character. He likes listening to himself even when he is enmeshed in a pit. He is a lucky guy but it appears he is pushing his luck too far with the way he is setting up the Nigerian soccer team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Siasia deludes himself with the theory that he can pick any set of 23 players to shine in big competitions. What he doesn’t understand with this Olympic team is that the countries contending for the gold medal in soccer are coming with more or less their current senior national teams. And that would be the shocker for Siasia in Rio, if he doesn’t shelve his selfish acts for national goals.

    Put simply, Nigeria has the players to win the soccer gold medal in Brazil but Siasia is their biggest problem, with the kind of selection he makes. It is instructive to remind Siasia that his assistant Fatai Amoo led a make-shift side to beat their Brazilian counterparts in Rio while he was busy with the Super Eagles assignment. Amoo’s boys and indeed those who clinched the qualification ticket for Nigeria by lifting the U-23 Africa Cup should serve as the nucleus of his team in these preparation matches. Not the sickening choices he made to the Suwon tournament. My angst here is that NFF chieftains are watching helplessly as Siasia presses the self-destruct button of this team that should form the spine of the Nigeria senior soccer side to the 2018 World Cup. NFF chiefs must stop Siasia’s indiscriminate choice of players, when he has a winning team which he should strengthen with quality players, such as Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho et al not those he took to Suwon.

    Siasia needs help, having bungled the friendly in Suwon with the disgraceful 6-2 loss to Demark, the 1-0 loss to Korea and the scrappy 3-1 victory over Honduras after conceding an early goal. Nigerian teams fumble when the coaches fail to pick our best like Siasia has just done. And rather than apologise, he is busy blaming everyone but himself.

    Few weeks ago, Siasia spent quality time in England discussing with players he wanted to fill the over-age category. From the pictures he took in England, it seemed he had settled for John Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo and Ahmed Musa. One was, therefore, shocked when Siasia left the matter hanging, with less than 90 days to the Olympics. What does the coach? Haven’t others have named theirs?

    Siasia should learn to take responsibility for his actions. After all, the players played according to his instructions. He picked boys he thought fitted his mentality of how the game should be played.