Category: Ade Ojeikere

Love me, hate me, chastise me, I will always insist on doing what is right for the beautiful game to grow here. The multiplier effect of our soccer doing well globally is that other sports benefit from firms which cannot secure contracts with the biggest brand in Nigeria- the Super Eagles.

I get irritated by the postulation that there is a Nigerian way of doing things. Such ways are fraudulent and that is the reason the country is crawling, even with her enormous human and natural resources.

Soccer is the opium of our people. It is the best tranquilliser for the sick – if it is run properly to produce cheering results. Soccer is the best unifying index for Nigerians. It is the only reason why we recognise ourselves as one people devoid of creed, colour or/and ethnicity. Soccer and other sports are best public relations tools to change people’s perception of Nigeria.

I recall with joy how the Europeans and Americans celebrated Chioma Ajunwa’s gold medal feat at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, in spite of the fact that Nigeria was then a pariah nation – no thanks to the jackboot era under the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

Nothing was more exciting than the moment everyone stood still while the Nigerian anthem was being sung and Ajunwa, all smiles – incredulous about how her world had changed from being an alleged drug cheat before the event to the crowning glory of being atop the Olympic Games’ winners’ dais.

The newspapers splashed on their front pages Ajunwa’s picture in Nigerian colours. It was the first time something good was being written and celebrated during the draconian Abacha era. I know how we felt inside the October 3 Stadium in Georgia when Nigeria won the Olympic Games football gold medal. It was an awesome feeling. Magical. Simply indescribable. You needed to be there in Atlanta to feel it. Nigeria’s feat in Atlanta rubbed off everywhere we went in America. I recall walking into one mall in Philadelphia, only to be confronted by American security men. I was shocked but didn’t panic because I had the Olympic Games badge on my neck and a valid Nigerian passport inside my track pocket. The American security chiefs were awed to see a Nigerian with the Olympic Games badge and may have thought that I was one of the stars.

They kept talking about Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Victor Ikpeba, Tijani Babangida and Daniel Amokachi. These were players they knew because they were playing in big European clubs. Indeed I walked tall inside the mall, knowing that at last something good could come out of Nigeria in those dark days.

So, when simple tasks, such as selecting players to represent the country, crop up, I don’t hesitate to protest in this column, knowing that bench marks exist on how to pick people for such assignments.

Picking players for soccer teams is informed by weaknesses and strengths established through matches. Hence when new squad lists are released, probe them to see if the right changes have been made. They expect at the least that those who failed woefully should be excluded. They expect that those not playing for their clubs should be dropped. They expect that those with proven injuries (either recuperating or in PoP) are ruled out. They also want to see new players making their marks at their clubs to be listed. Most importantly, the expectation is hinged on the number of local boys from the domestic leagues who will be selected. Indeed, most countries measure the growth of the domestic game by the number of local boys in their national teams, especially the senior team.

Interestingly, the quest for home-grown players increases when the opposition of a country is underneath such countries. The reason is that they can use such games to truly gauge theirs and see if the FIFA ranking is worth it.

I’m not a coach but I know what to expect from any coach picking our national teams. Flipping through the list of home-grown players picked for the June 13 game against Chad in Kaduna, I was impressed because it had some of the performing players in the domestic league. However, I was livid when the release came from the NFF that our chief coach had picked 15 foreign-based players for the match.

I reached for my calculator to do the arithmetic of multiplying $10,000 (the price for winning matches) by 15. My heart sank. Using the black market rate of the naira to the dollar, I intuitively asked myself – how much is Chad’s football worth, with due respect? I became very sad when I tried to add up the cost of tickets refund to each of the foreign players (most times $3,000 each) and I asked again – why are our coaches so wise? Why can’t they emulate the foreign coaches who painstakingly watch the domestic league to discover new players who can rejuvenate the team – not those tiring stars who send spectators to early sleep in the stadium and at home?

Why do we need 15 foreign-based players to play against Chad? What would we do against Egypt? The talk that we don’t want to take chances is cheap, especially when many of the foreign-based players are bench warmers in Europe.

Indeed, the coaches must tell us where they saw Kenneth Omeruo, for instance, play in the last one month? How regularly do Onazi and Oboabona play for their clubs?

How did our coaches feel watching the Coca Cola Championships’ playoff at Wembley in England on Monday afternoon, with Omeruo not good enough to sit on Middlesbrough FC’s reserve players’ bench? If Omeruo was good, he would have been selected for the Middlesborough side in its most important game of the season. Monday’s match decided the last team to be promoted to the elite Barclays English Premier League next season. I don’t need to be a coach to know that it is undeserving for Omeruo to make the Nigerian squad ahead of others who play in his position across the globe. This is how our coaches make us the laughing stock. We are tired of this gimmick of rebuilding. Nigeria is blessed to have over six teams of very talented 23 players, only if our coaches are sincere with their selection.

If we cannot beat Chad with home-grown players, then the NFF must look for coaches who can do the job for us. How can we spend $13,000 on each of the 15 invited foreign players because we want to beat Chad? We must cultivate the culture of challenging our home-based players. It is no news beating Chad with three-quarters of the players from Europe.

The home-based stars can beat Chad resoundingly, if told that they would earn $10,000 (N2.1 million in 90 minutes) for the victory. For players who earn N30,000 monthly, the thought of counting $10,000 is enough motivation.

Missing in the Eagles is the motivation to perform. The players lack the vision and cannot understand how the fans feel anytime they lose matches. Would you blame them? We lost to Uganda and a particular player opted out to Europe. That is the trend. The home-based players remain here and see how a win for the Eagles is celebrated. They know that they dare not lose at home because they would have nowhere to hide.

History is replete with instances of uninvitedplayers paying their way to train with the Eagles, and making the team. The late Sochukwuma Samuel Okwaraji paid his way to Enugu to train with the Super Eagles. Okwaraji earned his shirt and introduced a new trend for players who knew their onions. Need I recount how Michael Emenalo broke into Nigeria’s senior team to the 1994 USA World Cup, in spite of the fact that he wasn’t part of the team that lifted the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations?

If bench warmers, such as Omeruo, think they deserve a shirt in the Eagles, they must emulate Okwaraji and Emenalo by paying their way to camp. Playing for Nigeria shouldn’t be anchored on what players did before but on what they can contribute now. However, one is excited with the reports from the Home Eagles’ game on Tuesday in Katsina. They created chances which were fluffed. One didn’t expect them to win the game, given the short times they spent together. But they showed that they could play football. They showed passion and the willingness to learn. They were ready to compete, a trait missing in recent Eagles’ game. Sadly, we were told that a goal was disallowed. Rightly or wrongly, what this trend showed me was the future of the game, especially with the Flying Eagles and Dream Team VI stars lurking is bright.

The Eagles need new names at the Russia 2018 World Cup. The old stock cannot take us to the new heights that we desire. We must utilise our gains in New Zealand and Rio d’ Janerio (2016 Oympic Games) next year to reshape our senior team for the good of the game. I hope the coaches are prepared for the country’s new mantra – change. The Eagles need change too. Let somebody say amen!

What hasn’t been written about Blessing Okagbare’s prowess on the tracks?
Is it how she leaves them all to chase her to the tape or how a few times she has been left on the starter’s bloc only to pursue them and hit the tape in an amazing fashion?

No doubt, Okagbare has had her highs and lows in athletics.  Her highpoints overshadow the flops. What nobody can take away from her are feats which would take some time to surpass, if we fail to establish the templates to produce many talents.

Okagbare needs to be the star of Rio 2016 Olympic Games, having fumbled at the previous games in London. She must understand that a gold medal in the women 100 metres is the best way to say goodbye to the sport. Besides, it would be a soothing balm to all the pundits who left London with their heads bowed following her shambolic outing.

Age is no longer on her side. And her husband would definitely want to keep her in his bosom with his kids. Today, Okagbare is one of our best athletes but a gold medal in Rio would be the biggest and the best medal. It is achievable girl; go for it.

For now what should be uppermost in her mind is the task of annexing the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Words from her camp suggest a target – being the fastest woman in the world. I align with this dream. It is achievable given, Okagbare’s talent.

But it is never too early to build confidence and Okagbare-Ighoteguonor laid a fair foundation on Sunday night.

“It does (give me confidence),” she said of her win, “but it doesn’t change anything. There’s a lot of talented people out there, like me, so I just have to keep working hard. I don’t want to be left behind. A performance like that gives me a little edge and a bit of confidence but I still have to put more work in and keep pushing forward.”

The main thing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor has been working on is the first 40 metres of her 100m. Put that part of the race together and the rest should take care of itself.

“There’s been a lot of work going on,” she said.

“My coach told me ‘don’t worry about the time, just go out and execute’. I think that’s what I did and after 40 metres it felt extremely easy for me to go.”

Are you surprised at the change in nomenclature from Okagbare to Okagbare-Ighoteguonor. That is her new name as the wife of former Super Eagles attacker Igho. Her husband played for Enugu Rangers in his heydays where he met Blessing.

Despite last year’s 10.85/22.25 sprint double at the Commonwealth Games, Okagbare-Ighoteguonor said she still feels like a novice in the straight sprint.

“Sometimes I get it right; sometimes I get it wrong. If I get it right – which I did today, not 100 per cent, but 70 – it feels extremely easy.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, it tallies with the feeling you get watching her run the 100m.

If she is up and running early, you just know Okagbare-Ighoteguonor is going to be hard to beat, because she comes home like a train.

But has Okagbare given up on doing the long jump? Not at all as she told reporters in Shanghai last week: “I will because I just want to see how far I can jump. I feel, I think and I hope I can. I’m working towards it. I hope it happens.”

Okagbare is truly a blessing to Nigeria athletics with, her feats which have so far not been tainted by drugs. Will Okagbare spike her system with drugs to run? Tufiakwa! God forbid.

Super Eagles’ foreign legion

 Anytime the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is said to be broke, I always have a good laugh. My excitement stems from the fact that we believe it is our birthright to participate in all football competitions, including international friendly matches without, looking at its aggregate costs.

I’m sure that we have close to 16 national teams broken down into the male and female genders. Of these 15, the Super Eagles, which should be our flagship, is being treated like a pack of kindergartens.

Rather than generate cash for the federation, the Eagles have dragged us back, such that they have earned the “sobriquet” Super Chicken”, which makes them a hard sell to organisations who do the business of sports, especially football.

With a deplorable 45th position in FIFA, not many countries would be interested in friendlies against the Eagles. Besides, our players’ bloated egos have made it impossible for NFF chiefs to conserve the little cash  it earns to institute templates that would see Nigerian football from the prism of all our teams not Super Eagles, the pain in our necks.

The talk in town suggests that some influential members of the Eagles, including an unnamed coach, were responsible for the exit of sportswear manufacturing giant, Adidas as our kits supplier. Part of the advantage of being a part of such internationally recognised brand is that it could facilitate a lot of marketing initiatives with its other brands. If the Eagles were really doing well in Africa, for instance, it won’t cost Adidas anything to organise an international friendly between Germany and Nigeria and any other big football-playing country for that matter.

Besides, a business plan between the NFF and Adidas could attract the support of big spending insurance firms, European clubs and scouts who would want to visit the country to see our grassroots talents.

Such “invasion” would earn the local clubs sufficient cash to run their business, just as it would open new vistas for our players to seek greener pastures in Europe at their terms, not the strangulating deals that greedy agents secure for them in obscure leagues.

We appear to have lost this platform because the Eagles can do no wrong. We treat the Eagles like kings and this dovetails into their being monsters. They do what they dare not do in their European clubs. And such lascivious conducts have left the NFF and the country’s football in dire straits.

We have been told that it costs the federation between N90 million and N120 million to prosecute a match. Let’s take the average per game to be N100.5 million and multiply by 26 games, which represent the matches played in the last dispensation. The figure is mind-boggling and it explains why the NFF can’t be solvent.

Sadly, the Eagles, with their sloppy performances, don’t inspire the fans. If they had been whipping teams between three to six goals per game, a box office returns at the turnstiles would have been secured. The NFF would have been cracking their heads to create more marketing and sponsorships windows for clients to identify with. We cannot be spending such figures with no returns from the gates.

Is this what other federations spend? I don’t think so because they don’t pay match bonuses. Such things are built into sponsorship properties for such big tournaments as the Africa Cup of Nations, Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

Such details are achievable because sponsors fall on themselves to get such deals that would lift the image of brands. With this arrangement, players and coaches know that it pays more to win the trophy than this pick-pocket style being adopted by the NFF which makes the players think they are doing us a favour by playing to win games for Nigeria.

NFF must stop this practice of paying players and coaches allowances per game. I would rather they are paid appearance fees which will terminate with a lump sum if they hit the targets – winning the Africa Cup of Nations or reaching the semi-final stage at the next World Cup.

This idea of paying players $10,000 for beating smaller nations in the quest for a World Cup qualification ticket should stop, since we end up sharing the World Cup largesse with them. Things got so bad that the players and coaches had the audacity to stage a protest before the second round game against France in Brazil.

Any player not ready to play for Nigeria on appearance fees basis should remain in his/her club. The bazaar in the national teams is the reason for the poor development of the domestic game.

 Not again, Okon

 Super Falcons’ coach Okon has been the most successful coach in the female league – despite being a man. He has guided Rivers Angels to lift the league and FA Cup titles.

These feats qualified Okon to become Nigeria’s senior side’s chief coach. But he has shown strong preference for his ladies in Rivers State. This writer isn’t angry with Okon’s preference for his ladies, if they represent the best girls in the category.

Rather, pundits are miffed that Okon opts for his ladies than the best where they exist in quantum. Again, one is excited that chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) intervened quickly by fining the coach an undisclosed amount. The beauty of NFF’s swift reaction is that the wrong choices were dropped and those deserving of the shirts got their rewards.

Our coaches must begin to see the national team’s job as the platform to showcase our best, not a stable to exhibit nepotism. One sincerely hopes that Okon has learned his lesson and would change for the better. Otherwise, the NFF knows what to do.

Blessing Okagbare has been a blessing to athletics- first at the grassroots in Sapele where she was discovered, a national heroine wearing Nigeria’s colours in several international athletics meets and the toast of female sprinters. Okagbare isn’t just a sprinter. She has joined the league of 100 metres sprinters who also excelled in the long jump, such as Carl Lewis, the American 100 and 200 metres sprinter who added glamour to both events when he competed.

Until recently, Okagbare was concerned about building her career. She weathered through the lack of facilities and coaches at home and headed for the United States, when the Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan bankrolled her climb to the top. Uduaghan doesn’t stop at providing cash and facilities for the sportsmen and women; He accompanies them to competitions. It is to Uduaghan’s credit that Okagbare didn’t fall victim of the use-and-dump syndrome in Nigeria.

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) couldn’t manage Okagbare’s talent at the London Olympics. They allowed her to compete in her two events – 100 metres and the long jump. Okagbare finished eighth in the 100 metres despite the hype surrounding the event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She had beaten the big girls in a major meet, weeks before the Olympic Games, making her the favourite for the gold medal in London.

AFN chiefs, however, couldn’t also play the politics of separating the two events to allow the athlete recover from the stress of one before facing the other.

Okagbare was left to her fate by the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) after an abysmal performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Her resurgence today was because Uduaghan intervened on the prompting of Ogba, one of the governor’s lieutenants. London Olympics was an eye opener for Okagbare. She came down from her high horse to face the reality. A crestfallen Okagbare was willing to be helped. It showed that she wasn’t a super woman. It showed also that many people helped in her development.

It must be said that Okagbare’s meteoric rise to stardom had Ogba’s Midas touch. The sports revolution in Delta today started when Ogba was the Sole Administrator for sports. He convinced his boss then, James Ibori to build stadia in the nooks and crannies of the state. This gave budding stars at the grassroots the platform to sharpen their skills.

Ogba, determined to ensure that Delta ruled sports, attracted big stars from other State to Delta. This star-trek to Delta afforded rookies in the hinterlands to embrace sports. Indeed, this culture of producing athletes has been sustained by the Dr. Uduaghan-led administration.

In no time, budding stars, such as Okagbare, started beating the established ones. One of such budding stars was Okagbare. Ogba took personal interest in her. Ogba sold the idea of offering her a state government scholarship to the United States of America (USA) – one of the melting pots of athletics in the world, especially in the sprints. At some point in Okagbare’s career, many pundits accused Ogba of being her manager. They also quarreled with Ogba’s brazen acts of supporting Okagbare to the detriment of others. She had special attention from everyone and justified this seeming favouritism by churning out brilliant performances at athletics meets.

So where did the bubble burst? Those who know informed this writer that Ogba turned his attention away from Okagbare to other younger ones, such as Efe Brume. She didn’t like it. She grumbled and whispered to media men about the rot in the system that supported her thus far.

But would you blame Okagbare? There must be structures that make it difficult for one athlete to be bigger than the other. This animal farm setting breeds indiscipline, which is what Okagbare’s conduct portends. What our athletes cannot do in their European and American settings, they showcase to us, largely because we are proponents of quick fixes. We don’t establish workable templates that produce upcoming stars regularly such that we don’t rely solely on particular athletes – in this case Okagbare et al.

We are fond of making monsters out of our sportsmen and women. It makes them swollen headed. They can do no wrong- they must be listened to. Any change that affects them means that the system they benefited so much from is corrupt. Yet, when they gained from it, it didn’t matter. Rather than chastise them when they misbehave, Nigerians support them and blame the administrators.

AFN chiefs learned how to manage Okagbare by persuading her to drop the long jump event at the Commonwealth Games. That career decision helped Okagbare as she won the gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Interestingly, another Nigerian, Ese Brume, won the gold medal in the long jump. The pointer here is Okagbare’s absence wasn’t felt because Nigeria got the gold medal – one fear our officials considered in accepting Okagbare’s wish to do the 100 metres and the long jump. Our officials feared that we would lose the gold medal if Okagbare didn’t jump.

This writer has celebrated Okagbare here. But this column frowns at her seeming descent into the politics of the sport in Nigeria – a trait most of our big sportsmen and women condescend into when they have reached the twilight of their career.

There have been several instances in which Okagbare pilloried the AFN in the media. She had the penchant for denying the attacks on the federation’s chiefs. And so when she was reported to have attacked them again, many sighed, hoping that she would recant.

Okagbare needs our advice to shun the politics of the sport. She needs to concentrate on winning the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Having found support from Uduaghan, Okagbare has a good channel to discuss her observations.

She must understand that there are two or more sides to any discourse. She must put her facts correctly if she opts for the public court by granting interviews to the media like she did last week. Not many sports administrators ignore such ranting from sportsmen and women, especially the credible ones among them and, like the saying goes, facts are sacred.

In a nutshell, Okagbare frowned at the idea of fielding foreigners as Nigerians to the detriment of the growth of the budding stars at the grassroots. She alleged that the federation didn’t have plans to develop the sport. She went further to say that the federation doesn’t organise enough competitions.

What Okagbare didn’t say was for the federation’s board members to quit. Her clarion call made plenty of sense until the federation’s boss, Solomon Ogba, replied her. Ogba said: “This season alone, we have had three camps for athletes that participated in the African youth and junior championships and those who went for invitational relays in Kenya. We have also organised two competitions, the All Comers in Abuja and Lagos, apart from the Olukoya championships.

“We don’t get any support either from the government or corporate Nigeria, yet we have organised a Golden League, thanks to the great sacrifice from my board members and staff of the AFN. We give cash incentives to home-based athletes with prospect of doing well in major championships. For our home-based athletes to get the needed international exposure, we arranged for them to participate in about five international competitions alone this year.”

The pertinent question would be who these home-grown athletes are? But like the proverbial Oliver Twist, the home athletes have an axe to grind with the federation. Did I hear say how? There is another contending gender issue confronting the AFN chiefs with World Junior Championships silver medalist Divine Oduduru accusing the federation of favouring the female athletes over the men. He alleged that this favoritism towards the female athletes is chiefly responsible for the poor outing of the men in competitions.

Said Oduduru: “The truth of the matter is that Nigerian male athletes have not been doing well recently. Looking at a country like Nigeria, there are a lot of people who are talented. If the administrators can focus on the male athletes the way they are focusing on the female athletes, the male athletes in Nigeria will do well.”

Oduduru confirms Ogba’s submission of the federation’s programmes which have produced new athletes. Perhaps, Ogba and his men should create equal opportunities for both sexes for us to have more stars.

We don’t seem prepared to stop Okagbare’s indiscipline, Uduaghan is said to have intervened. What would happen is that all the noise would stop. A no victor, no vanquished situation would be established. That way, Okagbare is happy that she is back in the good books. Sadly, this sets a trend that would be sustained by the next big star. What a pity! We hardly learn from the past.

Reading through Okagbare’s missiles to the federation objectively, it seems to me that somebody is whispering to her. Okagbare should always remember her humble beginning. She has been given all the incentives and support to blossom. She shouldn’t burn her candles on both ends on the altar of Nigeria not parading foreigners in our athletics squad. I will support her cause if these foreigners are proven drug cheats or ageing stars.

Okagbare must apologise to the federation -not inside the governor’s office, but through the same medium she used to denounce it.

Vincent Enyeama’s demeanour doesn’t suggest that he could be an incorrigible leader even though he comes across as an obedient and religious person, especially with the way he clutches the Holy Bible in his spare time.

As a graduate, Enyeama has been an example to many young players in the domestic game just as he has shown that footballers could combine sports with education. Perhaps his educational background provided him the impetus to challenge constituted authorities for his rights. However, aren’t there better ways to ask for your rights without destroying the platform that brought you to the limelight? Can there be a utopian setting in anything in Nigeria that is bedeviled with systemic problems?

But have the authorities provided the players and coaches their dues to forestall protests? Do the coaches and players feel that protests are the best ways to get their dues? Why do these protesting players and coaches want to return to the fold when things don’t look like they would change? Isn’t this the best time for them to quit the team rather than remain to complain about the same issues? These posers serve as a food for thought for the coaches and players while we wait for a new dawn in the Eagles.

Enyeama is easily the best goalkeeper in the French Lique 1 with his breathtaking saves and commanding presence in the goal post. As the Super Eagles’ first choice, Enyeama’s feats have several times saved Nigeria from imminent defeat. He has on several occasions won matches for the country with his spectacular saves, earning Man-of-the-match awards. It is not a surprise that Enyeama is the second Eagles star to hit the 100 caps appearance for Nigeria, after Joseph Yobo. Indeed, it took Enyeama fewer games than Yobo to achieve the mark.

Enyeama’s looks turns out to be a sort of façade. Rather than serve as an example to the others since he became the Eagles captain, he has led revolts.

When Samson Siasia was in charge of the Eagles, Enyeama was a problem, such, that Siasia shunned all entreaties to get the goalkeeper back to the team because he was a bad influence to others. Indeed, Enyeama led a subtle protest against boarding a small aircraft that was taking the Eagles out of the country for an international friendly. Siasia called his bluff and others dumped Enyeama. When Enyeama realised his folly, he met the team at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, after the bus had left him at the Nicon Hilton Hotel.

Several Eagles’ protests had Enyeama’s insignia, so much so that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials have given him the last warning. Did I hear you ask what Enyeama did again?

Nigeria’s international friendly against Uganda in Uyo was Enyeama’s 100th Eagles game. It was his day of glory, but he didn’t arrive in Uyo until 11pm Friday, less than 16 hours to the kickoff. Of course Nigeria lost the game 1-0. But Enyeama opted out of the second game against South Africa. Perhaps he reckoned the Eagles would be beaten. He complained of backache. Yet, he played for his French side the following weekend. How long would we continue to tolerate this kind of behavior? Shouldn’t we seek Enyeama’s replacement when he has informed us of his decision to quit the team?

The flipside to this Enyeama tantrum is the need to find out if the NFF met all its obligations to the players. Most times the negotiations are done secretly. We get to know of problems when one side defaults. Yet, our players must learn how to bow out of the Eagles when the ovation is loudest. Rather than being impediments to the team’s progress, they should spare us the international disgrace that we saw before the 2013 Confederations Cup and before Brazil 2014 second round game against France, which we lost 2-0. NFF must shut out those with proven disciplinary problems. They must make the players and coaches fall in line because without them doing well in matches, NFF chiefs would be jobless.

 Clap for Mikel

John Mikel Obi is arguably Nigeria’s most decorated player in Europe, having won the UEFA Champions League, Europa League Cup, the Barclays English Premier League title (twice), Carling Cup and the English FA Cup competitions. Not many Nigerians have this record.

I was excited when Mikel was introduced into the game against Crystal Palace on Sunday in the 45th minute. It meant that he played the game that crowned Chelsea as the Barclays English Premier league champion for the fourth time. Mikel has been in-and-out of Chelsea’s squad this season. Playing in such a game underscores his importance in Jose Mourinho’s tactics.

The good news is that Real Madrid wants Mikel. Real is a bigger club than Chelsea in terms of achievements and pedigree.

This writer only hopes that Mikel takes the chance by joining Real Madrid, where his former manager Carlos Ancelotti wants him. Mikel played regularly for Chelsea under Ancelotti. It means that the coach knows Mikel’s worth. There can’t be a better option to Chelsea than Real Madrid. I hope fervently that Mikel takes the plunge because real Madrid looks like the side to play in the UEFA Champions League final.

Playing for Madrid offers Mikel the best platform to become a Gallaticos, playing along with Cristano Ronaldo and the armada of European stars. Will Mikel take the risk? His manager John Ola Shittu has told everyone to wait until the end of the European season. Hmmm! Let us pray that Mikel joins the league of players who have played for easily the most successful European team.

C’mon Mikel, you have nothing else to prove at Chelsea. You need to conquer the world with the Super Eagles, given your talent. But that change can’t happen when you seldom play for Chelsea.

 Pray for Amokachi

Daniel Amokachi is losing his job – except something dramatic happens. Amokachi used to be Super Eagles assistant coach and we were told that his contract was tied to that of the team’s chief coach. If the chief coach is sacked or he quits, his assistants follow him.

Not so anymore – from what we are seeing – with the chief coach back in the saddle. It has been reported that Amokachi and nine other coaches have applied for Da Bull’s job. Bizarre, some have said, and that is because the former Eagles striker ought to have opted out of the job the moment he was asked to apply.

Asking Amokachi to apply for a job that he once had is a subtle way of passing a vote of no confidence in his first performance.  If the chief coach can return to the team, who is Amokachi to wave a final bye? But, the buck stops on the chief coach’s table, except of course if he doesn’t want to work with Amokachi. Then Amokachi shouldn’t have re-applied for his job. Let’s see how this plays out. But why hasn’t the chief coach solved this puzzle by insisting on having his former men back?

Okagbare’s warning

Blessing Okagbare is Nigeria’s female jewel in athletics. Discovered in the back streets of Sapele, Delta State, Okagbare has grown from being the village girl to the star that has ruled the sprints in many major competitions.

Okagbare is not a known commentator of the game beyond her post-race interviews. But, she has thrown in the gauntlet by insisting that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) shouldn’t engage in wholesale recruitment of foreigners (Non Nigerians) into the industry to the detriment of grooming home-based athletes from the grassroots.

Okagbare’s fears aren’t unfounded. But this trend appears to be the vogue even in countries with better facilities, mouth-watering welfare packages and programmes for their athletes to develop. Perhaps, the only difference between other countries and Nigeria is that those defecting do so because they cannot get into the country’s teams due to the large pool of quality athletes. So, to make their mark, they must defect to those countries such as Nigeria with fewer athletes in such sports.

On this score, Okagbare is right. But grassroots development won’t be taken seriously without competitions at the local level. Most athletes discovered at the grassroots abandon the sport for greener pastures when they leave the country knowing that the lifespan of the athlete is short. We don’t have a system that accommodates sports men and women.

Again, we don’t get to discover athletes until when they are too old. Many athletes come with fake ages that catch up with them soon. The few competitions organised locally don’t attract enough sponsors. Organisers love to run to state governors for financial support. When such sports-loving governors leave office, the sport dies prematurely.

The biggest hindrance for growth in sports is our dwindling economy which doesn’t give companies the impetus to support the industry. The companies interested in sports pullout because they spend what should be ploughed into the industry on their companies’ operations – generating sets etc.

Other countries do well in sports because other sectors of their economy thrive. These sectors still deem it fit to support sports as part of Corporate Social Responsibility to the communities where they are. Little wonder sport in most climes is driven by the communities not government.

These are indeed interesting times for Nigeria’s football. Super Eagles now have a chief coach and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains not in hurry to announce the team’s assistant coaches. The Eagles now have a Nike kits deal worth $750,000. In subsequent years, the deal will rise to $1 million, culminating in the $2.75 million deal for a country that had her debut at the World Cup in 1994.  Did I hear you say chicken feed? For Nigeria’s soccer teams in the next three years, $2.75 million is paltry but that is the price we must pay for doing players’ and coaches’ biddings.

Interestingly, nobody has told us how people can get the kits. Most times, it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for anyone to get Nigeria’s kits anywhere in the world. Even visits to the manufacturers haven’t solved the puzzle. Merchandising is one of the money spinners in the game. Replica jerseys and other memorabilia are revenue earners for serious countries, especially during big competitions such as the World Cup. The biggest gift for any Nigerian in Diaspora is the Eagles jersey.

Beyond the annual increment of the sponsorship deal by $1million, we need to know where soccer fans can get the original jerseys. NFF needs to tell us their plans to stop people from selling fake Eagles kits so that they can make good business of it. Most importantly is the need for the jerseys to be affordable. I look forward to the day when fans can walk into shops within the stadium to buy the jerseys. I marvel at mammoth crowds dressed in their countries’ colours at match venues. This is the sensible thing to do not kowtowing to players’ and coaches’ needless demands.

Players and coaches decide, including the awful choice of lemon green as the country’s colour. They decide the hotels they will stay, tell us how much they should earn and pay them upfront yet, the Eagles are the 45th in the world; seventh in Africa. These are truly interesting times for our football.

Lemon green isn’t dark green, which represents the dominant colour in our flag.  We don’t want disco jerseys. We must stop this nonsense. Countries draw their identities from the dominant colour on their national flag. Lemon green isn’t one of our flag’s colours. No wonder we are being paid $2.75 million for a three-year deal.

But that is the price we are paying for not qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and also the disrespect our coaches and players showed at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil to our previous kit suppliers. Our coaches wore Adidas complete training kits to press conferences, even as they had Nike fez cap. A blue Nike cap on green Adidas should tell anyone that there was something wrong. Not so with our coaches. As for our players, they played with all manner of boots, insisting that they had personal kitting deals, which are not applicable when they play for their European clubs. I hope sincerely that the NFF knows what it has signed with Nike and should insist on our players’ and coaches’ compliance with the tenets of the contract. It smacks of irresponsibility on our part for players’ and coaches’ deals to supersede that of the country. Only in Nigeria can such things happen. It shouldn’t, therefore, come as a surprise that the NFF always goes to government cap-in-hand for cash.

Any player or coach who is unwilling to wear what he is given should be decamped. It was for this reason, among others, that Nike dumped us in the past. We should stop this tendency of going back to our vomit for pittance when we could solve the problem by getting our players and coaches to comply with what they are given or stay at home. Having been to the World Cup for the fifth time, such trivial things like getting a kit contract should be given. We should be the ones accepting such deals at our terms, not struggling to persuade a firm that dumped us in the past that we have changed our ways.

Details of the contract, signed at The Soho Hotel, Richmond Mews, London last week Thursday showed that the products’ value would increase in the second year, with American company NIKE committed to supplying kits to the value of $1million to the Nigeria national teams. NIKE will supply kits worth $1million to the National Teams in the year 2017 and 2018. The three-and-half year contract was signed by NFF President Amaju Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi. Tina Salminen, NIKE’s African Football Sports Marketing Director, represented the American behemoth.

There are also various bonuses specified for any of the National teams that qualifies for major international championships. The Super Eagles are to earn $500,000 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

According to Pinnick: “We are comfortable with the contract, because NIKE came across during the negotiations as being fluid and ready to listen to our demands. That is always the key aspect; you always need a partner with a listening ear.

“Nigeria football is happy to associate with a global leader and I am much convinced this is just the beginning. As we go along, NIKE may also be willing to partner with some of our domestic Clubs and even the League Management Company.”

My heart bleeds that we can come cheap in the name of securing a kitting deal. But that is the best this new board can do now that the brand Super Eagles is jaded. Otherwise, we would resort to the colourless locally made one that would make us the laughing stock. It is an insult for Nigeria to earn $500,000 for qualifying for our sixth World Cup in 2018, when some other countries are talking about eight digits or more for the same feat. I pity the NFF board. They must call our players to order. Things they dare not do in their clubs we accommodate and that is why the game is prostrate here.

It is superfluous for anyone to think that the kitting firm of the national teams should kit our domestic clubs. This argument doesn’t add up, they are separate entities. They should be allowed to do things that suit their purses and attract better income than what Nike is offering the Eagles that has fallen to the extent of being beaten at home by Uganda. Eagles are a crawling giant.

We are on the verge of starting a new campaign with the Eagles and the ground rules must be documented in a Code of Conduct where the players and coaches know their boundaries. Other countries make money from kitting deals and international friendlies played either at home or away venues.

It would shock many people to hear that the NFF spends as much as N48 million, sometimes higher than that for a home game of the Super Eagles, largely because the coaches invite an armada of our players in Europe for every game. As many as 29 players from around the globe are invited. These 29 players fly business class, are accommodated in choice hotels and earn as much as $10,000. In some instances, like the inglorious 2-2 draw against Bafana Bafana in our last game of the botched Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Uyo, the Eagles received $5,000. The coaches must be challenged to invite not more than 13 Europe-based stars at the most.

One cannot understand the basis for inviting 29 established stars for friendly matches. The NFF must insist on paying appearance fees of not more than $2,000. Friendlies are meant to test rookies from the grassroots and fringe players from the main team.

If we truly want to groom a new team, we need to set our eyes on the Flying Eagles and the Dream Team VI. In doing that, we must be prepared to accept whatever results that we get from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. I have my fears about this qualifiers, given the fact that Egypt has been absent from the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. They have spent this period rebuilding their team. They are a better prepared side than ours. We should therefore, accept our lot in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and build on our gains towards a credible outing at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

I’m excited that Kelechi Iheanacho is back on the pitch. He scored a goal for Manchester City on Monday against Chelsea’s reserves even though his English side lost the trophy on 5-2 aggregate, having lost the first leg 3-1 and 2-1 in the second leg.

Ihenanacho and Awoniyi should be invited for our next game against Chad. Chidera Eze and Musa Mohammed are also young men who could be fielded against Chad. Eagles will increase its recovery abilities in the midfield if younger boys are allowed to function in place of our ageing senior players – no disrespect to what they have achieved for the country.

Happily, Stephen Keshi is worried about the long list of bench warming members of his first team. Keshi needs to watch clips of the Dream Team VI and Flying Eagles to pick new players. This idea of sitting back to say that these young lads must earn their shirts in the Eagles isn’t the way forward. The Big Boss must accept that many of those who were in Brazil in 2014 won’t make the 2018 World Cup squad, except that isn’t part of his brief.

Stephen Keshi is back in the saddle. Surprised? Don’t be because in Nigeria nothing is impossible and everything is possible. Keshi’s return may be as a result of our inability to hire a better manager, preferably a foreign coach. Even if we have the cash to pay such foreign coaches, will they be prepared to tolerate our endemic attitude of not paying coaches promptly? This is why we have returned to the Big Boss. Keshi looks sober. Will he remain this way when the Eagles return to winning ways? Keshi doesn’t look like one to share spoils of such feats with anyone. Not with his Big Boss’ toga. I wish he could.

I hope this decision doesn’t come to haunt us, looking at what the Egyptians will pose to us during the qualification matches. Keshi said he is a changed person. He has promised to invite Nigerians who play regularly in Europe. He is also prepared to allow talented players in our age-grade teams to fight for shirts in the Eagles. He has asked the media to report things the way it is. He tacitly apologised to Nigerians but has kept mum about his assistants.

I wasn’t in Abuja on Tuesday otherwise I would have asked Keshi what he would do if Nigeria fails to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations?  The threat by Egypt is real. Hector Cuper, who handles the Egyptians, is a veteran in the business. I would have challenged Keshi to sack those who attract bad publicity to him, especially those who told us in the past that seven countries were chasing and those who once described this new deal as slavish.

What has informed this new change from the Big Boss? Was Stephen Okechukwu desperate for the Nigerian job, having seen that he had lost other deals? Or was he being patriotic with the way he has lost his swagger towards chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)? Or was he bidding his time to get the job before taking his pound of flesh on those who have put him through this trauma? Can Keshi stoop to conquer for a job where his entitlements and salaries will always be contentious? Who talked to Keshi? Is this the best way forward for the Big Boss? Please don’t distract me from watching this drama where Keshi returns as the Super Eagles chief coach. Wait for it; without Daniel Amokachi as one of his assistants? Nigeria football is a huge joke!

The posers are many. Interestingly, these questions don’t truly address the main problem of the Super Eagles – discipline. Who enforces it and at what cost? Are there double standards? Why can’t the coaches plead with the players to head for their crucial assignments instead of embarking on strikes?

Twice the Eagles have held the nation to ransom over unpaid allowances, days to crucial matches. Is it true that one of the coaches told a former Sports minister that he couldn’t talk to the boys to head for Brazil for the 2013 Confederations Cup with assurances that they would be paid there? In other climes, such disobedience to the minister would have been termed an assault on the country’s president and the culprit would have been sacked. Equally unpalatable was the sharing of $3.8 million sent to the Eagles by the Jonathan administration from Abuja to Brazil for the players, coaches and officials to share. They couldn’t wait to return to collect the cash. They spent the night preceding our game against France sharing the booty. Where were the coaches? Couldn’t they have kept the money and directed the players to prepare for the French game.

Such was the level of impunity in the Eagles, it didn’t come as a surprise that we under-performed at the Confederations Cup and the World Cup in Brazil. It is laughable that many people still feel that we did well, when we equalled a feat that we achieved 20 years ago in the United States.

Has anything changed in the Eagles since the Brazil 2014 World Cup debacle?  Daniel Amokachi’s sack from the Eagles appears to be the likely change. Amokachi had it coming for him once he denounced the list of players that prosecuted the last two international friendly games against Uganda and South Africa. His exit is significant, given the complaints from some of the big boys in the Eagles that Amokachi treats them with levity. Unruly players don’t deserve a smack on the wrist.

Amokachi isn’t the only problem with the Eagles? The fact that Amokachi washed his hands of the Eagles list shows that Keshi doesn’t carry his lieutenants along in taking crucial decisions on the team’s composition.

Keshi must be a team player. He shouldn’t pick players based on sentiments. He must change his team formation to get the best from his players. Keshi’s love for the 4-2-4 makes it difficult for him to bring out the best in our players. Nowhere in the world is such an archaic system played.  No good coach will play John Mikel Obi and Oguenyi Onazi in the same game because they play in the same holding midfield position for their European clubs. He needs to pick the better of the two. Otherwise, the Eagles will remain rudderless during matches.

Onazi appears to be the stronger. He covers up for Mikel who strolls on the pitch, making it difficult for the team to play on the counter. It was so clear in the game against France that Mikel was our biggest problem in the midfield, the moment Onazi bowed out to injury. The Eagles lost the cutting edge they had in the midfield, with Mikel turning around in one spot like the barber’s swivelling chair. When the ball is taken off him, Mikel falls like a mull watching on the turf to see if the opposition will punish his flaw with a goal.

But can Keshi bench Mikel? Not possible, except he is prepared to take the risk now that he is sober and willing to listen to people like he did when he first took the job. Sadly, Mikel and Onazi are in-and-out of their teams. Ordinarily, this should be a welcome development because it gives the coaches the leverage to assemble another quartet of midfielders.

Football pundits feel strongly that the next crop of midfielders for the Eagles should come from our best in the Flying Eagles and the Dream Team VI. It simply means that those young boys should be invited to the team to fight for shirts before our first 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Chad. The midfield is the engine room of any team. We need younger and fitter boys to give the Eagles their pivot to do whatever they have perfected in training. Those who have been given the task to anchor the team’s midfield in the past fizzled out as the game progressed.

The Eagles midfield has been docile since the exit of Sunday Mbah for reasons best known to the coaches. Several players have been introduced to fill Mbah’s void but they have struggled to make the impact made in the team.

It’s quite ironical that the Eagles’ defence could wobble when the chief coach was a defender. Our central defence leaks like a broken pipe, largely because those who man the position are players converted to play such roles without cognate experience. Eagles don’t have natural defenders. Our defenders wait for strikers to trap the ball before marking them. Aside, they ball-watch rather than pick the other players making the decoy runs at our goal post.

Keshi would be shocked to find the right kind of players in the domestic league to man all the positions in the defence. The Flying Eagles captain has shown that he can play effortlessly on the right side of the defence. Against Chad, he could be tested. He is certainly better than Efe Ambrose. I have seen several left footers playing in the domestic league. If Keshi needs help in scouting for good players in the domestic league, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, the current technical committee chairman, can identify them.

Egypt won’t be a piece of cake. They look like the team to pick Group G ticket – forgive me for being unpatriotic. But if Keshi keeps his word and appreciates working as a group, the Eagles could upset the Egyptians. In picking Egypt ahead of Nigeria, I reckon that they would win their three home matches. I don’t think they will lose to Chad and Tanzania. The Egyptians are a goal scoring team and that could be the distinguishing line between them and Nigeria.

In Nigeria’s case, we don’t look like a team that can have all her players committed to the cause of qualifying for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations holding in Gabon. Look at what Vincent Enyeama did by pulling out of the South Africa friendly simply because we lost 1-0 to Uganda. Our big boys are notorious with avoiding away games.

Goals will decide who between Nigeria and Egypt will qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. But can Nigeria beat Egypt at home? That will be the decider provided we beat Chad and Tanzania home and away.

Good luck Nigeria. Welcome, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.

Ghana’s Black Stars captain Andre Ayew was 19 years old when he broke into the senior national team. He is 25 years now and he is almost being tagged a veteran of the game. This is one of the benefits that Ayew’s early introduction has done for the Ghanaian national team. But that is not all. At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Ayew’s younger brother made the squad, with both playing regularly.

By the time Ayew is 28, he would have surpassed his dad Abedi Ayew’s record in the Black Stars.  Besides, Ayew’s younger brother, Jordan is in tow to break their big brother’s and father’s records with the national team.

The message being sent to the world is that Ghana has a rich pool of young players who are eager to replace ageing stars, for as long as the country’s football federation sustains this trend. The other perspective rests with the fact that the European clubs are watching. Soon their scouts would invade Ghana to pick the young boys for Europe.

The spiral effect of this kind of invasion will be the movement of Ghanaian kids. This will invariably increase the revenue bases of the domestic league. Not forgetting that the grassroots would be invigorated by youths eager to emulate those who have moved to Europe. Again, Ghanaians’ interest in the game would be increased, culminating in box office returns at the stadium gates during matches.

The allusion to what is happening in Ghana is significant because it should push Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains to insist on introducing our exceptionally gifted youths into the Super Eagles. It must be noted here too that Ghana’s Black Stars were about the youngest team at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations held in Equatorial Guinea. It wouldn’t shock pundits if the Black Stars lift the diadem in 2017.

It must be noted also that all the young boys who did well for Ghana at previous age-grade competitions across the board have been integrated into the team. Very few old men are in the team. And Ghana’s Israeli coach, Avram Grant has tactically dropped them to the bench. He massages their egos by giving them cameo appearances in the second half, only if they suit his plans. No mutiny from the players who have seen the way the younger boys beat them in training for first team shirts.

The Ghanaians are celebrating. They were not too unhappy with the penalty shootout loss to the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the finals. Their solace lay in the fact that they had a team for the future – to rule the world.

At the 2009 U-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria, Neymar was always introduced in the second half for the Brazilian team and each time he came in, it was clear to everyone who saw them play at the Teslim Balogun Stadium that he would be a star. Today, Neymar is living his dream by playing for one of the biggest European teams, Barcelona FC of Spain. He is now the captain of Brazil’s senior team. Did I hear you say two examples of investing in the future? Absolutely, but more importantly is the need to ask previous NFFs where those who played with Ayew and Neymar are? Shocked? Don’t be. We have only paid the price for cheating. We are experts in parading men as kids. We enjoy pyrrhic victories. We are experts in quick-fixes not minding how it affects our game subsequently.

Our administrators are specialists in attending competitions with two aims in mind- collect quantum estacodes and struggle to put themselves in international sporting bodies, even if Nigeria doesn’t do well in such sports.  Little attention is paid to producing developmental plans for each sport.

Emphasis is on recycling people in our sports administration, coaches and even athletes. How do you engage the car in the reverse gear yet expect the vehicle to move forward. We have refused to change the administrators with their warp ideas.

Coaches and players now hobnob with the Presidency; a distasteful development that has made impossible a smooth transition in the Eagles, with the NFF going against its wish for the team. I digress!

Today, Taiwo Awoniyi is the hottest striker in the country. Awoniyi was a marvel to watch at the last U-17 World Cup, which Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets won. He has taken his prolific goal-scoring act to the flying Eagles, scoring goals with aplomb, in the absence of Kelechi Iheanacho.

Rather than draft Awoniyi to the Dream Team VI after completing the Flying Eagles assignment, such mundane talk of him being over-used were proposed by our coaches and their ilk without asking Awoniyi if he could cope with both roles.

Those who advanced that argument must cover their heads in shame because it has taken Awoniyi’s profound scoring skills to hand Nigeria the qualification ticket for the All Africa Games. Awoniyi reminds me of Henry Nwosu. His knack for scoring goals brings back memories of the late Rashidi Yekini.

Iker Casilas was here in Lagos for the 1999 World U-20 Youth Championship, which Spain won by beating Japan, then handled by the White Witch Doctor, Phillipe Troussier 2-0, inside the mainbowl of the National Stadium in Lagos. Casilas is still Spain’s goalkeeper, 16 years after breaking into the team as a 20-year old.

The advantage of playing outstanding players, such as Awoniyi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidera Eze, in the senior category is that they will remain there for a longer time. Besides, others at thegrassroots would be buoyed to give their best, knowing that they too could be like them, if they improve on their game.

The argument of former internationals, such as Victor Ikpeba, that Awoniyi would be ripe for the Eagles in two years time is bunkum. This is why Ikpeba didn’t leave the Eagles with a testimonial game, in spite of his remarkable contributions, including winning the Africa Footballer of the Year award in 1999.

Players get the impetus to live their dreams in a football team through their skills, not age, especially the gifted ones. We must strive to reduce the average age of the Super Eagles from its unacceptable 32 to what others have – between 21 and 28. The game is now being played by young and enterprising players, who are hungry for glory. Little wonder the avalanche of new players that come into prominence after every big competition.

Need I waste space to list boys who hit it big time as teens, not forgetting the king of soccer, Pele? Whenever I watch Manchester United play with De Gea in goal, I cry. Why? In 2007, a Nigerian ‘kid’ Dele Ajiboye, was adjudged the best goalkeeper at the U-17 World Cup which Nigeria beat Spain 2-0.

It would be ludicrous for any bookmaker to draw a comparison between Ajiboye and De Gea today, more than eight years after. Do you see my pain?

 Who blinks first?

 By the time you are reading this column today (baring any last minute changes) , Stephen Okechukwu Keshi would have returned to his Super Eagles job at humbling terms. Keshi’s return has been controversial, with the NFF chiefs’ body language not favourably disposed towards working with him.

This cat-and-rat setting may be the Eagles’ biggest problem, if Keshi plays the ostrich. Unfortunately, NFF men are not ready to tell us the terms of reference in Keshi’s deal, based on a certain clause which forbids either party to make such disclosure.

But, I’m damn sure the wall of secrecy will eventually collapse and details of the contract, will be subject of beer parlour talks – when the coach fails to get his salaries and entitlements promptly. NFF men must tell us the dos and don’ts in Keshi’s contract now not when he infringes on any. Nigerians deserve to know what would happen to the coach if the Eagles fail to fly.

I don’t see how an all-knowing Keshi will allow his list to be vetted, yet he refuses to carry the can when the team fails. I also don’t see how Keshi will work with any document given to him by the technical study group and the technical department and yet we expect him to take the credit for victories arising from such group initiatives. Keshi isn’t a team player.

I also don’t see how Keshi will stop John Mikel Obi from playing for the Eagles even when he is a bench warmer at Chelsea? Will Keshi forgive Sunday Mba et al to give the Eagles the desired fillip to fly higher? Will Keshi swallow his pride and play the functional 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 or even 4-3-3 to bring out the best of our players who shine in their European teams which play these formations?

Does the NFF have a plan B when Keshi’s tantrums begin, especially if, the federation fails to pay the coach promptly. Would the NFF be right to sanction a man whose fees they haven’t settled, irrespective of the reasons given for the delay?

I pray that Keshi becomes a team player in this new dispensation. He must do away with those busybodies around him who run their mouths in the media. They are the ones who told us that seven countries were chasing the Big Boss to train their teams. Where are those teams today? These lickspittles shouldn’t tell us in the future how certain powerful men in the fading government begged the coach to stay.

Keshi has been jobless. Countries touted to be chasing him picked others even though he denied applying for those jobs. Keshi signed a contract he tagged ‘slavish’. I hope he remains humble because he thrives in having power without control mechanism. This NFF board has provided such control mechanisms. I hope the Big Boss can submit himself to control.

Penultimate Saturday in this column, I wrote about the seemingly contrasting fortunes of Nigerian internationals John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses in England. Both are Chelsea players except that Moses is on loan to another Barclays English Premier League side Stoke. Indeed, Stoke’s management is toying with the possibility of securing Moses on a permanent deal worth five million pounds.

Interestingly, Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho is upset with Moses’ disposition towards Chelsea, not forgetting what the petit Nigerian did in January when he refused to return to Stamford Bridge to play second fiddle to anyone. Mourinho told the international media this week that he is prepared to sell Moses to any club that comes with the right figures for his services. I’m excited because Moses has beaten Mourinho to his game. Frank Lampard must be having a quiet laugh somewhere at Manchester City.

But today’s piece is not on how Moses outwitted Mourinho for a new dawn in his career from next season. Rather, it is about Mikel’s preparedness to stand up to Mourinho’s gimmick of belittling players he doesn’t want in the season preceding when he wants to kick such players out.

In his usual pre-match meetings before last Sunday’s game, Mourinho told the world that Mikel was fit but that he was out of the game due to the fact that he gets tired easily since he returned from the surgery on his ankle. Mikel’s reaction to training is expected for a player who underwent a surgery. Why Mourinho chose to describe Mikel’s condition in that manner leaves much to be desired, especially as it concerns his health which ought to be kept secret. Perhaps, Mourinho’s weak English is responsible for his description. A more articulate manager would have said that Mikel trained with the Chelsea but wasn’t fit enough to play the game, having not gained full fitness. Even at, that Mourinho should know that he is a respected tactician whose comments on players are taken seriously. Mourinho’s description of Mikel could be misrepresented to mean that the Nigerian is ageing. No European club will touch such a player at a reasonable price, except he is leaving the club for free. Mourinho’s description of the Nigerian tiring out after the surgery could also mean that Mikel has a health condition, which is not true. Mourinho should have been more diplomatic with his utterances. It only shows that he didn’t learn anything from the way PSG David Luiz celebrated after scoring the goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to tie the scores at 1-1.

Mourinho had told the world that Luiz was surplus to requirement at Chelsea when he returned to the team. He eventually sold the Brazilian international, who chose the UEFA Champions League match-up with Chelsea to seek a revenge which he got by not only scoring a goal but eliminating Chelsea with Mourinho as the coach. But Mikel has dismissed Mourinho’s statement by telling the media that he was fit to play any game. Of course, one would believe Mikel because his doctors and indeed those of Chelsea won’t allow him kick the ball, if he wasn’t medically fit.

This writer doesn’t see what Mikel did as an act of indiscipline. He had a right to debunk claims on his health, especially as the 2014/2015 season rolls to its closing stages. What is clear is that Mikel should start considering new deals outside Chelsea. Mikel has won everything that there is to be won in England and in European football. Playing for another club outside Chelsea They must stay out of injuries and look before accepting new deals. It would be foolhardy for anyone of them to join teams and be confined to the bench.

Talking about next season’s transfer bazaar reminds one of the decisions which Emmanuel Emenike is considering at Turkey, which has temporarily suspended its league because of last weekend’s shooting of Fenerbahce FC’s bus after an away game which it won 5-1. No death was recorded in the incident but the driver was seriously injured.

Emenike told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Monday that he was still in shock adding that: “It’s unbelievable that some people actually fired shots at our bus and the driver was badly hit, a bus conveying footballers and officials.”

“It’s strange but it’s also an indication that things happen in life and no-one can be guaranteed complete safety. I just want to wish our brave driver a speedy recovery. I will forever be grateful to him and our security man because that bus could have plunged down the bridge. The outcome could have been terrible and tragic but we are all here today because of them and of course God was on our side.”

“I’ve been involved in a terrible accident in Nigeria before, where my mother suffered severe bruises, and for a moment I had a terrible flashback when that bus was swerving all over the road,” he said.

“I was on the phone with my brother when I heard the loud sound and I thought one of our tyres had busted because the bus was swerving on the road. But when I found our security officer in front of the bus I knew something must have gone awfully wrong

“We quickly realised the security guy was the one who hit the brake, and he said the driver [who was already soaked in blood] had been shot. The word ‘shot’ came as a big shock but when we saw blood and the shattered driver’s side window, it quickly turned into a scary moment for everyone on the bus.”

The shooting story isn’t a joke. If the Fenerbache FC’s security man had slept off inside the bus, it could have plunged into the river, because the shot driver wasn’t in control of the swerving bus.

Emenike wants to leave Turkey. It would be a good decision but he must consider the need to be playing regularly wherever he chooses to go. The media were awash with the story of Chlesea showing interest in Emenike. Many sneered at it. But neither Chelsea’s management nor Mourinho has denied the statement.  There have been stories linking Emenike with Tottenham Hotspurs, a Barclays English Premier League side. I would rather Emenike goes to Tottenham than Chelsea. He stands more chance of playing regularly for Tottenham.

Victor Anichebe is being wooed by Hull City. It appears West Bromwich want to sell him to anyone with the right price. Anichebe isn’t a bad player. His albatross is his freak injuries, which have scuttled his game. His physical style of play is responsible for this in-today-out-tomorrow scenario. He could be luckier at Hull or he changes his style. West Bromwich bought Anichebe from Everton this season, with many pundits wondering what may have gone wrong between the two parties. Again, it could be the usual transfer gossips. But most transfers start with a gossip.

Wither Egypt, Tanzania, Chad?

Nigeria has been drawn in Group G at the Africa Cup of Nations draws held in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday. The presence of Egypt and Tanzania is the impetus that the Super Eagles need to qualify.

The two-legged ties against Egypt hold a lot for the Eagles, who get better when the odds are against them – like now. Egypt is a struggling team now although the Eagles aren’t better in the way our big stars respond to Nigeria’s matches.

But if the NFF keep to their plans to rejuvenate the team, Egypt could be a walk in the park for the Eagles. Nigeria has players to make most tournaments a default for us to win. If the chief coach works with his members and allows his list to be discussed with experts in the game, the team would be more formidable.

Such scrutiny by technocrats in the game will eliminate the presence of injured players in the team. This group will question the inclusion of bench warmers in the squad. They will also help the coaches to do the spy job on our group opponents (Egypt, Chad and Tanzania). The coaches must work with the documents sent to them instead of tearing them or ignoring their observations. Where they are in doubt, it is only fair that the coaches call the experts to educate them on the contentious part of the documents.

The suggestion by the NFF to reduce the number of foreign-based players picked for our international matches is good. It amounts to sheer waste of public cash if coaches invite 29 foreign-based players for a game when indeed only 13 players can play any game. Our coaches can prune the list to 13 at the most and fill the others with home-grown talents from the domestic leagues. The domestic league is the barometer which can be sued to evaluate the growth of the game here. There cannot be a better place to gauge it than with the number of local leagues boys in the Super Eagles. This is the right way forward. Are the coaches reading this?

I’m excited over the 23-man list released by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the March 25 and 29 games against Bolivia and South Africa. The list shows clearly that it is no longer business-as-usual. It represents the best of Nigerian players in Europe. And that has been my biggest grouse with Super Eagles’ coaches.

Super Eagles isn’t a rehabilitation centre for orthopaedic players. Nor is it a place to expose players for export to European clubs. The Eagles camp is the centre-piece of excellence where our players should fight for shirts. It should be a place where the mere invitation to camp should call for celebrations, like we see in other climes.

Hitherto, most Eagles’ list either looked like they were brought out of the dusty drawers at the NFF or were the results of the coaches’ fixation, which forbade new players in the team. The list became subjects of debates because it contained the names of injured players or those who hadn’t played for their European clubs for months. Such were the discrepancies in the Eagles list that pundits asked the coaches where they saw those questionable players play. They were not the ones seen weekly on television.

Global best practices are such that players who under-perform in competitions or matches, lose their shirts to others in subsequent matches. But in the old Eagles dispensation, it was forbidden to replace fumbling players.

It is, therefore, refreshing to note that Nigeria could pick three goalkeepers without Chigozie Agbim and Austin Ejide. The argument that Agbim is the best goalkeeper in the domestic league, going by the listing of goalkeepers Theophilus Afelokhai (Kano Pillars) and Chidiebere Eze (Ifeanyi Ubah United), is bunkum. These home-based goalkeepers have been around in the last three years. Afelokhai mans the goalpost for defending league champions Kano Pillars. The implication of this new development is that other domestic league goalkeepers will fight to improve on their game, knowing that they could be invited to camp, if any of those picked fumbles.

Part of the list’s excitement is that only two members of the Eagles defence at the 2014 World Cup are included. Godfrey Oboabona and Kenneth Omeruo are listed with some home-based defenders along with Leon Balogun, who was injured in one of our build-up games to the Brazil 2014 World Cup. No list is perfect; otherwise one would have asked for the criteria used in picking Omeruo, who has been very inconsistent with his English Championship side Middleborough. But one is consoled by the fact but he represents some of the youngest boys in the Brazil 2014 World Cup Eagles’ whose experience shouldn’t be jettisoned on the altar of poor performance with his club.

The talk of starting a home-based Super Eagles camp with over 28 players which must be pruned to five or six that would eventually   make the final squad, smacks of laziness on the part of the coaches. If the coaches had taken pains to watch the domestic game religiously, it would have been easy to pick a 20-man local league side without duplication.

For defenders Chima Akas (Sharks FC), Nelson Ogbonnaya (Heartland FC) and Akeem Latifu (Aalesunds FC, Norway), a debut appearance for the Eagles is like a dream come true. Granted friendly matches are to expose players but they have to be our best at all times. If we continue to invite our best, foreign scouts would be encouraged to visit our local clubs to watch matches and get the players without necessarily going through shylock agents, who rip off the players through slavish deals.

If the NFF sincerely continues to ensure that only our best players in the domestic league get called to the camp, the exodus to Europe that has crippled the game here will be reduced. Our players will remain here, knowing that if they excel with the Eagles, they can discuss their future with their suitors.

Globally, it’s the strikers who get the attention, but if we showcase midfielders and defenders who are talented, the searchlight would be focused on them. Had Adegboye Onigbinde not taken the risk in fielding hitherto rookie Vincent Enyeama against a star-studded England side at the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup, maybe Enyeama have been Globally, it’s the strikers who get the attention, but if we showcase midfielders and defenders who are talented, the searchlight would be focused on them. Had Adegboye Onigbinde not taken the risk in fielding hitherto rookie Vincent Enyeama against a star-studded England side at the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup, maybe Enyeama have been wallowing in Enyimba FC of Aba or be tagged a veteran without a job.

Eight midfielders – Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Steven Ukoh (Biel-Bienne FC, Switzerland); Omatsone Aluko (Hull City, England);Hope Akpan (Reading FC, England); John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel); Babatunde Michael (Volyn Lutsk, Ukraine); Joseph Nathaniel (Sharks FC) and Kingsley Sokari (Enyimba FC) – raised fresh hopes that the rebuilding of the Eagles would be thorough. Sadly, John Mikel Obi’s injury may scuttle the attempt to carve out a formidable midfield to provide the defence-splitting passes for the strikers to score goals. Akpan and Aluko have been very enterprising in the few games that they have played for the Eagles. Perhaps, the next Eagles coach would have the guts to pick one person between Mikel and Onazi to play at the number 4 position, which is where either of them plays in Europe.

The Eagles midfield lost its fluidity when the coaches dropped Sunday Mba for inexplicable reasons. Mba gave the Eagles attack at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa the width it required to spray the passes towards the flanks for our strikers to score goals. When the goals didn’t come, Mba took the gauntlet and scored. Indeed, it was Mba’s goal that gave Nigeria the trophy in our nail-biting 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso in the final game at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

Since Mba was dropped from the Eagles, we have struggled to score goals. Emmanuel Emenike, who benefited from Mba’s incisive play, hasn’t scored a goal for the Eagles like he did in the past. Many football pundits still remember how Mba combined effectively with Brown Ideye at the South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria won.

If there was one player who surprised many a Nigerian fan at the Brazil 2014 World Cup until the Eagles were eliminated 2-0 by France in the second round, it was Babatunde Michael.  Until he was injured in the game against France, Babatunde’s bustling run from the midfield gave the Eagles another option to launch its attack. It was in one of his bustling runs that he got hacked by a French defender. That marked the end of the competition for him, but he had made his mark. His return to the Eagles represents one of the benefits of Nigeria’s participation at the Mundial in Brazil, last year.

Already, the South Africans are scared stiff about the Nigerian list, which excludes most of our big stars. They are not shocked because we have the population to produce 11 Super Eagles, only if our coaches consider the importance of fielding our best.

The strikers’ list tells the story of adequate monitoring of the European leagues. The list includes Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Aaron Samuel (Guangzhou R&F, China), Brown Ideye (West Brom, England), Odion Ighalo (Watford FC, England), Anthony Ujah (FC Cologne, Germany), Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium), Ubong Moses (Kano Pillars), Stanley Dimgba (Warri Wolves) and Mfon Udoh (Enyimba FC).

Musa, Ideye, Ighalo, Samuel and Ujah have been quite outstanding in their leagues. They haven’t played together before. But we expect the coaches to know how to get them to work as a unit. It is quite interesting to know that Emmanuel Emenike can be dropped. I feel strongly this is the best reality check for Emenike to improve on his game.

Emenike’s goal drought extends to his Turkish club. It explains why he shouldn’t be in this squad. It would have been marvelous watching Victor Moses’ return to the Eagles after his war of words with the coaches in Brazil over his exclusion in the team. The coaches denied that such an incident happened. Yet, Moses hardly made the team after the 2014 World Cup fiasco.  Moses is on standby due to the injury he sustained playing for Stoke penultimate Saturday.

Pundits are relieved that Yakubu Aiyegbeni wasn’t listed for this game. Yak has played his part in the Eagles creditably. He may be doing well at Reading but he should never be considered for the national team. A few others who are ageing could be invited with one goal in mind- sending them forth so that they can keep such tapes recorded for posterity.

It still hurts that Nwankwo Kanu, Stephen Keshi, George Finidi, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amuneke, Sunday Oliseh, Austin Eguavoen, Peter Rufai et al don’t have tapes of their testimonial games at the national level. NFF must ensure that John Mikel Obi, Vincent Enyeama and others in this generation break the voodoo by sending them forth at the appropriate time.  A word is enough for the wise.

Bonfrere’s heart of gold

Johannes Bonfrere isn’t a stranger to football lovers here. Need I waste space to highlight his contributions to our football development?

Bonfrere is certainly a good man. It takes the heart of gold for a former boss to keep track of what is happening in a country that, according to him, treated him with levity.

For the records, Bonfrere was the technical adviser that led the team coached by the late Willy Bazuaye to win the gold medal at the Atlanta’96 Olympic Games in Georgia.

It is quite understandable that Bazuaye’s death should attract tributes from those who knew him closely. And Bonfrere told 88.9 Brila FM on Wednesday that Bazuaye’s death left a deep cut inside him.

“What can you say to the family other than sorry, that a good man is gone again? He was always ready to work very well when the time was there. You can trust and believe him when he was telling you about the football in training,” Bonfrere concluded in his smattering English.