The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • Arase, the beasts are back

    I had a chance encounter with the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, on an Abuja-bound flight in 2005. I was going for one of the defunct Interim League Board meetings. He sat beside me and we exchanged pleasantries. But it appeared Arase knew I didn’t know him too well.

    Arase struck a discussion, once the aircraft was airborne. He talked about some of the columns I wrote at Thisday. I told him I had left Thisday. I listened as he discussed sports. He was detailed in his analysis. He then mentioned Barrister Godwin Dudu Orumen. Enthralled by Arase’s deep knowledge of sports which lasted for close to 40 minutes, I sought for his identity. He told me. He was coming from a training in the United States. We exchanged telephone numbers.

    I called Arase when he was appointed the Acting Inspector General of Police. The telephone rang out. I then sent a message and he replied: “Thanks.”

    The 45 minutes discussion with Arase wasn’t a monologue. He wanted to know why I was going to Abuja. He got excited when I talked about attending a Nigeria League Board meeting.

    I told him that sanity would return to the domestic game if we had mobile policemen and Directorate of State Services (DSS) men taking charge of security in the stadia before, during and after matches.

    Curious, Arase wanted to know why I told him that most of the security operatives at league venues were supporters of the home teams. In fact, most of them were more fanatical than the fans. Otherwise, how come games end in near carnage and no arrests are made?

    Arase brought out a note pad from his breast pocket, writing down the points I made. He then asked if that was the only cause of violence. I retorted by saying that most of the club chairmen are unruly people, appointed by politicians to fulfill electoral promises to them. These club chairmen incite the fans with their gestures during matches and open reprisal of match referees at the touch line.

    “But Ade, whose duty is it to provide security for matches officials and others during games?” Arase asked?

    “Of course, the club officials,” I replied. But, like the saying goes, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Clubs then paid the referees their indemnities and the match arbiter always did their biddings under duress (fans’ threats from the stands, including pelting them with sachets of water as the game progressed). But Chief Oyuiki Jackson changed that format by paying the cash into the referees’ accounts two days before the game in a bid to reduce contact between clubs officials and referees, I told Arase.

    “So, Ade, why are you advocating for mobile policemen and SSS to provide security at match venues? Is it that the regular policemen are not competent?” Arase asked. “Not exactly,” I told the police chief. “The problem is that most of them are ardent supporters of the home side and are regulars at the stadium. Furthermore, many of the policemen that you see at match venues are not assigned to such beats. So, when violence breaks out, they disappear. Will you blame them? Nobody wants to lose his daily bread. This is the reason culprits go scot free.  Sadly, the club officials know this and have exploited it.”

    “How many policemen are assigned to the match venues?” the police boss asked. The rule recommends 50 security operatives. But the num ber (50) can’t cage the thugs when violence breaks out. They are usually not armed. They come with batons and canisters of tear gas. These criminals at match venues are experts in fomenting trouble. They wet their vests in kerosene or water and pick up these canisters and fling them back to the security operatives.

    It must be said that these beasts are not spirits. They are known football touts in such cities. And the only way to get them for prosecution would be for the League Management Committee (LMC) to get the official television broadcast network to record all the games. What this implies is that even if the touts succeed in destroying the evidence on the pitch, the owners of the television rights will provide visuals from the one recorded back in the office. Such visuals will clearly show those who cast the first stone.

    I told Arase that the presence of 20 mobile policemen and 10 DSS operatives is enough to keep the venues safe. Besides, if they are non indigenes of the home team’s base, it is better. They will also keep their eyes on events inside and outside the stadium.

    Perhaps, also sir, I said, the referees can be escorted by security operatives blaring their vehicles’ siren as we have during international matches. No tout will dare obstruct the convoy taking match officials and the visiting team out of the stadium. The frenzy associated with the arrival and departure of match officials and the visiting teams in international matches is such that anyone seeking to take the laws into his/her hands must do a very serious rethink.

    Arase nodded his head. Suddenly, the pilot’s voice from the cockpit announced the beginning of the aircraft’s descent into Abuja. Our discussion was punctuated. But Arase concluded by saying that the Interim League Board should write the Inspector General of Police, stating their case. But he warned that the League Board chiefs should visit the governors where games are played to explain their predicament- governors are the chief security officers of the states.

    At the arrival lounge, I knew that Arase was a very senior policeman, what with the battery of guards that ushered him into his official car. I mentioned my encounter with Chief Obaseki and he continued the quest for sanity at match venues following the lead from Arase. I didn’t return to the League Board. I chose to face my job. I digress.

    Violence at match venues occurs because we have refused to prosecute and jail the criminals who cause the carnage. Teams which suffer from such unruly behaviour, return home to await their hosts in the second leg game. Even when punishments are meted out, they are reversed on intervention by bigwigs. The thugs, roughnecks and urchins storm the stadium with raised chest, warning that they are around and not scared to repeat the mayhem.

    Sadly, the league chiefs are poor students of history. Otherwise, venues that are notorious for violence ought to have been locked up or matches held there shown live on television. With matches shown live, it would be much easier to spot these criminals and their acolytes from replays after the violence.

    Until club chairmen and their board members are prosecuted and jailed for not producing the hoodlums who harm referees and spectators, these buffoons would continue to make league venues death traps and not recreation centres. How would as many as 40 able-bodied men use all manner of weapons on a hapless referee, who gets no help from anybody?

    What happened in Akure wasn’t new. This dastardly act has repeated itself because no one was made to face the wrath of the law. The stadium wasn’t locked for one year as the rules provides for. The club wasn’t denied revenue from its home games – one of the consequences of being banned. A club that plays over 28 matches outside its abode will definitely be better behaved after serving the ban. It simply means that such clubs’ management must source for cash to travel, feed, accommodate their players as well as provide other logistics. The burden of such expenses would compel the clubs owners to be orderly.

    I’m sad that the referee who suffers the most would get N250,000. What is that? Is that what his life is worth? How would such a referee be firm next time, knowing the pains he went through? Such paltry sums propel unruly fans to repeat such dastardly acts. The referee deserves to be paid N2 million because the bodily harm suffered on that day may trigger untold illnesses. You never can tell. Such staggering sums paid to three referees translates to N6 million. It would be difficult for board members of such clubs to defend this when tendering their statements of accounts to their sponsors at the end of the season.

     Amusement Park

     Super Eagles isn’t an amusement park. It isn’t also a venue for pleasure seekers; nor is it a place where people frolic and do what pleases them. I’m excited that Eagles chief coach Sunday Oliseh isn’t scared to step on toes. He has stuck to the rules. And it is quite pleasing that Victor Moses has lost his place – no thanks to his irritable decision to dump the invitation to play for Nigeria in the two international friendly games against Cameroon and Congo DR at the last minute.

    Moses chose playing for West Ham. He has been very spectacular in all his game despite the second half substitutions in all the games. Moses’ substitution could be part of the West Ham manager’s tactics and it is working well for the Hammers, with their incredible placing within the top brackets of the Barclays English Premier League table- a rarity for over a decade.

    Oliseh’s decision to drop Moses is the elixir the team needs to make it competitive. Players now know that they must honour all the invitations extended to them. Those nursing the idea of colluding with their clubs to dodge or derail our plans to reinvigorate the Eagles would be given the Moses treatment – excluded from the team to allow those who partook in the team’s qualification exercise for major tournaments reap the fruits of their efforts.

  • Whip unruly stars out

    Super Eagles is Nigeria’s brand equity in global soccer competitions. It is our identity as a football-loving nation that should showcase our best talents. The Eagles isn’t a platform to celebrate mediocrity. It isn’t a father and son business nor does it belong to anyone. Any player willing to play for the team must be prepared to submit himself to the rules. And such rules aren’t alien in the clubs where they play as professionals.

    The Eagles, like all our other national teams across genders, can serve as Nigeria’s biggest public relations tool used to reshape people’s perception about what happens here. Each time our national team players represent us in their clubs, they serve as our worthy ambassadors. The country comes to halt temporarily, anytime Nigeria has a crucial game. The celebrations, following successful matches, are better imagined than described. Nigerians sit late to watch any game slated for ungodly hours based on time difference. Others set their alarms to wake them. Nigerians become one irrespective of religion, creed or ethnic divides, when our soccer players and indeed sportsmen and women vie for honours.

    Successful national teams are those populated by disciplined players eager to win laurels for their countries. The spiral effect of such players’ attitude to their country’s matches rests with the high market value the team attracts in terms of granting requests to play them.

    The other benefit from being disciplined and achieving teams is the high demand for their players by European clubs. Players are submissive to their managers and the football federation chiefs. The synergy between these two bodies and the players help the game to thrive at the domestic level. Talents in the hinterlands look forward to the time when they would attain the height of playing for their senior national teams, for instance. Besides, those there ensure that they don’t demean the senior team with unruly conduct. Rather than drag the team into the gutter with unsportsmanlike attitudes, they announce their exit from the team with pomp and ceremony.

    The federations of such retiring players organise credible testimonials that others look forward to when they retire too. The transition is seamless with everyone (players, coaches and FA people) knowing where his powers start and end.

    Nigerian players can do no wrong. They must be worshipped. We must do their biddings. It doesn’t matter if they bring odium to the country by their conduct. Such sentimental approach to handling our players is chiefly responsible for the seeming stunted growth the game has suffered in the past.

    Most of our age-grade teams don’t trouble us like the Eagles. Are the Super Eagles a poisoned chalice? – They aren’t – They have taken advantage of our love for them to misbehave. We are so scared to lay down the rules. These rules are in their European clubs and they abide by them.

    Sunday Oliseh may not be right person to effect change in the Eagles, many have argued because of his antecedents. But, if Oliseh’s actions can right the wrong in the Eagles, so be it. If any player is dissatisfied with Oliseh regime, he should quit. Coaches are as good as their last matches. If it takes changing a whole crop of players to achieve success, Oliseh shouldn’t flinch to do so. We have changed all other aspects of our football, still things have not changed. It means the players need to be changed. We have had several NFF boards ditto coaches, the Eagles still Coaches are as good as their last matches. If it takes changing a whole crop of players to achieve success, Oliseh shouldn’t flinch to do so. We have changed all other aspects of our football, still things have not changed. It means the players need to be changed. We have had several NFF boards ditto coaches, the Eagles still wobble. Let’s drop some heady players, it could just be what we need to make the Eagles, a team others would see and buckle.

    This writer agrees with Barrister Godwin Dudu Orumen’s perspective that: “In this part of the world, we are overly sentimental, especially about football. The life-span of a player in the national team is eight to 10 years. You have to be exceptional to stay in the national team beyond 10 years. If Enyeama feels that it is time for him to retire, he is free. Emenike, on the other hand, has not scored for Nigeria since 2013. There are younger players who can take up the challenge, why are we making all these non-issues national issues?”

    “Why should Oliseh have consulted him? What nonsense is that? Segun Odegbami was captain of the Super Eagles from 1980- to 1982, but he was stripped of his captaincy aboard the flight to Libya and it was given to Mudashiru Lawal. Odegbami did not scream blue murder; he took it in his stride, knowing he was not the only one called to serve the nation.

    “How can you have discipline when everything which happens in the team goes first on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter? Hell, no; the NFF has to put a stop to all that,” Orumen said.

    The Eagles is the biggest business in the country when the team is on a winning run. The many businesses around the game thrive when the Eagles excel. European scouts and agent storm the domestic league venues and playing grounds to recruit our young talents to join foreign teams across the globe. The domestic clubs and academies where such talents are recruited from, for instance, smile to the banks.

    Those lucky ones return to the country later and become icons for others to emulate. These players use the monetary rewards from their new lease of lives to change the fortunes of their families and friends for good.

    Indiscipline ruined all the gains we had from our debut at the 1994 World Cup in the United States of America. Stories have been told how our players’ wishes prevailed over Clemens Westerhof’s technical advice that the Eagles be relocated to a more serene place, ahead of our Round of 16 game against Italy. Girls had invaded the Eagles camp. Westerhof didn’t like it but our players’ wishes prevail. They wanted to have a ball and got the result with an exit despite our fancied style of play that left the world in awe. Westerhof didn’t return with the team. The players held court. It has been a free fall for the Eagles. Forget about the pyrrhic feat on February 10 in South Africa.

    With the way the Eagles dazzled in America, Westerhof deserved a second term. But our players would have none of that.

    1998 World Cup was worse. The Eagles camp was populated by injury-ridden players and holiday makers scouted by journeyman Bora Mulitinovic. The 1998 World Cup in France was Nigeria’s worst. It marked the beginning of long meetings for improved match bonuses simply because our players thought they could walk through Denmark. Had Nigeria beaten Denmark in the dream of the 1998 Eagles squad, we would have been pitched against Brazil, for a rematch of the Atlanta’96 Olympic Games feat. Our players insisted that they be paid $15,000 upfront before the game against Denmark. They had their way and Nigeria had the shorter end of the stick – shameful 4-1 loss to Denmark. These set of Eagles were the craziest with many of them either owning jets which they later sold or were flown around the country in jets by acolytes of the goggled one, the late Sani Abacha.

    Adegboye Onigbinde, the disciplinarian did well in sidelining the irritants in the Eagles, ahead of the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup. Onigbinde’s World Cup squad was the most disciplined even though they didn’t achieve the desired result. We had an orderly camp. No nocturnal meetings to fix allowances and demand for upfront payments.

    Why Onigbinde was eased off rest with the players’ power in the Eagles. One of those heady Eagles that Onigbinde reluctantly took to Korea/Japan invaded the media with his infamous rant of describing most of the players that the Modakeke chief took to the Mundial as junk.

    Onigbinde is renowned for whipping unruly players out of the Eagles. And Dudu Orumen revealed further that: “Let me take you back to 1983, when Adegboye Onigbinde took over the national team. He retired eight out-field players; goalie Best Ogendegbe, right-back David Adiele, left-back Kadiri Ikhana, left-back Okey Isima, centre-back Tunde Bamidele, centre-back Alloysius Atuegbu, striker Ifeanyi Onyedika and Felix Owolabi, yet the heavens did not fall.

    “We need to stop trying to make our players feel more important than they are. Why should we encourage them to do what they do not do in their clubs by bringing indiscipline and total insubordination into the team?

    “Honestly, Emenike is not the man of the moment and, rightfully, Oliseh told him to go play in a more competitive league, if he wants to get a proper look-in or risk being left out of his plan.

    “We do not give a coach responsibility without authority to act. It is his [Oliseh’s] prerogative; let him make his decision and, if at the end of the day we fail to qualify, we fire him. We are at liberty to put opinions across, but we need to stop making laughable issues out of them,” Orumen said.

    So, what is the noise about Enyeama, Emenike et al? Eagles will be a better side without reluctant players and agitators. It’s about time our football is measured by the number of domestic league players in the Eagles and not otherwise. We shouldn’t always search for players in Europe, Americas, and Asia.

    If Oliseh wants us to take him seriously, he needs to make the CHAN Eagles squad the pivot of those who would prosecute the November 15 World Cup qualifiers against Swaziland. Nigeria should beat Swaziland with any serious squad. If Oliseh doesn’t want to take the risk, he can pick eight Europe-based players to join the home-based. We are tired of having 25 Europe-based players invited to prosecute games against minnows, such as Swaziland, with due respect.

     

  • Who’s next?

    These are interesting times in the Super Eagles. Those hitherto regarded as untouchables in the squad are trembling, having seen what befell their biggest mate. Players are on their toes. They don’t want to be caught unawares. They react to every seeming change. They are the first to hit the media platforms sourcing for news about trends in the Eagles.

    This is what we need in the Eagles. There should be competition for shirts among players. Playing for Nigeria shouldn’t be any player’s birthright. Anyone wearing our jersey should be the best at that point in time, not getting the shirt based on past performances. Current form, discipline and dedication to what the team stands for should inform the selection of players.

    Emmanuel Emenike may have been worried about the new development and how it could affect his chances of playing for Nigeria’s senior team. Could this be why he hurriedly announced his retirement from the Super Eagles?  NFF chiefs should reject Emenike’s resignation, given the fact that the story which informed the striker’s decision has been refuted by the chief coach Sunday Oliseh?

    Happily, NFF Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed Sanusi said: “I just heard of it but there is no official confirmation from the player in question, so for us it is mere speculation. However, I also agree that it is the right of any player to play or not to. Our concern as a federation is how to build a formidable team for Nigeria.”

    Good talk Sanusi. This statement also opens the door for Emenike to do a recant or call the coach to deny his tweet, having read the coach’s denial on the subject.

    Clearly, Emenike has allowed thunder to strike on the same spot twice. He ought to have explored all the avenues of seeking redress before heading for the social media to resign. This act shows a high level of disrespect for constituted authority. That has been the trend with our senior players. They have a penchant for making the administrators and coaches look like the problem with our game not them.

    The story about Oliseh’s alleged decision to drop Emenike didn’t have any comment by the coach. The story was hinged on the striker’s goal drought and his recent substitution. In the past, it was seemingly a taboo to substitute the big boys in the Eagles. But I’m sure if Emenike had reflected on the fact that John Mikel Obi has been replaced twice in the last two games that he played in Belgium, he could have called the coach to seek some clarification. I’m sure Oliseh must have told everyone how he felt about the team’s performance in the last two friendly games in Belgium. What did he tell Emenike? Did Oliseh tongue-lash Emenike? If he didn’t, why did Emenike think the coach would head for the media to announce his removal from the squad?

    Come to think of it, Emenike has played four times for Nigeria under Oliseh. How many matches has Oliseh handled? Aggrieved players worried about their substitution or bench roles for clubs, politely walk up to their coaches to find out what was wrong with their game. What the coaches say help them in improving their games. A few of these player/coach interactions have gone awry with the players lampooning their managers.

    When Oliseh got the Eagles job and extended an invitation to Emenike for the double header in Belgium, the striker poured encomiums on the coach for his interpersonal relationship with his players. Emenike told us then that he wanted to quit the Eagles but had to rescind his decision following heart-to-heart discussions he had with Oliseh. If such a relationship existed between the two, why didn’t Emenike put a call across to the coach to find out if he had seen the questionable story? Since when has the media become the basis for selecting players into the Eagles? Our players must show more respect to Oliseh because sometime in the future, a few of them may opt for coaching and some of these acts may return to haunt them.

    I’m sure if Emenike were a coach, he would have doubts about a striker who hasn’t scored a goal in the last two years. But rather than throw such a striker out, Emenike as a coach may strive to either sharpen the striker’s goal scoring skills or find another role for him to play.

    Oliseh isn’t a coach that discloses his list to the media like others do. All his lists have come from the NFF. Speculations on his likely invitees have been laughable. And that is the spirit, since it presupposes that Oliseh is involved in the selection process with his assistants, and not influenced by agents and scouts who leak such lists to the media.

    Besides, losing first team shirt in the Eagles ought to be enough motivation for Emenike to improve on his game, rather than this escapist method of retiring on social media platforms. Indeed, it should strike Emenike’s conscience that Oliseh had him in the Eagles’ plans when he offered him the vice captain role, which Emenike rejected.

    Truth be told, Emenike stopped scoring when Sunday Mba and Brown Ideye were dropped from the Eagles. These two players understood how to play alongside Emenike. One of them, Mba ceaselessly threw defence-splitting passes at Emenike while Ideye created the openings for the striker to score goals. Such tactical movements don’t exist in the Eagles today. And it is why Emenike’s goals have disappeared like ice-cream left under the scorching sun.

    It is sad that Emenike is leaving the team unceremoniously. He did well in the four years he served the country. He surely deserves a testimonial. Emenike doesn’t look like one to change his mind.  Emenike can’t point at one act of disrespect that he suffered under Oliseh.

    Interestingly, Oliseh’s comments on Emenike’s shock retirement shows maturity and it is a welcome development.

    Oliseh said: “I have made him (Emenike) part of our rebuilding process, in fact he has had more playing time than any striker we have had, so I am very very surprised that he has decided to retire. He has not reached me but I have called him twice because immediately I heard this, first I thought it was all these lies on social media so I called him twice yesterday (Tuesday), I am expecting a return call from him, it is when I hear from him that I would fully accept that he is retiring.”

    Our players should stop making spurious allegations about the setting in the Eagles when they want to quit. What one can see from the last two retirements is that Oliseh seems to know who the bad eggs in the team are. They are getting uncomfortable with his commanding presence in the camp. So, those who can’t stand his regime are opting out but they are splashing mud, which isn’t good for the team. Vincent Enyeama’s and Emenike’s exits raise the poser about how long John Mikel Obi will remain with the team. I hope Mikel won’t say soon that he is quitting the Eagles because the new players are not in his class.

    Oliseh must tell the players that he is building a truly young team. Oliseh must be bold enough to tell non-performing players that they won’t get a shirt in the Eagles, if they don’t improve on their game. Nigeria is bigger than any player. No player must be allowed to hold us hostage. After all, a majority of them achieved their heights playing for one of our national teams.

    It was quite shameful watching Mikel reject the Eagles captaincy band handed to him by Ahmed Musa, as he was being substituted in one of the friendlies in Belgium. Mikel ought to have taken the captaincy band from Musa, even if he had reservations. In other climes, that would have been Mikel’s last game in the national team. It is always an honour being the captain of any national team. What Mikel et al did on that night was to desecrate the emblem of our country. As usual, that despicable act has been swept under the carpet because it is football, where sentiments becloud our sense of judgment.

    Indeed, if Mikel must be honest with himself, he ought to know that his attitude towards national team assignment since he hit stardom has left much to be desired. Based on his attitude, no coach will give the leadership of his team to him.

    NFF must help Oliseh by insisting on what is right. Any aggrieved player who doesn’t trust the available channels for seeking redress should go to the public court to state his case. I feel strongly that Nigerians would soon get tired of players’ excesses and support the system. For too long, layers have taken advantage of Nigerians’ passion for the game to ridicule us, particularly concerning things they dare not protest about in their European clubs.

    I’m sure that if Mikel was kept on the Eagles bench like he is experiencing at Chelsea, a players’ mutiny would have occurred to sack the coach. And many of us would have supported the coach’s removal on the grounds that he doesn’t know how to utilise Mikel’s talent.

  • Fighting a friend

    The missing piece in the puzzle has been fixed.  The virus of indiscipline troubling Nigeria’s senior soccer side, the Super Eagles, is on the verge of extinction, following the brouhaha that happened in Belgium, last Tuesday. I deliberately refused to comment on the imbroglio until all the scenarios arising from the skirmish had faded away like odour oozing out of a basket of rotten eggs.

    When the first offender cried blue murder, I knew he had realised that his game was up. He wasn’t going to be the monster that he had turned himself into. His angst stemmed from the way he had been eased out of the Eagles – like the runny nose of an ailing kid – so easy. This first offender suddenly realised that his flock in the Eagles had chickened out, leaving him trapped inside the clay pot, ready to be thrown out in the forest.

    It needed a mafia to fix this first offender and it is a welcome development. Glad to know that nothing happens forever. The change mantra in Nigeria has finally hit the Eagles- we can now hope that lessons have been learned by those waiting in the flanks to succeed this first offender.

    I guess by now it should be obvious what this writer wants to address- the Sunday Oliseh and Vincent Enyeama face-off. Both of them are “mafia” men in their own rights, but one has been outsmarted by the bigger boy. Had Enyeama appreciated that Oliseh negotiated the soft landing he got from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chiefs over his uncouth utterance that Kaduna wasn’t suitable for an international game, he wouldn’t have seen the coach as his enemies’ friend, but his messiah.

    Enyeama saw Oliseh as NFF’s ally; someone he shouldn’t support. That preconception was what Enyeama took to the Eagles camp in Belgium. Clear to me was the fact that the goalkeeper didn’t want to play in the two matches. He was there for war. He only needed some prompt to set the camp ablaze.

    And Oliseh unwittingly provided it with the announcement of a change in the team’s captaincy. Blue murder, Enyeama raved inside him. This agenda had the colouration of all that had been planned for him by the NFF chiefs. It mustn’t stand – poor boy, like he has now realised, albeit with a bruised nose.

    Put simply, Enyeama misfired. He must have realised it and spanked himself in his bathroom while reflecting on what happened, especially after having access to  information that he didn’t have prior to the Wednesday show-of-shame. If Enyeama knew that Oliseh insisted on having him as the Eagles’ captain while negotiating his deal with the NFF, he wouldn’t have reacted that way. If the coach made the announcement based on the fact that Enyeama told him pointedly that he would retire in 2017, the goalkeeper should have waited until after the meeting to break the news that he had changed his mind.  They would have embraced themselves like they are now doing. The coach would have called Ahmed Musa aside and informed him of Enyeama’s review of his retirement date.

    The lesson that Enyeama should learn from this is that vengeance is of God. What happened in Belgium was transferred aggression. He must also learn how to control his emotion, whether under stress or in distress. What has softened Enyeama’s hostility towards Oliseh is the revelation by NFF that the coach saved him from a ban earlier. The goalkeeper must be quietly kicking himself for fighting a friend. Little wonder, the goalkeeper laughed heartily on the phone on Saturday.

    Let’s hope that Oliseh has taken all that happened with Enyeama in its stride. Such incidences serve as the experience he will garner in the course of doing the job. The victory on Sunday against the Indomitable Lions is the elixir the team needs for growth.

    Oliseh must employ the method of substitution by elimination in his selection process. He should give players enough games to prove themselves, except where such a player’s performance is appalling.

    Such informed methods would forestall players’ rebellion. Oliseh should learn to delegate functions. He needs to consult widely on issues he thinks can be chaotic. If he had consulted widely, for instance, maybe the NFF should have made the announcement of the change of guard, even though the decision is his.

    We should never sacrifice discipline on the altar of how long any player has served the country. Rather, his commitment and readiness to abide by camp rules should be the basis for electing a captain. I support Oliseh’s decision to ignore John Mikel Obi on the issue of captaincy. Mikel hasn’t shown that he is ready for such exemplary positions.

    No player is bigger than Nigeria. Any irritant player should be shown the door before he corrupts others. We must weed out heady players in the team to prevent the shameful act in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2013, when Eagles players refused to board the chartered aircraft sent by FIFA to convey the squad to the 2013 Confederations Cup held in Brazil. It was reported that the players and coaches refused to allow the then sports minister to intervene in the matter. Rather, they opted to seek reassurances from a telephone conversation with the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan before they boarded a commercial aircraft to the Samba region.

    This act of impunity continued at the 2014 World Cup where Eagles refused to train again until their entitlements were paid. It must be stated here that World Cup emoluments are paid after the competition, largely because the soccer-ruling body needs to make pro rata deductions on yellow and red cards and other sundry issues before effecting pay ment to the participating football federations.

    But these recalcitrant players (that is what they were because of the show-of-shame) got President Jonathan to cough out $3.8 million, which the players, coaches and accompanying officials shared 24 hours to Nigeria’s second round game against France, which the French won 2-0.

    Enyeama’s exit from the Eagles’ camp should signpost the holistic changes many pundits have craved for in the team. His exit should launch the enforcement of the players’ code of conduct. This document exists in all their European clubs.

    It really hurts that Enyeama is quitting the Eagles with this stigma. He should be given another chance provided he can openly accept that he erred. He needs to promise everyone to be of good conduct subsequently.

    Enyeama needs this face saver if he hopes to return to coach any of the national teams. His past should never haunt him. He can draw examples from the immediate past Eagles chief coach and the incumbent, who in their days as captain ran the rule over everyone yet refused to be led by the noses as coaches.

    Barrister Godwin Dudu Orumen situates the Enyeama/Oliseh’s brouhaha thus: Unsalutary tales of captain’s power and its misuse by Stephen Keshi, Uche Okechukwu, Sunday Oliseh ironically and now Vincent Enyeama.

    “These captains have all acted like Head Boys and Union Leaders rolled into one in their times, challenging constituted authorities of the NSC, NFA/NFF and Coaches like dark knights and non-conformists.

    “They lead and drive in hostage-taking style and engaging in disruptive late night bargaining for match bonuses especially and who gets to coach the Eagles. I do admit that the issues of match bonuses have been a sore point now.

    “However these Captains too have been very unprofessional, limited in thinking and costly in their actions. Several of their actions fall into moral hazards giving the fact that appearing in national colours have boosted their careers too. Notwithstanding the din of the moral hysteria that greeted the Oliseh-Enyeama imbroglio, the efforts by NFF to resolve same, I hold the view that to move forward institutionalised checks have to be put in place urgently in the Super Eagles structure to forestall further or repeat occurrence.

    “And although I gave Oliseh my support in his face off with Enyeama, I do hope he has learnt a thing or two from this unpleasant experience, especially because as captain of the Super Eagles to Mali 2002, with the active connivance of (then) Super Eagles coach Shuaibu Amodu, Oliseh’s behaviour was no better,” Dudu Orumen alleged.

    Well said Dudu-Orumen. Good luck Vincent Enyeama. Welcome to the hot seat, Sunday Oliseh.

     Going to Turkey

     The story on Tuesday night of an endorsement of John Mikel Obi’s exit from Chelsea during the January 2016 transfer window is the best news in recent times.

    The story is soul-lifting since it stated the Special One, Jose Mourinho has approved Mikel’s sack from Stamford Bridge. Some other reports were categorical in revealing that the Nigerian is heading for Besiktas, although no one is ruling out a move to Fenerbahce also in Turkey.

    Mikel needs this break to save his career. His performance against Congo DR and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in Belgium on October 8 and 11 suggests that he still has the Midas touches that made him only second to Lionel Messi at the Holland U-20 World Youth Championships, where Nigeria lost 2-1 to Argentina in the final game.

    Movement to Turkey for Mikel means more playing time on the pitch. Although it presupposes a huge cut to the staggering wages he collects at Chelsea. Will Mikel accept pay cut or just wait until his deal at Chelsea runs out? If he waits, he goes on a free transfer. It means that Chelsea loses out? But will Chelsea want to lose out on Mikel’s transfer? Again, how many clubs will pay 15 million pounds on Mikel, who has been in-and-out of the pitch? Or will any European club pay the 15 million pounds and offer Mikel regular first-team shirt?

    Will Mikel end his romance with Chelsea? Or will he seek greener pastures in Turkey or any other club? Time will tell.

  • Our sports minister

    It appears we have left sports in the lurch, if one takes a critical look at the 21 nominees for the ministerial positions in the Muhammadu Buhari government. There is no doubt another set of ministerial appointments to be made. But I feel strongly that sports ought to have come with the first batch with months to 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil and other top tournaments.

    The names published in the newspapers don’t look like people to be assigned to sports, given their pedigree. Perhaps, the president would shock me by announcing Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) as the new sports minister. Did I hear you say in my wildest dream? Don’t blame me. Fashola took sports to the zenith in Lagos. Fashola understood the dynamics in sports. He created the platforms for sports in thrive in the Centre of Excellence.

    He gave Lagos a credible face that emboldened the corporate world to identify with sporting events in Lagos. Fashola found the time to play football at the late Teslim Balogun Stadium. This further convinced the blue chip firms to support sports in Lagos. With the corporate bodies providing the cash, Lagos returned to its glorious past of being the Mecca for sports in the country. Lagos had a sports calendar that many people followed. Fashola ensured that Lagos discovered, nurtured and exposed talented athletes drawn from the hinterlands at the National Sports festival. He told his officials to jettison the poaching of athletes from other states syndrome that some desperate governors opted for to win the multi-sports events.

    The effect of no poaching by Lagos ensured that the indigenes formed the nucleus of the state’s contingent unlike in other states where Adekunle Oluwasegun, for instance clinched 10 gold medals for Rivers State and Abubakar Abubakar win medals for Edo State.

    Another ripple of no poaching is that the medalists returned to the homes, schools, churches, mosques and play grounds as heroes and heroines. They served as models for others in the communities to emulate with some parents urging their kids to take to sports.

    Fashola understood the essence of the multi-sports competition- to get younger talents to replace the ageing ones and to strive to upset the established stars. Today, the sports facilities built and rejuvenated by Fashola warehoused most of the athletes Nigeria paraded at the All African Games trained before heading for Brazzaville.

    Besides, Fashola anchored the new dawn in Lagos sports on credible and distinguished Nigerians such as the late Molade Okoya- Thomas and Mr Olawale Edun. Both men instituted the right attitude and mentality in the way sports is run. Today, Nigerians are celebrating new boxers who shone at the All African Games without recourse to the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame project which laid the foundation that threw up the medalists.

    Moribund sporting facilities were rebuilt. It is unfortunate because the one sphere that unites us a one nation is sports. It is only during sporting competitions that Nigerians forget about ethnicity, religion and political divides.

    These administrators must be tasked to take each game to any part of the country with the best comparative advantage to produce the athletes who must then be taught the rudiments of the game at the grassroots. The criteria for picking administrators for each sport should include having the passion for the game. It is only when a person is passionate about a sport that he can appreciate the need to continuously provide new ideas to develop it.

    A blueprint is sacrosanct for sports to thrive and it must be anchored on the dire need to resuscitate moribund grassroots competitions that engaged youths, taking them away from the vices of the society.

    The emergence of a sports policy endorsed by the government will create jobs, such that this industry could in the next 10 years become the highest employer of labour.

    The policy should challenge local government chairmen to build at least four mini-sports centres that would serve as playgrounds for their constituents in the absence of such structures in the schools in the 774 local government areas.

    Multiply four mandatory mini-sports centres by 774 local governments, what you get (3,096 mini-sports centres) would set the platform for the industry to grow. Blue-chip companies will then leverage their products and services on this enterprise since their target audience are the masses who will throng the centres to watch competitions.

    The spiral effect of blue-chip firms identifying with this new initiative is that the local government areas could recoup their investments because they could offer to name these facilities after the firms alongside other marketing windows that the initiatives offer, such as kitting and moulding the career paths of athletes discovered to stardom.

    Wealthy indigenes will queue up to patronise sports, recruiting the locals as coaches, athletes, grounds men, drivers, cleaners, security personal, doctors and other institutional staff in their outfits. If each of the 774 local governments employ 50 people for each of the mandatory four mini-sports centres in the proposed pilot scheme, the employment rate in the hinterlands will reduce.

    Perhaps we need to re-introduce the zonal sports offices in the six geo-political zones and equip them with coaches and office personnel who should be monitored just as the coaches must be retrained. Those who are not productive should be eased out of the system.

    These rebuilding processes would produce incontrovertible data base for the talents discovered. And it would help sports develop since athletes won’t be able to forge ages to play for the junior teams.

    But how did we get to this pitiable situation? Greed and selfishness of those who administer sports put us on this inglorious path. They refused to build on the gains of the past. They introduced quota system. Sports facilities were left to decay. Nepotism formed the fulcrum for picking coaches, officials and athletes. That would have been okay, if they performed. But these people failed woefully.

    Unpopular governments in Nigeria, especially during the jackboot eras used sports as their biggest public relations tool to seek acceptance.

    In other polities, sports industry is big business. It is a money spinner. It is used to empower the people. It engages the youth and takes them off societal vices. Sports create the platforms for the people to recreate. Being engaged in sporting events improves the health and living standards of citizens.

    And so people rebuilding sports are most times tested technocrats and renowned athletes who have graduated from the fields to the board rooms.

    Such novel choices when made get global applause from other countries because with such a person, a truly new dawn beckons for the industry. Anytime, we appoint a sports minister, he starts by wrestling for power at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), leaving more than 26 other sports in the lurch. This explains why our facilities are in ruins. Ministers measure their achievements by the success records.

    Yet, the National Sports Commission (NSC), which most ministers and director generals operate is not known to the law. These twosome have played politics with the abrogation of Act 101, because it gives the minister the powers to interfere in NFF’s affairs.

    I look forward to the day we will get a minister who will complete the process of abrogating Act 101. I look forward to seeing a minister who will run sports through the schools, polytechniques and universities. Sport is for the youths. They are found in the schools.

    I recall those days at Government College Ughelli, when we returned to the school as winners of the 1977 edition of Morocco/ Clarke Cup. Our mates at school trooped out to receive us. We felt like kings. We were celebrated by the principal the late Demas Onoriode Akpore. It was a very rare privilege. I treasure those moments to date.

    This scenario underscores the importance of what renowned sports journalist and the Vice President, International Sports press Association, Mitchel Obi told a gathering recently in Lagos.

    Obi said: “Allow the private sector to come in to set the tone with entrepreneurial skills, then it becomes huge business. Imagine what it means if every week people go into the stadium to enjoy a good match; the impact and effervescent effect for the nation. Consider those who transport the fans, those who sell to the fans, produce wares for the fans, those who produce the tickets, the telephone companies that would gain from it, especially in this telecommunication age, where if you are in the stadium, you want to tweet it, take pictures and post on the social media, it is all so complex. That is why we are saying that sports is a catalyst to recover from the economic recession that the country is experiencing. But that is if we understand it.”

    The Progressive Vanguard stated that: “President Buhari must not set a bad precedent by not appointing a Sports Minister; the decision will also jeopardize the revival of the now moribund industry. Our industry is comatose.  We need a tripartite marriage between the Ministries of Education, Youths and Sports to revive the industry. If we don’t have a Minister of Sports, that means there won’t be cabinet representation for Sports, thus there won’t be interaction between Ministers of Youth and Education which are crucial to the revival of the Sports industry.”

    The Progressive Vanguard urged President Buhari and APC not to be deceived by the second placing of Team Nigeria at the just concluded All African Games to think all is well with our sports.

    The Progressive Vanguard  stressed: “The All Africa Games, as it is today is a developmental programme, Nigeria is just one of the few countries that take it seriously, most sporting nations in Africa, like South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and others send their young athletes. If the government is in doubt, they should just check the world ranking of athletes that won medals in Congo vis-à-vis their counterpart in other parts of the world, most of our medalists are not in the top 50 in the world.’’

    “Apart from a brief period under GEJ when concerted efforts were made to revive our sports which was aborted because of politics , sports has been dead in Nigeria in the last ten years.’’

    So, who will be our next sports minister? I cannot wait.

  • A mystical paradox

    Nigeria’s second place finish on the medals’ table at the 2015 All African Games is a mystical paradox of sort. Our athletes’ undying resolve to eke out a living from sports ensured that they did well. And this rubbed off on the country’s medals’ placing.

    This feat was not due to our facilities; they are in state of disrepair. Very few sporting activities are held across the country. Cases of our athletes being walked over in competitions are common. Some athletes have used their scarce resources to attend competitions in a bid to restore their rankings.

    Grassroots competitions to discover budding stars in the hinterlands are dead. Schools which produced athletes no longer have spaces reserved for sports; they have been built up. For governors, the sports industry is an appendage. They only remember sports when the National Sports Festival beckons. That is if the multisport events hold at all.

    Most governors ensure that sport remains in its moribund state by appointing politicians to supervise the ministries and the sports councils. Nothing happens in many states and the governors are unperturbed. Yet, sports have been Nigeria’s biggest public relations tool, just as youths get engaged and are taken off vices.

    Until all the governors see sports as a vehicle for empowerment of the people, we will be condemned to searching for Nigerians in the Diaspora to represent us in big competitions. Such pyrrhic feats like we had in Congo only make us a laughing stock in the sports polity. Of course, we like them because they provide the platforms for politicians to promise changes which never come.

    The drum beats have ceased. The masqueraders have strolled away with their harvest. The backslapping from the officials, athletes and fans has stopped. The critics are ruing their bad fortunes. The athletes are expectant. When will their largesse come and in what form? Purists have sneezed at any talk of a handshake and national honours for the victors. After all, they are amateurs who need to be rewarded in cash for their efforts.

    The medalists are not complaining. There are enough dollars to spend. No one is talking about how we can improve our performance at the African Games held in Congo. Congo feat was the result of the spartan fighting spirit of the average Nigerian. Our second position at the 2015 All African Games underlines the Nigerian can-do spirit. I only hope that our sports federations and indeed officials at the National Sports Commission (NSC) know that these athletes are magicians, having done so well without training grants and facilities.

    We should never use this feat to benchmark the growth of sports in the country because it would be a fallacious claim. The grassroots is dead. The states’ sports councils are venues for grumbling civil servants bothered more about unpaid salaries than applying themselves to creating events for athletes to be discovered, nurtured and exposed through local and international competitions. We have opted for the tardy option of recruiting mercenaries to represent us. And this is shameful, given our over 200 million population.

    Swept under the carpet are the pre-competition rants of lack of funds, no facilities, no training grants, poor coaching and bias selection of athletes, to mention a few of the complaints. Our officials have gone into their cocoon, waiting again for grants from the government for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

    Does anyone care how the athletes would fare until when we remember that the Olympics is just three months away? What are we doing for the boxers who only knew the rules of the art during the competition? Isn’t it strange that as many as nine boxers lost out technically due to cuts on their faces? Isn’t it the first rule in boxing to learn how to cover your face right from your stance in front of your opponents? At the London 2012 Olympics, our boxers didn’t know the scoring system. They now know. But, sadly, they lost many fights where they were clearly ahead due to cuts on their faces, mouths etc. What is the plan for their coaches? Shouldn’t they be taken on refresher courses or have coaches brought in to teach them the fundamentals?

    What are the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC’s) plans for our contingent? Where would our athletes, coaches and technical officials train and reside? When is the camp opening? Who would pay for the preparations? Or would we be hitting Rio de Janerio in batches as usual? What is the strategy to ensure that our athletes don’t get involved in drugs? What is the level of counselling on the use of native treatments to their ailment such as Agbo, Opaenyi and other aphrodisiacs? What has happened to the grants to federations whose athletes qualify for the Olympics? Shouldn’t the athletes know our plans for the Olympics? Or are we waiting for our sports minister, who is likely to be a politician, to decide?

    Isn’t this the best time to evaluate our performance and seek solutions, beginning with the problem areas? Have we identified our medalists at the Olympics and taken the right steps to aid them to succeed? What are our plans for Blessing Okagbare, easily our best prospect if we treat her like the star she is?

    Okagbare should be given all that she requires so much so that she must shun those small competitions prior to the Olympics and concentrate on winning an Olympic gold medal like Chioma Ajunwa did in the women’s long jump at the Atlanta Games.

    Okagbare’s albatross in the sprint events has been her slow start off the bloc? If Okagbare is the Nigerian project, like most athletics purists expect, she needs a specialist to take her through the rudiments of exploding out of the starter’s bloc without beating the gun. If the Americans and Jamaicans have perfected it, then we need specialists from these countries to train her or make her train with them. I would prefer the first option where her training regime isn’t exposed to her would-be opponents.

    Okagbare needs a dietician, a psychologist, a trainer, a coach and a manager to counsel her on what is at stake in Rio de Janerio next year. She needs grants that would make her shun the smaller races where she makes easy cash to make ends meet.

    Nigeria won 10 gold medals in athletics with Okagbare winning one of them in the 4×100 metres relays. Had we managed Okagbare well by prioritising her needs, she could have added at least three individual gold medals in 100 metres, 200 metres and the long jump to Nigeria’s eventual medals’ haul. Okagbare is that important to our quest for glory.

    We must be worried that the Ivoriens are the fastest men and women in the 100 metres. I would have been scared had they clinched the 4×100 metres relay, especially for women. The lesson here is for the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN’s) technical arm to draw up a template that would discover Nigerians who can run the middle and long distance races. We can get other nationals to run these races, like Britain has done with Mo Farah, the Somalia-born athlete, who is the champion in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres.

    Farah, CBE (born 23 March, 1983) is a British long-distance and middle-distance runner. He is the 2012 Olympic, 2011, 2013 and 2015 world and 2010, 2012 and 2014 European champion in the 5000 metres, and the 2012 Olympic, 2013 and 2015 world and 2010 and 2014 European champion in 10,000 metres. On the track, he competes over 5000 m and 10,000 m, but also runs the 3000 metres and, occasionally, the 1500 metres. He made his marathon debut in 2014 in London, placing eighth. Athletics watchers have predicted Britain’s dominance in the long distance in the next decade or two.

    The odds are in Nigeria’s favour in wrestling, largely because we have a former Olympic gold medalist as the body’s chairman. A former Nigerian international, he dumped the country to wrestle for Canada and clinched the gold medal for his adopted nation. Daniel Igali is back here and has shared his experience – training and general preparations with the Nigerian side. The dividends were seen at the Congo 2015 All African Games where Nigeria clinched nine gold medals, five silver medals, which can be gold in Rio, if we plan well and two bronze medals.

    Happily, Igali is an official of the NOC. He must insist on having the grants to prepare his athletes. He knows his onions. But he still needs to bring in experts who can equally share their knowledge with the boys and girls. If wrestling excels at the 2016 Olympic Games, many won’t be surprised because of the Igali factor. Our wrestlers can deliver the gold medals if properly motivated. And it has to start now, with a discerning programme that would ensure that the wrestlers hit their top form at the right time.

    Nigerians are naturally strong. We have excelled in weightlifting in the past. Pundits were not shocked that we won eight gold medals in this game. What shocked them was the high number of silver medals, with many saying that we need to get a good coach who will tell the lifters what to do. They argued further that now less than 10 of the 18 silver medals at the All African Games in Congo can become gold medals at the 2016 Olympic Games, if the federation, the NOC and indeed the NSC do the needful- early camping, good dieticians for the lifters, good coaches and, above all, a psychologist to improve on their psyche.

    The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF’s) board deserves commendation. They have revolutionised the game. Their foresight in recruiting a competent American coach to change the way we prosecute our matches has yielded results of quantum proportions. D’Tigers are African champions, beating Angola and securing the Olympic Games’ qualification ticket. They were there at the London 2012 Olympics. One hopes that this second appearance will be loaded with surprises. The Americans dominate the dunking game. Who says they cannot be beaten? It is a possibility, especially as the bulk of Nigerian players ply their trade in the prestigious National Basketball Association (NBA) league.

  • Shooting for goals

    I’m a proud Nigerian. My joy has grown in geometric projection since the European leagues began on August 8. Surprise results, stunning goals and awesome talents from the matches played. The game remains beautiful, with many things to celebrate.

    My interest rests with how Nigerians in Europe fare, with the cumulative effect being how many of our stars eventually make the list of those to contest for the annual Glo/CAF Africa Footballer of the Year Award.

    It has been a harvest of goals for players, such as Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo. Ighalo’s case is most interesting because statisticians argue that he has been the highest goal scorer in Europe since the last season. They hinge their position on the number of goals Ighalo scored for Watford FC in last season’s Coca –Cola English Championship League to date for the same team in the Barclays English Premier League.

    Watford are debutants in the English elite class, but Ighalo, with four goals and still counting, has shown that he has what it takes to wrest the Barclays English Premier League’s highest goal scorer award from Manchester City’s Kun Aguero. Tall ambition many would say, but dreams start with efforts and Ighalo doesn’t look like one to shudder towards achieving that feat, come May 2016.

    Ighalo who? Many have asked. But the truth is, Ighalo grew up through the ranks of the domestic game. He was a junior international. Surprised? Don’t be. We don’t know how to graduate players from our age-grade teams. Our coaches don’t understand that national teams should comprise our best, even if those in the team were not discovered by the incumbent coach at any level. It is a Nigeria team not the coaches.’

    Ahmed Musa was before now all about pace, not sublime skills. Going to Europe has polished Musa’s game. He now scores goals for CSKA Moscow and Nigeria. He scored in a 10-goal thriller last weekend which his Russian side won 6-4. He has been Nigeria’s most successful player in the last one year. Little wonder h was listed among players for the 2014 Africa Footballer of the Year Award, which Cote d’Ivoire’s Yaya Toure deservedly clinched.

    Can Eagles chief coach Sunday Oliseh risk playing Musa and Ighalo as the team’s twin striking option, leaving Emmanuel Emenike on the bench in the two international friendlies against Congo and Cameroon in Brussels, Belgium? He could, after all they are friendly games. But they count in scoring points for the monthly FIFA ranking. We will see, even as it appears Emenike is beginning to understand the way Oliseh wants him. Emenike did well against Niger at the Adokie Amiesiamaka Stadium in Port Harcourt. And like the dictum states, no coach changes a winning side. Will Oliseh stick to this squad or make a bold statement about his technical savvy by cleaning out Congo and Cameroon with remarkable victories? Time will tell.

    The biggest puzzle Oliseh would have to fix is where to field Victor Moses, not after his long range stunner that left England’s and Manchester City’s number one goalkeeper Joe Hart sprawling on the turf in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to West Ham at the Ethiad Stadium. At West Ham, Moses functions from the left side of the attack, even though he uses his right foot.

    Will Oliseh give Moses the free role he enjoys at West Ham, given the enormous talent in the Eagles? Moses is a crafty player. He dribbles very well, though he is prone to injuries, but he appears to tire out easily. When he is tired, he walks on the pitch. Will Oliseh have the courage to pull him out, especially if he has scored a goal? Well, West Ham’s coach replaced Moses when he was tired against Manchester City, so why won’t Oliseh?

    Questions were asked when Kelechi Iheanacho wasn’t included in the Belgium group. But Manchester City’s manager told the international media that Nigerian kid Kelechi Iheanacho is injured, a fact Oliseh may be privy to, hence his exclusion. Still, there is the urgent need for Oliseh to tell us what informed his choice of players and why others were dropped. That is the norm in other climes where the game is seen as a business.

    My worry about the evolving Super Eagles under Oliseh is the absence of inspiring At West Ham, Moses functions from the left side of the attack, even though he uses his right foot.

    Will Oliseh give Moses the free role he enjoys at West Ham, given the enormous talent in the Eagles? Moses is a crafty player. He dribbles very well, though he is prone to injuries, but he appears to tire out easily. When he is tired, he walks on the pitch. Will Oliseh have the courage to pull him out, especially if he has scored a goal? Well, West Ham’s coach replaced Moses when he was tired against Manchester City, so why won’t Oliseh?

    Questions were asked when Kelechi Iheanacho wasn’t included in the Belgium group. But Manchester City’s manager told the international media that Nigerian kid Kelechi Iheanacho is injured, a fact Oliseh may be privy to, hence his exclusion. Still, there is the urgent need for Oliseh to tell us what informed his choice of players and why others were dropped. That is the norm in other climes where the game is seen as a business.

    My worry about the evolving Super Eagles under Oliseh is the absence of inspiring midfielders, who are enterprising in their approach to matches, dominating the midfield with their commanding play that should release the strikers to score the goals that would make the opposition appreciate our worth.

    Indeed, former Nigeria international, captain and coach of the Eagles Austin Eguavoen believes that John Mikel Obi has what it takes to make the team play at its best – always, provided he decides on his future with the squad.

    “Mikel should please understand he doesn’t have any other country to play for apart from Nigeria. He is one of the best and plays in one of the best leagues and for one of the best clubs in the world. He should put everything humanly possible into playing for Nigeria or he should tell Nigerians ‘I don’t want to play any more’, and then we can leave him alone,” Eguavoen said.

    “I have been Mikel’s coach since the U-17s. I gave him his debut in the Super Eagles. I recommended him to Samson Siasia when he was the U-20 side’s coach. Mikel is a good boy, but he is a very shy person. He is still important to our national team, as well as Victor Moses,’ Eguavoen said.

    Mikel feels he ought to be treated like a king simply because he plays for Chelsea. He should be told that Nigeria made him. He got into Chelsea after his exploits for our age grade teams. Another way to check the Mikel nonsense would be for Oliseh to play Oguenyi Onazi. Both players play as holding midfielders for their European clubs. If Oliseh wants us to believe that he is an advocate of attacking football, he need not play Mikel and Onazi in our starting line-up, except where he wants to defend any slim result.

    Mikel would be beaten into line if he sits on the bench all through the two matches against Congo on October 8 and against Cameroon on October 11, with the Eagles winning convincingly. I dare Oliseh to bench Mikel in these two matches or, at best, give him cameo appearances of between eight to 10 minutes like Jose Mourinho does.

    Interestingly, Onazi was rated the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in his Italian side’s Europa game. Onazi would be returning to the Eagles after serving out the punishment for the red card he bagged playing for Nigeria against Chad inside the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna earlier in the year.

    It is good news to hear that Arsenal FC of England’s kid star Alex Iwobi will make his debut against Congo in Belgium on October 8. I’m excited because his inclusion will increase the pool of players that Oliseh would need to pick his winning squads routinely. Iwobi is Austin Okocha’s nephew. He is as gifted as his uncle but may not be as excited as Okocha was while playing for Nigeria and all his clubs.

    Will Oliseh stick with Nnamdi Obiora in the midfield or find a wide role in the midfield for him? Onazi and Mikel are better than Obiora. Obiora is younger, making it imperative for him to get the nod ahead of Onazi or Mikel. Where will Oliseh play Rabiu Ibrahim? Ibrahim reminds us of Okocha. Indeed, he has been accused of deliberately trying to play like Jay Jay, with many coaches and fans complaining that his attempts at being like Okocha delays passes to freer mates to score goals. Ibrahim has grown with what I saw against the Menas of Niger. Will Oliseh rather opt for experience than the future? These are posers only Oliseh can answer. I only hope that the two matches are shown live for Nigerians to evaluate the Eagles after four matches.

    The Cameroon game on October 11 is the biggest test. Oliseh knows that the Indomitable Lions are bad customers. He knows that a victory over Cameroon will be the best testimony of his tactical savvy. Against the Taifa Stars and the Menas of Niger Republic in Dar es Salaam and Port Harcourt, the Eagles lacked a leader. Could this be the reason the coach has opted for the experienced players who need no further prompting on what to do after the pre-match talks?

    Leon Balogun, hopefully, returns to the right side of the defence to add steel. It appears that the central defensive pairing in Dar es Salaam created problems. Perhaps the wobbly setting against Tanzania may have forced Oliseh to return to the central defensive pair of Godrey Oboabona and Kenneth Omeruo. They did well against Niger. But the two games in Belgium will show if the coach can rely on this pair to anchor his defence. I expect Elderson Echiejile to man the left back position. His inclusion will give the team width when on the offensive. I hope Echiejile has learned how to fall back quickly, anytime the team’s attacking onslaught breaks down? Well, he has shown remarkable improvement playing for French side Monaco in the UEFA Champions League. Echiejile, as a defender, can score goals – an added fillip for him when the chips are down, in terms of making the first 11.

    October 8 and 11 are two days when Nigerians will gauge our team and see if Oliseh’s reforms Oliseh will take us to the Promised Land. Nigerians can sit back and watch both games if Carl Ikeme is at the goalpost. Regular choice goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama will be burying his mother on October 3 in Akwa Ibom State. He may not be in the best frame of mind to play any game, at least the first one against Congo on October 8. But not many will shudder, having seen Ikeme distinguish himself in his debut against the Taifa Stars of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam, earlier in September and against Niger. Besides, home-grown goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezinwa looks reliable.

    The two games in Brussels may be friendlies but Nigerians will crave for victories. Oliseh should oblige us this dream.

  • The knives are out

    The knives are out. ‘Crucify the coach today; hail him tomorrow fans’ have seized the airwaves. Cheap talks, such as: “Bring back the big boys who were in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup with the exception of the ageing ones.” “These new players are not our best.” “The coaches must go if we don’t go for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations,” are some of the scathing comments in the media these days by interlopers, most of who lost out in the last NFF elections or at the state levels. It is payback time for these serial grumblers. If they are not in charge, it is bad. It must be changed. Or we return to the tattered drawing board.

    Missiles are being fired at Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains for daring to recruit an “inexperienced” Sunday Oliseh as the Super Eagles’ chief coach. Does it take one day or a match to rebuild a team? Mystics too have joined the blame-game charade, with some questioning the rationale for recruiting a foreigner into the technical team. What those in this school don’t understand is that globally, coaches are allowed to pick their assistants. Lieutenants should be the coaches’ trusted men, with the same philosophy needed to change the old order.

    Before we press the panic button, we must appreciate the fact that Egypt, the current table-toppers in Nigeria’s group have not qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations since 2011. They accepted their fate, dropped ageing and recalcitrant players and built this new squad, using their Under-21 side. The Egyptian team has matured by blending through matches. If we must stop this perennial rebuilding of the Eagles, Oliseh should be encouraged to reduce the average age of the players in the team from an awful 33 years (please forget about the ages in our players’ international passports) to the competitive one of between 22 and 29 years.

    Going to Dar es Salaam, I wanted to see new players star for the Eagles against Tanzania, not the return of players who can’t make the team to the Russia 2018 World Cup – Our target shouldn’t be qualifying for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. We should be preparing a team of young men who can give us at least six years service for proper team cohesion, not a squad that satisfies a few people’s fixations. We should play friendly games not because we want to win them, but because the coaches want to give new boys the platform to exhibit their skills.

    Today, we are celebrating Carl Ikeme. Not many would accept that they had serious doubts about his abilities to hold the line in the absence of regular goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama before Saturday’s barren draw against Tanzania? Enyeama had good reasons for sitting out of the game. I also won’t join critics who expressed reservations about the way in which he shrouded his mum’s demise. Who celebrates death? Were they expecting Enyeama to call everyone over his mum’s death? He may have delayed telling the coaches and the NFF chiefs because of the pain of the loss. Losing one’s mum isn’t a joke. It is always too difficult to accept the death of one’s mum, let alone any other sad tales? Why would anyone think that Enyeama would pronounce his mother dead because he doesn’t want to play against Tanzania? Must he play for Nigeria? Is it not time he quit?

    Enyeama must be happy watching Ikeme do well against the Taifa Stars. Enyeama hasn’t hidden his desire to stop playing for Nigeria after 1001 matches. He wants to allow younger goalkeepers to replace him. Now with the way Ikeme performed, many would beat their chests that he would be a worthy replacement for Enyeama. Now those who refused to drop goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim from the Eagles, describing him as one of our best, must be gnashing their teeth in regrets. We can safely wave a final bye to goalkeepers Austin Ejide and Dele Aiyenuba.

    The Super Eagles’ players who starred against their Tanzanian counterparts in Dar es Salaam were an admixture of the old order and new names that we expect to take us back to winning ways. Watching them file out of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dar es Salaam, I saw some of our forgotten age grade players eager to prove themselves. My worry was that they had been away for too long from such high stake games. I was wondering if they could rise to the big occasion. But I was persuaded by the fact that the Tanzanians won’t have the talents to match us beyond the usual prodding from their fans to do the impossible. The hosts rattled the Eagles but lacked the cutting edge to deliver the killer-blow to earn the victory. I must say here that if we had gone to Tanzania with our big boys, they would have lasted only 60 minutes and we would have lost by a lone goal like we did in Sudan.

    In the course of the game, I kept my gaze on Oliseh, watching to see if his mien on the bench could fire the Eagles to play better as the game progressed. I waited anxiously to see if Oliseh would make the changes most people observed from the stands and wherever they watched the game. Oliseh’s substitutions were timely, and they corrected the flaws.

    The Eagles were expectedly disappointing during the first half. They had no leader on the pitch to galvanise them to wake up. But the first substitution made by Oliseh was the jerk the team needed to lift their game from its abysmal setting. Oliseh read the game right and promptly replaced a fumbling Haruna Lukman. Lukman’s poor show typified the sloppiness in the team’s midfield, which left the team’s attack rudderless.

    Had Lukman played to his potentials, his defence-splitting passes from the midfield would have released our faster strikers to score the required goals for victory. From the way the Eagles played, it seemed to me that Simon Moses and Ahmed Musa can’t play together. They bumped into each other many times. They appear comfortable playing on the right wing than on the left, although Moses could be persuaded to play on the left.

    I was excited when Oliseh played Musa ahead of Moses against Niger. That Moses replaced Musa showed that Oliseh is beginning to know his players. I look forward to seeing how he will integrate Victor Moses into this three-prong attack. Playing the ball on the turf instead of the aimless style of lifting the ball into the air was one strong change in Oliseh’s new team. The passing game may have been annoying to many in Dar es Salaam, but it helped them to drag the hosts out of their area just as it frustrated them by slowing down the pace to suit us.

    With seeming small men dominating the Eagles, only the passing game would have given us the draw that we secured. The Eagles pressed when they should, had enough ball possession but didn’t have the midfield general to turn the game in our favour in critical times, especially in the dying minutes of the Tanzanian game, when the hosts wanted to win at all cost. If we had a thinking defensive midfielder, we would have buried the hosts with good counter attacking play, utilising the pace of Musa and Moses.

    The passes from the midfield fell short because Obiora was being too stylish. Oliseh must warn Obiora not to sag his shorts. He spent more time adjusting the short, which he pulled down than on the trends of the game as it wound to a close.

    Readers would ask is if we had players to man the midfield effectively. Yes. Obiora has been around for a long time on the fringes. His game hasn’t moved beyond where it was when he broke into national consciousness. Obiora is immensely talented but a lazy player who admires himself on the pitch.

    The midfield is the engine-room. It requires players who will fight for the ball and provide the passes early, not those who will spend the next 10 seconds after winning the ball from the opposition dancing on one spot to savour the fans’ applause.

    Nigeria did well at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations because the Eagles had Sunday Mba, who worked his socks wet, covering up the flaws of Mikel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi. The Eagles have wobbled in Mba’s absence. The goals have gone dry for Emmanuel Emenike, with Mba’s absence. This piece isn’t one campaigning for Mba’s return. It is a clarion call on Oliseh to find hustlers for the Eagles’ midfield in the mould of Mba.

    Put properly, the Eagles need ball winners in the midfield and boys who can run ceaselessly for 90 minutes. I have seen Oliseh play three men in the midfield. But I feel strongly that the Eagles play better with a robust four-man midfield, which shouldn’t include Mikel and Onazi, until they can exhibit the trait that they show playing for their European clubs when playing for Nigeria.

    Make no mistake here -Mikel and Onazi are good players who, sadly, play in the same position. So, the issue of both playing at the same time is a minus for the Eagles. I hope that Oliseh doesn’t hand Mikel the number 10 shirt, not with what we have seen from Rabiu Ibrahim. Ibrahim has matured and appears disciplined. Ibrahim reminds me of Austin Okocha. His dribbling skills confound his markers but he still needs to watch Okocha’s tapes to know when to dribble progressively and shoot from the distance. With Ibrahim, the Eagles would be creative and the strikers wouldn’t lack passes to make games count in Nigeria’s favour, no matter the opposition.

    Oliseh wants to make Obiora to play his style and he could. But he must wear his shorts well and know that he is a footballer, whose action or inaction causes pains to Eagles’ fans. The midfield jig-saw is almost fixed with, Ibrahim. But we need to have more than one of these people to return to winning ways.

    I’m glad that Oliseh didn’t drop Emenike because of his poor outing against Taifa Stars. Emenike looked better against Niger in Port Harcourt. We need him in our matches because of his pedigree. No African nation can afford not to give Emenike a special marker. Such big players need to be fit to add value to the Eagles.

    Thinking aloud: Where will Oliseh play Victor Moses? Good luck coachie. Welcome to the most difficult job on planet earth. Eagles job, na fire, my son. True talk, Mama Oliseh.

  • Swimming with Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s frame reminds one of some the best Kenyans, Ethiopians and other East Africans renowned for running the long distance races. Buhari’s brisk walk shows that he has not lost touch with the fitness drills he was subjected to as a military man. But Buhari isn’t a known sports lover – forget the fact that in May he cut the tape to open the road where the famous yearly Okpekpe 10 kilometres Road Race is run.

    Not one to talk frivolously, many had waited for Buhari’s response to sportsmen and women’s welfare. Many still await his sports agenda and how it would address the endemic problems in the industry. Will the President sustain the monetary rewards to athletes or will he return to the uninspiring handshake policy for athletes whose sporting life span is short, unpredictable and riddled with life threatening injuries? Need I inform Buhari of the devastatingly long list of sportsmen and women who made this country proud in the past, who are languishing in sick beds, crippled by injuries sustained in their active years? How about the dead?

    So, when Buhari challenged sports administrators to ensure that they restore swimming’s glory, I chuckled. Of not is the fact that Buhari isn’t a neophyte in sports. He knows that if we dominate the multi-sports competitions, such as the all African Games and the Olympics, Nigeria will win the diadems of such sports tournaments. Buhari also showed that he knew that all our facilities are in disrepair and would like them fixed, beginning with the swimming pools, which should be the cheapest to revamp. Just to add, Mr. President, you need to speak with governors of Edo, Rivers, Ondo, Delta and Lagos to challenge their ministries of education and sports councils to revive the now moribund grassroots competitions of yore. The governors should find out if those who produced these athletes are still alive for some tutorials, especially the man who produced those awesome swimmers from the old Ondo State.

    I knew that the administrators don’t understand the metaphor in the President’s speech and it isn’t surprising because they are used to spending government money. Of course, Buhari knows that Nigeria didn’t register any swimmer for the All African Games – a big scandal – from the briefs he got during the session with our sports administrators last week. The President was being proactive should emphasise the need for Nigeria to finish in second position, otherwise he would ask questions. Buhari deserves to ask questions given our population and Nigerians’ Spartan fighting spirit when properly motivated. The President asking for swimming medals is the clincher we need to make sports the business that it is in other climes.

    Rather than reflect on the bigger picture of Buhari’s mandate for swimming medals, some busybody administrators roared that it wouldn’t happen. What Buhari literarily meant was for those who visited him to do something about our infrastructure. Buhari has shown that he is ready for this job of moving the country out of the pit in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) threw it and sports certainly hasn’t been left out of his dream for a better Nigeria.

    How can we talk about reinventing swimming, if we cannot have light in the stadia? The task of fixing swimming means getting enough chlorine for the water in the pools across the country. Can we talk about swimming without looking at the stadia where the swimming federations are squatters? Why fix swimming when the football pitch is balding, bumpy and overgrown with grass enough for hunters to set traps for rodents, rabbits and other animals?

    Would be right to fix swimming when the tartans tracks are an awful sight to behold? Shouldn’t we ask why these facilities are in ruins? What happened to all the cash earmarked for the maintenance of these facilities, which have been in ruination for ages?

    Buhari knows the problems with our sports even if he isn’t a sports freak. He reads newspapers and follows discussions on the electronic media. Asking the administrators to revive swimming was the best challenge and I hope that the president will ensure that his instructions are kept. No one dares Buhari anyway.

    Fixing all the swimming pools isn’t a child’s  play. Such an adventure is best achieved by the total overhaul of the big stadia. It also raises the poser about what happened to the cash budgeted for sports development in the past three decades. Another way to fix swimming would be for the government to either lease all the big stadia or sell the complexes.

    Stadium management is a huge money-spinner for those who understand the dynamics of the industry. It generates cash for investors, given the marketing windows a stadium can provide. You will best appreciate the essence of leasing stadiums to concessionaires when you visit European countries. Most stadiums have a wide range of business activities generating funds for their owners.

    The volume of business activities is indescribable. A classical example is the decision by the Sierra Leone government to play her Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Nigeria. NFF has picked the Adokie Amiesiamaka International Stadium in Port Harcourt because it the most befitting. Need I restate what Rivers State government will rake into its covers from hosting the matches? Trust the Garden City people to effectively maximise the marketing platform to sell their goods and services. I won’t be surprised to see miniature stock shops around the Adokie Amiesiamaka International Stadium where people can eat, drink and celebrate before, during and after the matches, not forgetting the hawkers who will mill around the stadium selling their wares. I can’t wait. Port Harcourt will come alive.

    Globally when stadia are built, the construction firms are given contracts to first maintain the complexes for a period of five to 10 years. These firms use this period to train indigenes on how the facilities are repaired. The essence is for those trained to teach others and invariably increase the pool of stadium engineers. If we had this maintenance culture, our edifices wouldn’t have been in prostrate conditions.

    Nigeria’s steady slide in athletics rests with the fact there are no competitions to keep athletes busy. Such competitions were the breeding grounds for rooky athletes, who were nurtured and exposed as new discoveries during the country’s quest for sporting glories.

    Athletics in Nigeria is all about Blessing Okagbare. If Okagbare flops, Nigeria fails. This is very sad, given our population. Athletics used to be the flagship of corporate sponsorship. The crowd at big athletics meets, such as the then annual Mobil Athletics Championships was as big as those of football. The media buzz was awesome and our home-grown athletes gave their foreign-based counterparts a run for their money.

    The athletics calendar was packed, beginning with the Hussey Shield and Lady Manuwa Cup for secondary school pupils. Inter-house sports competitions celebrated the best, who were eager to wear Nigeria’s colours. Local competitions like the inter-Local Government Challenge and the State Sports Festival served, as the podium to discover athletes who represented their states at the National Sports Festival. The buzz from the National Sports Festival is gone, no thanks to the sickening manner in which the games have been postponed by inept governors who lobby to host the competitions.

    To me, the most incredible of the problems is how the National Sports Festival became politicised. It used to be the competition for the National Sports Commission (NSC), held religiously every two years. I weep each time I find myself in stadia where National Sports Festivals hold these days. It was fun attending the Kaduna ’77 Games; Oluyole ’79 Games; Rivers ’88 Games to mention a few which I participated in. Please, don’t remind me of how the Bendel State contingent stormed Lagos in long buses driven by women in 1975. It was a show buster anchored by easily the best sports governor in Nigeria till date, Dr. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, a man of ideas. Take a bow sir (Ughator Okpere sir, ise!). I digress!

    We have seen the effect of piece-meal reconstruction of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. It didn’t serve the purpose of accommodating all the indoor sports. Shortly before the D’ Tigers conquered Africa in basketball in Tunisia, there was an unfortunate incident where the country’s volleyball men’s team refused to vacate the court for the basketball team to play a competition. The renovation of the courts was done by the sponsor of the basketball tournament, which gave them the right to use the place. Perhaps, the volleyball squad stuck to their guns because the place is a federal government property. Foul. The Volleyball Federation must emulate their basketball counterparts to repair one of the dilapidating indoor courts which would give them the right to use it for training and competitions.

    Table tennis, boxing and a few other sports federations have done their bit with renovation. But it is the presidential mandate to reinvent swimming that would bring about the holistic overhaul of the National Stadium in Lagos and others, like Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna and the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.

    Once these structures are fixed, we can be talking about returning to the old days when athletes had facilities to train. We can also talk about providing platforms for Nigerians to recreate. We can use the premises to house our sportsmen and women before big tournaments instead of staying in hotels at huge costs to the federations’ purse.

    We can only beat the best if we do the things that they have perfected. It is sickening to think that every time we want to prepare for big competitions, we talk about going to Europe to train. If we channel all that we have spent in the past to renovating our stadia, the facilities wouldn’t be in the ruination that they are in today.

    I hope that Buhari will ask these administrators for updates on his directive when they return from the All African Games in Congo.

  • Rebranding Okagbare

    Blessing Okagbare needs help. She must be educated on the traits that distinguish winners from losers. She needs a psychologist, a starter’s bloc expert, a career advisor and a sprint great to repeatedly take her through the rudiments of winning the sprints.

    For Okagbare or any other Nigerian to stand on the podium at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the government must stop giving cash to sporting bodies. In other climes, they operate a four-yearly budget meant to train athletes, sportsmen and women the moment one major competition ends. If we continue to operate the yearly budgetary system, which most times don’t turn to cash until the middle of the year, no Nigerian will be an Olympic Games medalist, except he or she goes the way of Chioma Ajunwa, who was guided to glory by Segun ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami. Odegbami took Ajunwa on a guided training session in London after which Ajunwa won the gold medal in the women’s long jump event at the Atlanta’96 Olympic Games.

    It is about time we asked the government what happened to all the funds sourced by the sports lottery body. Elsewhere, cash from this kind of initiative goes a long way in helping sportsmen and women achieve their dreams of being kings and queens of their sports.

    Countries that plan for big events identify models that they think can help their athletes improve. They either send their wards, coaches and officials to such countries to be trained or get the good coaches to come to their home countries to prepare their teams.

    I always laugh whenever Nigerian athletes promise us medals before big competitions. I pinch myself to find out the type of facilities that they train with. I wonder how athletes who train with obsolete facilities expect to beat the others. It was a big shame watching our boxers at the London Olympics being taught the new rules of the game. They lost the bouts even before the fights began. Boxing officials stood morose as their wards fell to the modern tricks of the game which they would have known, if they had attempted to undergo refresher courses.

    Sadly, our attempt to model our National Institute for Sports (NIS) after what the Australians have has failed. We have been unable to raise the level of the NIS to achieve the goals set for it – train our coaches etc. Coaches from the NIS have been highly handicapped because of the deplorable conditions of facilities around the country. Need I talk about the state of facilities at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, which houses the NIS? With coaches whose studies are restricted to theoretical work, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when our sportsmen and women lack the basics of their sport. For instance, we have been talking about Okagbare’s poor start since ‘God knows when.’ Nobody has provided the panacea. Nor has anyone been able to get Okagbare a coach whose specialty is teaching athletes how to explode from the starter’s bloc. I digress.

    Branding Okagbare, I dare say, doesn’t have to be through the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), that is if Nigerian firms don’t trust the body. They could deal directly with her manager which is the norm. Of course, Okagbare and her manager come from a system where contracts are respected.

    Loading Okagbare with huge government cash without the requisite technical support won’t help her grow. Sports business is big with global acceptance. Okagbare’s antecedents are such that would attract corporate partnerships, if companies are told the benefits to them. Such private sector support for athletes such as Okagbare should not be restricted to Nigerian firms. Let Nigerian companies face the embarrassment of watching Okagbare celebrate her gold medal wearing foreign firms’ colours. May be that will be the elixir to push Nigerian firms to support sports.

    The former sprint star in Okagbare’s support team would share his/her experiences with her through visuals and pep talks, preparatory to big tournaments. She has the talent to be the greatest woman athlete, only if she has backroom staff to school her on events she should attend and those she shouldn’t.

    Okagbare appears to be interested in what she can get for herself in all the races largely because we don’t care for her, not what she would be remembered for after she would have left the game. Okagbare doesn’t need to compete in all the races seasonally.

    She has no point to prove in the sprint business, having beaten all the top runners in the past. Yet she needs to ponder why those she dusts in smaller races embarrass her in the big races. Except Okagbare gets a renowned manager who would plan her races based on the athletics calendar, she won’t get any big title (World Athletics Championship and the Olympics).

    The World Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games signpost how athletes are rated for other meets. Equally important are the Commonwealth Games, the All Africa Games etc. But the Olympics and the World Championships determine how athletes are rated for the new season.

    It is laughable for anyone to blame Okagbare’s poor show at the Beijing 2015 World Athletics Championships on the lane in which she ran. Okagbare is exposed enough to know that how you finish in the semi-finals determines your lane for the final race. What this means is that Okagbare should strive at all times to be placed in-between those tipped to beat her in the finals. Their presence will galvanise her to explode out of the blocs. Being on her marks in-between her rivals will pump her adrenalin to match them as they leave the starter’s bloc.

    It is unfair for people to insinuate that her marriage could be affecting her. Okagbare has been in the relationship with her husband for over one decade. Interestingly, her husband is a sportsman who certainly met her during a sports competition. He has been Okagbare’s pillar. They must have agreed on the future, including making babies. We have also seen female athletes give birth and return to the sports to continue from where they stopped.

    Today the Jamaicans are the benchmark to measure athletics. They didn’t sit at home in Jamaica sermonising like some of our administrators are doing. The Jamaican authorities took their team to the United States to understudy the Americans, who were the kings and queens of the tracks. It took the Jamaicans time, resources and support from their government to replicate an improved template of the US model. Today, the Americans watch in awe as the Jamaicans stride ahead of them on the tracks.

    We must commend former Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan for supporting Okagbare. Uduaghan has left office. It appears Okagbare has been marooned. Governance here isn’t a continuum. She needs more enduring structures to succeed. It has taken the League Management Company (LMC’s) threat to deduct points from Warri wolves’ league matches before the Delta State government reacted. Warri Wolves never lacked under Uduaghan’s administration.

    Okagbare didn’t appear for the 200 metres race – no thanks to a hamstring injury. Is anyone surprised? I’m not because she has been participating in too many races in the last two years. It could also be that she was devastated by the laughable last position she took in the 100 metres finals despite clocking one of the best times in the semi-final race.

    Okagbare has behaved like the proverbial masquerade who danced himself lame before the real dance. She must learn from Usain Bolt, who stylishly dodged small races this season to be fit for the big ones, such as the World Athletics Championships.

    I won’t join the motley crowd deriding Okagbare for shunning the 200 metres race. I’d rather ask AFN chiefs to sit down with her to discuss her problems. Okagbare can be the poster girl for Nigeria at the Rio’2016 Olympic Games, but she needs to be handed over to a new team of experts to repackage her training.

     

    Let Mikel be

     I didn’t want to dignify John Mikel Obi’s refusal to pick Sunday Oliseh’s calls with a comment. I honestly felt that Oliseh had done the right thing by dropping Mikel. The coach didn’t need any prompting to know that Victor Moses would have told Mikel that he got a call from the Eagles coach. Besides, Moses would have told Mikel that he was attending a meeting with Oliseh.

    I maintained stoic silence on Mikel’s tantrum, until I read his manager John Ola Shittu confirm that Mikel indeed saw Oliseh’s text message. I didn’t have any doubt that what Mikel did was deliberate. I appreciate the uncanny manner in which Oliseh has moved on without making it an issue.

    Oliseh should leave Mikel alone. If he wants to play for Nigeria, he can pay his way down to the country to show us that he truly wants to play. Mikel should be ignored in subsequent invitations to the Eagles, more so if Oliseh wants Nigerians to take him seriously on his vow not to invite benchwarmers, including those who perpetually come into matches as dying minutes’ substitutes. Any Nigerian who plays less than one hour regularly for his European side shouldn’t be invited to the Eagles.