The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • Another age cheats squad? No please

    Our coaches have started again. Must Nigeria always win age grade competitions? How have these pyrrhic victories helped our senior national team like we see in other climes? Anytime Nigerian coaches throw age-grade camping open, they unwittingly surrender the exercise to unscrupulous agents who pressurise them to pick their wards. Besides, the coaches get confused, leading to wrong selection of players.

    What our coaches must know is that the NFF has since 2010 produced good U-15 lads who should form the nucleus of the country’s 2016 Olympic Games squad in Brazil. The others should come from our spectacular Golden Eaglets of 2009 and 2013. Those who were 14 and 15 in 2009 should be 21 and 22 in 2016. Of course, every member of the 2013 Eaglets is a potential member of the Olympic Eagles, if Samson Siasia is serious with this assignment.

    Siasia should never be allowed to pick players from the Nigerian leagues. I dare say that there is no 22-year old in any cadre of our leagues. We must stop our coaches from parading boys who present sworn affidavits to back their ages. If we cannot find the right players here, then we can head for Europe where Chelsea FC’s manager Jose Mourinho introduced a 17-year old Dominic Solanke to play for the Blues in their 6-0 whiplash of Maribor in Tuesday’s Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal has a lot of Nigeria-born kids who can help us stem the ugly tide of always playing old men in age-grade competitions.

    We must ensure that the bulk of players who make the Brazil 2016 Olympic Games squad should constitute the Super Eagles team to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. That is the way other football nations plan their Mundial. If we follow this route, it simply means that most of the players would have played together as a team for close to five years. I will suggest that the NFF, in constituting the Eagles’ technical crew, should find a role for Samson Siaisia and Gabra Manu in the Eagles. What this would do their teams is that they would know the playing pattern at the senior level and try it out with our junior teams. Scouting for players in our domestic leagues for a competition slated to hold in 2016 in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, is another fraudulent exercise of parading age cheats at the Samba Olympics.

    We have been Olympic Games gold medalists in Atlanta in 1996. We were runners-up to Argentina at the Beijing Olympic Games, losing 1-0, no thanks to Di Maria’s cheeky lob over the head of goalkeeper Ambrose Vansekin. We have nothing else to prove in that cadre. What haunts us like a sore thumb is the fact that not many of the products of our youth teams have graduated into the Super Eagles.

    Siasia has shown mastery of this cadre but he must spare us the thought of fielding players who would storm the camp with sworn affidavits to substantiate their ages. Siasia’s employers must tell the coach what they expect of him. We need to use our age-grade teams to discover and nurture school boys, not adults in our leagues.

     We have excelled at U-17 and U-20 since 2007, when the late Yemi Tella produced young boys who dazzled the world with their skills. Most members of that glorious squad have disappeared like ice cream under the scorching sun. Again, in the 2009 edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup which Nigeria hosted, we placed second, with many of those discovered playing in novelty leagues instead of competing with their contemporaries.

    We were U-17 champions again in 2013. It is only fair that Siasia makes the bulk of that squad the nucleus of his team. Many would argue that they should be left to graduate into the U-20 side. I have no problem with that, except for the fact the exceptional ones among them, such as Ihenanacho, should be allowed to play for the U-23 side and the Super Eagles, like the English are doing with young lads, such as Raheem Sterling.

    Siasia must hit the schools, polytechnics and soccer academies, such as the one run by Kashimawo Laloko, NFF’s youth team programmes and maybe some universities to find boys under the age of 23.

    The domestic league has been corrupted with ageing players who ask you which of the ages they belong when you ask such questions. It is easy for them to ask if you want their football ages or their real ones. Such pool cannot help our cause, if we must see players graduate to the Eagles and stay as long as Nwankwo ‘King’ Kanu did.

    Talents can be found in the grassroots. Our coaches must face the fact that some of them played for the Eagles while in school. That tradition needs to be sustained, if our coaches can be as adventurous as the likes of Alabi Aissien, Adegboye Onigbinde, Willy Bazuaye, Charles Bassey, the late Udemezue, the late Eto Amechina et al.

     We need young players to replace those showing signs of weakness, those who have been in-and-out of injuries and those who have retired. We must stop the recycling of players who have failed us in the past.

     

    Foreign coach for Eagles

    I’m a fan of foreign coaches for the Eagles. My support for these foreigners stems from the fact that Nigerian coaches don’t know how to manage success, except for Adegboye Onigbinde; not even Shauibu Amodu. Amodu ranks next to Onigbinde in the sense that he has upgraded himself by attending refresher courses. He accepts mistakes. Amodu’s biggest weapon rests with the fact that he doesn’t blame players openly when the team loses. He takes responsibility for any result, a trait many Nigerian coaches lack.

    Our coaches have refused to transit from being players to coaches. They manage the big players’ ego. Rather than take risks by playing fitter and younger players desirous to prove their mettle, they always err on the side of caution by parading our stars who have seen it all. The absence of a will to achieve greater things (motivation to excel) among the players is chiefly responsible for the sloppy style we have seen during Eagles’ matches.

    Most Nigerian coaches don’t watch matches involving our players either here or in Europe. They pride themselves in saying that they don’t read the local newspapers nor do they watch television. Little wonder, they goof in their selection by inviting injured players to prosecute our matches.

    Need I talk about their medieval times tactics which ridicule them before the players anytime they are asked to groom the Eagles? Our better exposed players mock them after training, having been groomed by experienced European managers. Our players have lifted their game beyond the mediocre level while our coaches still mark time with archaic styles. Europe-based players wouldn’t be able to replicate their club form with the Eagles until our coaches are at par with their European managers in terms of tactics and management.

    This is not to say that all European managers are good tacticians. We have failed to get good foreign coaches because we have anchored our search on some unscrupulous Nigerians and their cronies. In other climes, such an exercise is either advertised or the country head-hunts four coaches who are thought to have what they want for the Eagles, for instance.

    In picking these four, they have benchmarks and they are ranked based on their individual capabilities. They start by sounding out the best of the four until they get the right one. Indeed, all these processes are kept under wraps until the selected coach has agreed to all the terms for the job. We must learn to do things right to avoid controversies and ensure that the coaches take us seriously.

     

    Thank you Falcons

    I don’t hide my love for all our female national teams. They are magicians. When they win matches, I marvel because they barely play the game here.  Nigerian female players play the game on empty stomachs. They play for the love of the game. I always join the prayer group when they have their matches.

     I’m therefore excited that Falcons have qualified for the senior World Cup in Canada. I pray that many of the players secure better deals in Europe. Indeed, if they get lucrative contracts in Europe, they would serve as models to other parents to encourage their girls to play the beautiful game.

     In today’s final game against Cameroon in Windhoek, it is my wish that Falcons lift the trophy again. I want them to be rewarded for their efforts. These girls have been unfairly treated by our sports administrators. Imagine if it was the Super Eagles in the finals of the male version of the Africa Cup of Nations. The Sports Minister would have been resident in Namibia since the quarterfinals day. Government officials would have been roaming the streets in Namibia. The Presidency would have organised telephone interviews between the girls and President Goodluck Jonathan. Such is our sense of balance.

    Several governors would have been in Namibia today to support the girls, not forgetting the blue-chip firms struggling for spaces in the newspapers, radio stations and television channels to eulogise the girls.

    Lastly, those who ascribed the Super Eagles’ shambolic outing at the Africa Cup of Nations’ qualification matches to the crises at the NFF should, by now, accept that they were wrong, given what our girls have achieved in the continent and the world under the same circumstances. The Falcons have shown skills, patriotism and discipline. Without these, no team can do well. This is the lesson of our dearest girls’ feat.

  • Amaju, watch your back (3)

    Amaju, watch your back (3)

    So, Super Eagles can win a match? One pundit asked this writer on Wednesday night. He said the heaven should always open up to help the Nigerian side win all its matches. He reckoned that the rain helped to energise our players because he noticed that they didn’t finish previous games the way they started. What won’t we say when Super Eagles win matches? Thankfully, there are no complaints about the pitch, referee or the weather from the players or coaches. Hmmm. Up Nigeria!

    The aficionado went on to tell me that the fans were not fooled by the 3-1 victory over Sudan as alert security operatives inside the stadium stopped them from venting their anger on the coaches. At the stands, the cynic, who was at the stadium, spoke of various types of placards with one message – Keshi must go!

    This aficionado couldn’t understand how the fans smuggled bottles and cudgels into the stadium. He was happy that Nigeria didn’t lose the game to Sudan; otherwise, there would have been carnage at the Abuja Stadium. Indeed, he told me that it would have been the worst mayhem in football history.

    For the record, my pundit is a medical doctor and a card-carrying supporter of Arsenal FC of London. He puts his money where his mouth is and he asked me: “Did you see how the players hugged the chief coach with every goal that the team scored?”

    “Ade, are you still there?” he blurted. “Yes, doctor, but can you say that Emmanuel Emenike hugging the coach means that they have settled?” “You’ve started again, Ade; don’t go there. The common enemy now is Nigeria’s qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco next year. The coach dares not assert his authority like he has been doing. He has come down from his high horse. He can see clearly,” the doctor said.

    “Ade, you have only asked one question, but I know that you are saving your comments for Saturday.” I retorted: “Doctor, I no know book o!” “There you go again. Before you drop Ade, do you think the coaches should be sacked based on what we have seen?” “Doctor, I don’t work at NFF,” I replied. Poh, poh, poh, poh… the network stopped the conversation and I was relieved.

    I’m not a seer. I warned about the grave danger this technical crew was putting the Eagles into with the senseless change of winning squads. I couldn’t understand why coaches who played the game at the highest levels wouldn’t appreciate the fact that good players are brats and need to be managed. I was worried about the poor scouting system at the NFF which the coaches exploited to pick unqualified players to prosecute our matches. Why it took us so long to see these problems until it affected our chances of qualifying for the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations is puzzling. The scrappy win over Sudan is the result of our concerted effort to force the coaches to do the right things. The way the players were treated after the 1-0 loss to Sudan in Khartoum at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja may have informed the approach to Wednesday evening’s game.

    I have seen from my visits to several sporting events around the globe that every sport is big business everywhere but in Nigeria, where emotions rule our judgment in picking those to direct the affairs of this lucrative industry. We delay decisions even when the roof has fallen on our heads. We believe in miracles as if others don’t worship God. We are scared of telling people the truth, until things have fallen apart as we have seen with our quest to participate at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations slated for Morocco. It serves us right.

    Super Eagles’ likely unceremonious exit from the Africa Cup of Nations was a disaster waiting to happen. Did I hear you say what does this writer mean by likely exit? We can still qualify arithmetically but not with these coaches who loathe our big players. Congo has one away game against Sudan. Nigeria has one home game against South Africa. Nigeria needs to beat Congo in Point Noire for us to have seven points, the same as the Congolese, except that we would have a superior goals advantage, depending on how many we score.

    Congo would need to do the impossible – beat Sudan at home in the last game. Nigeria would be playing a South Africa, who would have qualified already. Bafana Bafana won’t come to Uyo to fight, knowing that they have secured one of the qualification tickets. Can we achieve this feat? Yes, but these coaches must go.

    We embraced coaches who wanted to relate with the president on football matters even when they were not politicians. Of course, this caveat (because it was granted) made the sports minister redundant. We tolerated coaches who ridiculed the country by resigning their appointment on a foreign radio, even when the minister (Bolaji Abdullahi) was with them in South Africa.

    Rather than accept their resignation letters, we begged them. We received them with pomp and ceremony and swept under the carpet the heinous crime of humiliating us when we ought to be celebrating a feat last recorded 19 years ago. The world watched in awe as our players and coaches were decorated with honours, given cash and houses while the federation chiefs and, indeed, the sports minister were made bystanders at a ceremony where they ought to have been co-actors. Behold, the coaches were told that they had direct access to Mr. President.

    With tails tucked in-between their legs, NFF men left the seat of government dejected, unable to believe what hit them. Of course, like the proverbial turkey, the coaches derided the federation chiefs. They told the world that they were being owed several months’ salaries and allowances. They colluded with the players to embarrass us by refusing to travel to Brazil for the 2013 Confederations Cup. The former minister’s attempts to plead with them on the matter while they were in Namibia were forestalled by those who beat their chests that they are disciplinarians. Instead, we sent the money to them through the embassy, sweeping under the carpet the ignominious act of allowing the aircraft chartered by FIFA to take them to Brazil empty.

    Things got so bad that the coaches kept telling us of being wooed by as many as seven countries, yet they kept our job. Emboldened, the coaches and the players disgraced us further during the World Cup by refusing to train for the game against France until they received their appearance fees, which many countries at the Mundial had not received.

    Rather than call their bluff, we panicked and sent $3.85 million cash to them before the game in Brazil. Instead of keeping the sharing of the cash till after the France tie, the players and coaches disbursed it until the wee hours of the game, which Nigeria lost 2-0.

    Ordinarily, we ought to have sacked the coaches, given the glut of Nigerians who ply their trade in Europe and the Diaspora. We didn’t. We celebrated the fact that we qualified for the second round by winning one game, drawing one and losing one in 2014. We compared this feat to the one we achieved in 1994, when we won two matches and lost one.

    With this scenario, it was easy for the coaches to insult our sensibilities with their mindless invitation of unqualified players for our matches, with the NFF and even the minister unable to make any inputs. They hid under the unholy pact which gives them freehand to ruin the Eagles, as it has turned out now. The big questions now are: who will pick the next set of players to prosecute our last two matches against Congo and South Africa? Will the coaches not ask for new contracts before the two matches? Will we wait until we are arithmetically out of the qualifiers before asking the coaches to go? Who would replace the sacked coaches? Will it be another set of Nigerians or the usual journeymen European coaches who have paraded Africa for years?

    We want a manager with an orientation for encouraging football academies to groom our youths at the grassroots. Such a manager must have a template to train our domestic league coaches. He also should have the clout to expose our budding stars to big clubs in Europe the way Clemens Westerhof discovered, nurtured and exposed players, such as Uche Okechukwu, Friday Elaho, Benedict Iroha, George Finidi, Daniel Amokachi et al. Westerhof’s initiative made these raw talents achieve the feats they recorded both for Nigeria and their foreign clubs. Their exploits compelled foreign scouts to invade Nigeria in search of other players. Little wonder, our players excelled in Europe during Westerhof’s time.

    We are tired of Nigerian coaches. Their eras have been dogged with prayers for miracles and mathematical permutations for qualification tickets to major competitions. The Eagles must fly again. Certainly not under Nigerian coaches – until they change their orientation. May we never go through this tortuous path again, Amen.

  • Amaju, watch your back (2)

    Amaju, watch your back (2)

    Today will be a watershed in the annals of our football, if Sudan beats Nigeria in one of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in Khartoum. Ordinarily, a game between Nigeria and Sudan should be a stroll in the park, given our players’ pedigree in international football. But it is not. Reason: the coaches’ seeming penchant for changing the squad for inexplicable reasons.

    As African champions, the Super Eagles have been tipped by most pundits to top the group without qualms. The story is different now with the Eagles. They are a divided house with plenty of misgivings between the coaches and players, even though the coaches don’t want to accept this fact. Some of the Europe-based stars are grumbling about the quality of players in the squad. They are scared to confront the coaches, having seen what befell Ikechukwu Uche for daring to criticise the coaches’ tactics during the turbulent stages of the South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria won.

    Yet, it is instructive to note that the two countries (Congo and South Africa) have each won an away game. This away win marker is what the Eagles and coaches must aim at, not the repulsive statement by one of the coaches that he met the Eagles tottering at inception and groomed the players to stardom. What this corky coach failed to say was that most of the players he took to South Africa were players who plied their trade in Europe. The coach must be told that it takes more than luck for any black man to keep a playing shirt in any European club. Besides, this writer would also want to ask the coach whose fault it would be if Nigeria fails to qualify for the 2015 edition in Morocco?

    Suddenly, it has dawned on the coaches that there will be climatic conditions in Sudan. There are also pockets of complaints over the reason why the game should be played on artificial turf. Those who picked the lopsided set of players are ruing the late injuries to some of the invited players. Sadly, one of them, Michael Babatunde, was injured one week before the team list was released.  Yet he was selected. Akpan sustained an injury while playing for Reading FC in England about the same time Babatunde limped out of a club match, yet he too was selected. That Babatunde and Akpan are injured would not shock their European club managers. Rather they would be wondering the kind of scouting system we have here and the calibre of coaches in the team. Indeed, what do the coaches expect the players to say if they are asked about the state of their injuries? Will a player tell his coach that he is unfit, if picked for a game against Sudan, where a victory fetches each player $10,000? The talk of the Eagles flying in chartered aircraft is cheap publicity. The Eagles have been travelling by such means. It is interesting that coaches who once complained about using such means of transportation into high altitude areas are demanding for it now. This is not the first time we are travelling by chartered aircraft and getting the desired results.

    We are in this situation because we have coaches who don’t listen. Since we won the Africa Cup of Nations, they have handled matters concerning the team like their personal estates. They have brazenly invited recuperating players and those who ply their trade in novelty leagues such as China, to the Eagles. The immediate backlash of such unscrupulous invitation of players will be Nigeria’s exit (God forbid), if Sudan beats The Eagles tonight in Khartoum. Not even a draw is good for Nigeria.

    But can the Eagles win tonight? Yes, given the Nigerian can-do spirit. Will this spartan spirit be all that we require to beat Sudan? Yes; not the coaches’ outdated style of play, poor match reading abilities and appalling changes. The players should resolve to win this game for Nigerians by playing to the best of their abilities. Many a Nigerian fan has died watching the Eagles since they returned to the “wobbling and fumbling” era.

    The Eagles must know that the Sudanese are wounded lions, having lost their first two matches. A second home loss will be unacceptable to their nationals; hence they would adopt any method to secure a draw, if they cannot beat the Eagles. Eagles must play like Trojans. They must forget about the disadvantages of playing on artificial turfs. Many of them earned their European club contracts playing for our national teams. This is one game they must ‘win’ for the fans, who want a reassuring victory in our quest to clinch one of the group’s two qualification tickets. It is an achievable feat.

    However, my joy looking at the future of the Eagles is that the new NFF President Melvin Amaju Pinnick, has stated that the coaches won’t be allowed to pick players at their whims and caprices. Well said, Amaju. I just hope you don’t recant on this. Amaju told media men in one of his interviews that: “We are going to create a technical study group that would build data bank of Nigerian players playing abroad and how they play regularly.

    “We would have A-league players, B-league players and C-league players, as the case may be. If, for example you have someone playing in the A-league and scoring goals, you cannot bring someone from China to come and bench that person. We cannot allow that. We will give him a pool, where he picks players from. That is the way it is done all over the world.”

    We are at the crossroad. We are on a familiar terrain where pundits leaving that task of Nigeria’s qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco to permutations, where we pray and fast that the teams ahead of us lose their remaining matches. We always leave such critical aspects of our preparations till the last minute. One cynic told me that such crazy periods give some people the opportunity to make money.

    I dismissed him, insisting that we must never give Nigerian coaches the freehand to run the Super Eagles. He agreed but insisted that the NFF wouldn’t have the courage to make the Eagles coaches subservient to the federation. I laughed heartily, knowing who Pinnick is, when it comes to taking decisions. I told the cynic that Amaju can sack the coaches, no matter whose ox is gored, if it would ensure that sanity reigns in the team. The fellow took a bet, promising me an all- expenses paid trip to Dubai. I turned down the offer because it was too cheap. I didn’t want to waste his money.

    So when I entered my office on Monday to discuss the stories for the next day, I was told that Amaju was on Supersports television, where he informed Nigerians that the chief coach, Stephen Keshi need technical help. Was I shocked? Never. Readers of this column know my views on the coaches’ tactics – playing two holding midfielders and asking the wing players to fall back into the midfield to help, was obsolete and would  crumble, if we play against teams with more men in that department. Their tactical changes during matches are puzzling. They create more problems for the team. The coaches have refused to subject their lists for scrutiny.

    Amaju struck the nail on its head when he stated categorically that Eagles’ problems rest not with the players but the head coach. The coach doesn’t like to be told his team’s faults. His man-management is poor. Keshi’s bloated ego has affected his relationship with the players. This idea of the coach saying that he is the god on the training grounds is wrong. Keshi, Madabuchi, like the easterners will say. He needs to be told that he won’t remain there if the players want to sabotage his efforts. He must learn to accept mistakes made by the team when it loses. This idea of always taking the credit when the team wins must stop. I know that Keshi is an avowed Catholic. Why he refuses to forgive his transgressors baffles me. He ought to have known the Christian doctrine of penitence.

    Last word on Ike Uche

     

    Thursday newspapers screamed with the story of Eagles Chief Coach Stephen Keshi urging Nigerians not to divide the team with suggestions that he needs Ikechukwu Uche. He went on to say that Uche will never play for the Eagles under his watch. He has a right to say what pleases him. But this country is bigger than Keshi. If Uche is our best in Europe, NFF men must insist on his invitation, especially now that the team is fumbling.

    One insider in the Eagles told me that it was after the team’s Secretary, Dayo Enebi, pleaded with Keshi that he included him in the last squad. The secretary’s interaction with NFF chief compelled Enebi to call Uche. Of course, Uche expressed surprise at his sudden consideration for the Eagles after the 2014 World Cup. He told Enebi that the coach ought to have called him to discuss his plans for the two games as it is done in other climes, instead of him reading of his invitation in newspaper.

    Enebi took Uche’s message to Keshi. He directed that the Villarreal FC of Spain’s striker should be dropped. Was it wrong for Uche to have asked the coach to talk with him? Is it not from such discussions that coaches know the physical conditions of their players? Does it not show that Keshi didn’t talk with Uche? After all, Uche told the media in Spain that he didn’t talk with Keshi. Amaju, please get Uche to sit face-to-face with Keshi to iron out their differences. Nigeria needs her best players.

    Amaju must get the coaches to work with the body’s technical committee. We have the players to make the Africa Cup of Nations our birthright. We would have beaten Congo and South Africa groggy with goals if the coaches had put aside their pettiness to pick our best.

    This is the truth.

  • Amaju, watch your back (1)

    Amaju, watch your back (1)

    Pinnick Amaju must be celebrating his Tuesday feat in Warri. He richly deserves to be the new NFF President, given his achievements in Delta State. A self-made man, Amaju knows what he wants. He gets things done. He doesn’t know how to explain failure. He is hot tempered, but he flips over for the right reasons. For instance, when the centre referee from Bayelsa State who handled the Delta State FA Cup final last year nearly bungled the best final held in the country, he showed his foul mood.

    An avid supporter of Arsenal, Amaju knows that football is big business. He has a working template already in Delta, but that shouldn’t translate to the norm. He needs to widen the horizon. But in doing that, he should ask what the template on ground is and find a way to improve on it; not destroy or stop it.

    In developing marketing plans, Amaju needs to get the National Assembly to fast-track the process of abrogating Decree 101. Otherwise, he would face the frustration of getting the government or the minister to overturn juicy deals on spurious grounds, such as making Nigerian firms handle the projects.

    There are several unexploited marketing windows in the NFF. Amaju must sit with the firm in charge and the marketing department to draw up a new roadmap for our football that would respect existing structures, even with the new deals to be struck.

    The plank on which government apostles insist on its interference is that the NFF comes to it cup in hand for funds to run its activities. Sponsorship comes with good packages; Amaju should get people to repackage structures in our football that can attract more cash. He should, in the next six months tell Nigerians how much the NFF got from inter and intra club transfers in the last two years, perhaps in his first 100 days in office. He needs to establish what the revenue generating platforms at the Glasshouse are and ask how funds from such avenues were spent.

    He should institute instruments that would make the Glasshouse chiefs more prudent. And this should start by ensuring that Nigerians are told yearly what the body received and what is left in the tilt. He should also publish the body’s audited accounts yearly to help improve its profile among corporate firms. It must be said that no firm would fund a corrupt organisation or one not open to laying its books for scrutiny.

    Amaju, NFF presidency position isn’t a job. You have no business being at the Glasshouse every day. Learn to delegate functions. Some board meetings can be done online, now that majority of your members are literate. Get everyone at the NFF to work with timelines. Evaluate workers quarterly. Desist from making controversial statements in the media. Think through what you want to say. Always communicate through the NFF media department. On no account should board members arbitrarily talk to the media on NFF matters. These are some of the pitfalls in the NFF that make the president a laughing stock. Such utterances pitch the NFF against its critics, waiting to pull the body down.

    NFF’s biggest brand is the Super Eagles. Prior to the Aminu Maigari-led board, the Eagles were derided as “Super Chicken,” a toga which made the brand worthless in the eye of potential investors. Indeed, with Eagles’ poor rating, it was difficult to get quality friendly games to help increase the NFF’s earnings to prosecute its activities independent of government cash.

    Need I tell Amaju the benefits of a high rating for the Eagles and our chances of getting bigger countries to come to Nigeria for friendly games? We must stop the practice of the Eagles playing international friendlies  outside Nigeria. It’s about time the Eagles played in Nigeria, to reawaken Nigerians’ interest in watching matches.

     The Abuja National Stadium will be too small to for the crowd if we have the Eagles pitched against Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo playing. The same scenario would be the lot of the fans if the Eagles’ next game is against Argentina, with Lionel Messi and Di Maria featuring. These two matches are box offices.

    Revenue from such matches will increase cash flow. Again, the new NFF board must stop this idea of paying players and coaches match bonuses for qualifiers – they ask and even hold us to ransome for appearance fees. We must emulate the Germans, who pay at the end of the exercise. For winning the World Cup, each German player got $370,000. This isn’t appearance fee. What it means is that the over $25 million that Germany will get from FIFA will serve as a form of revenue for the German FA. But, in Nigeria’s case, the players have already taken $3.8 million out whatever would be Nigeria’s earnings for participating at the Brazil 2014 World Cup. This rubbish must stop, if the NFF must remain solvent and self financing. Aside, Amaju must insist on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for the players and coaches. Our players have such rule books in their European clubs. No player dares to lead any revolt against his club management. I’m confident that Amaju will deliver on his promises to them.

    After all, the Greeks donated their appearance fees to the government for building a hostel for national teams to prepare for international competitions. Most of the Germans donated their World Cup bounty to charity homes. Our players’ and coaches’ argument that NFF men will siphon the money is warp. This is one of the reasons why the NFF is always cash-strapped.

    But what we see here is the penchant for playing games in London or in countries, whose entry visas are difficult to get. Put simply, NFF men have used their international matches to enrich their Nigerian passports with visas to prominent European countries and America.

    Sadly, Amaju is coming to the Glasshouse to manage an Eagles side that is torn through its ranks by all-knowing coaches, who thrive in belittling our best players in the media, forgetting that such derisive comments put these boys in disadvantageous positions with their foreign clubs. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Amaju that most of our big boys in the Eagles are taking their turns to lampoon their coaches in the media. This needless trend has further destroyed the Eagles, culminating in vindictive removal of star players who have an axe to grind with their coaches.

    The Eagles are sixth in Africa. This is incredible at a time when we are the African champions. It is not enough to give the coaches the two games against Sudan to determine if their contracts will be renewed. Amaju must sit down with the coaches and insist on having our best players in Omdurman, whatever it will cost us to do so. Such pragmatic decisions are what we need to rescue the sinking Eagles.

    The 24-man squad named for the two matches is laughable. It includes at least four new players, who may not have played in Africa before. One is not sure if the coaches considered the bad pitch and the prevailing humid weather in Sudan before picking some of those players. The battle of Omdurman is not an assignment for weaklings. It is a Trojan’s war and only our best players can secure a victory for us.

    Amaju needs to contact our players to establish a relationship with them. Get them to trust you and key into your blueprints for the game. If Eagles fail to grab the qualification ticket to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, you have failed. Nigerians will count it against you, even if your tenure inherited a house in commotion.

    If the Eagles don’t beat Sudan at home, the return leg game won’t attract the fans to the stadium and no firm will buy any marketing activity, knowing that such an exercise would amount to winking in the dark. I also don’t think that the few big boys in the team will be interested in the return fixture, if we lose – God forbid – in Omdurman.

    In renewing the coaches’ contracts, Amaju must insert extant clauses to curb some of their excesses. The coaches must see the NFF as their employers and not dictate to it. NFF must negotiate salary packages that it can pay. In the new contracts, the coaches must be told explicitly that all national invitations must be discussed with the technical committee before the list of players is released. We are in this mess today because Eagles’ coaches act as tin gods hiding under the cloak of being given a freehand to pick their players. They have failed us. They have used such lists to punish those who offend them to the detriment of the team. The shame is on Nigerians, if we don’t qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations. Sadly, the coaches will dump us and still take one of the qualifiers to the tournament. It has happened before.

    Enter the dragon

    The headline of this sub column is the title of the late Bruce Lee’s popular film. And it aptly fits what we may experience when the Eagles reconvene for the “Battle of Sudan” next week, when Stephen Keshi meets with Emmanuel Emenike.

    The media were awash with a report where the Eagles chief coach explained why he dropped Emmanuel Emenike from Nigeria’s starting line-up against Congo DR. In the report, the coach said that some members of the team were angry with Emenike’s conduct since his feat at the South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria won in Johannesburg on February 10.

    Expectedly, Emenike has replied the coach and made several insinuations that could lead to his being dropped against Sudan. If this happens, we are doomed. Mark my word. Oba Khato Okpere, Ise!

  • Illegal NSC

    Illegal NSC

    Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo has gone inside his cocoon. He no longer leads the onslaught for change in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). He has embraced the fact that the beautiful game belongs to FIFA, whose rules must be respected if we hope to belong to the comity of 209 countries under the control of the world soccer ruling body.

    Even with Danagogo taking the back seat, there are still pockets of grumblers, who have not realised they have been left in the lurch in the quest to eject the Aminu Maigari-led NFF board. These few must be shocked by the minister’s new position, but that is the hallmark of politics – there are no permanent friends but permanent interests. I hope those expecting the kangaroo setting to continue must be told that they shot themselves in the foot when they sought the intervention of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on the NFF election impasse.

    With the judgment from CAS, what this protest group doesn’t understand is that the matter is closed for life. It must be emphasised that FIFA frowns at its matters being taken to law courts. I also don’t think that Nigerians are in the mood to watch the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations as spectators. They want the Super Eagles to defend the trophy they won in South Africa last year.

    But for Danagogo, these are troubled times. Some of his foot soldiers in the botched attempts to unseat the Maigari-led NFF have turned the axe at him. It would be interesting to watch how this new scenario plays out. But what is clear is that Nigeria football will attain its desired fillip when the new board is inaugurated after the September 30 elections in Warri.

    The minister must, however, be commended for getting security operatives to man the entrance to the Glasshouse on Monday, when those who got the court injunction vowed to storm the place to resume work. That singular act has convinced FIFA that we are prepared to do the right things in Warri on September 30 when the NFF elections hold. I want to appeal to the minister to stop the incessant arrest of NFF men, with days to the elections in Warri. Danagogo must note the FIFA men read our newspapers. They won’t hesitate to ban Nigeria, if the election doesn’t hold on September. It won’t be good for Danagogo’s tenure if we become a football pariah nation under his tutelage as sports minister. God forbid.

    However, the biggest news on Monday was the proclamation by the erstwhile Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Patrick Ekeji, that the commission was an illegal entity. I wasn’t surprised by Ekeji’s damning verdict, even though it has taken his exit from the commission to realise that the body is illegal. It is the Nigerian way of life – medicine after death.

    Since Ekeji has thrown down the gauntlet, the minister should call for the file and hasten the process of getting the NSC to be recognised by Nigerian law. As a lawyer and politician from the ruling party, Danagogo should know those to meet at the governmental and legislative levels to get the document that would make him superintend over a legal body and not an illegal one as it is.

    Danagogo cannot be struggling to legalise the NFF, yet his office is illegal. Nigerians will remember him if he can get the NSC and NFF acts into law before he quits next year. He could contact Ekeji to find out where the bill is and what needs to be done.

    Interestingly, Ekeji argued that NFF men don’t like to account for subventions. What Ekeji didn’t tell us was how well NSC has also accounted for what it spent. In one of NSC’s statement of accounts, it was stated that one director spent over N1 million to open a facebook account. It caused a furore but the House of Representatives’ Sports Committee looked the other way after raising the alarm. Nigeria we hail thee.

    The NSC and NFF bills will introduce professionalism into the two bodies. We will have men who will run the place professionally and not see the bodies as platforms for visa racketeering, shopping, enriching themselves through fat estacodes and updating the visa records in their international passports.

    In other climes, the activities of each body are a continuum, largely because of the structures instutionalised by the initiators of such bodies. The templates are such that new entrants into the NSC and the NFF know the dos and don’ts of the organisations. The transition from one board to the other is seamless, with each new board striving to improve on what it met on ground instead of haunting its predecessors with allegations of corruption or colluding with the supervisory body to oust a leadership it doesn’t like.

    We hope also that the NSC bill will remove the NFF from under the stranglehold of government officials who head the commission. The only way that our football can attain the financial independence that we crave for is to run the NFF as a business concern where its members don’t need any approval from a government official in running its initiatives meant to generate funds for its activities.

    The government should restrict its sponsorship to Nigeria’s participation in big competitions, such as the World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Africa Cup of Nations etc.

    With the NFF running as a business, many Nigerians will seek to buy shares, if it is listed on the stock exchange. Such robust financial approach will guarantee good leadership that will be accountable to its investors, who will demand explicit explanations of what transpired with each financial year.

    The biggest problem with sports administration in Nigeria rests with policy sommersaults in both organisations. It explains the reason why there are several sports policies in the dusty drawers of civil servants in the sports ministry that never get to be implemented. Every new minister comes up with his own vision, even if the previous ones have produced the desired results.

    For instance, during the 8th All Africa Games held in Abuja, Ekeji came up with the laudable Team Nigeria project that settled the problem of athletes’ welfare. Nigeria won the tournament. Rather than allow Ekeji to improve on the template, he was taken out of the Sports Ministry to an obscure Ministry of Statistics. He was replaced by a technocrat who supervised the death of Team Nigeria. The relics of Ekeji’s Team Nigeria project are some of the buses that some sports federations have today, which sadly are being used to transport federations’ members and their families to weddings, funerals and, in some cases, they are used by the drivers for illegal taxi business (kabukabu).

    I was surprised that Ekeji didn’t comment of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC). In the past, the NOC was solvent to do its business without government interference. Under Raheem Adejumo, NOC ran their shows effortlessly so much so that one-time Sports Minister Jim Nwobodo described the body as a cult. Nwobodo  ensured that the elderly man was eased out of the place in a commando fashion. Nwobodo did that because he couldn’t dictate to Adejumo want he wanted. Adejumo stood by the tenets of the Interantional Olympic Committee (IOC). He refused to be Nwobodo’s errand boy.

    Since the forceful removal of Adejumo, the NOC has been led by the nose by the incumbent sports minister. NOC lost its independence, more so with the insistence of the NSC men to pick the body’s leader. When would the NOC be run like the Adejumo era? Rock in your casket, Adejumo.

    Clap for Keshi

    It is good to read that Stephen Keshi is discussing with the NFF chiefs his team list for the games against Sudan on October 10 and Sudan again in Abuja on October 15. It shows that the Big Boss is willing to change.

    How exciting to read also that he is willing to trim his 27-man squad to 24. A cynic however warned me while writing this column that Keshi’s change of attitude could be because he doesn’t have a contract. I dismissed that; the Big Boss always wants to win. He may not admit it openly, but I know that he won’t want to join the league of coaches who failed to make Nigeria qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.

    A vote for Musa Amadu

    The hero in the NFF/NSC squabble to get the government to conduct the September 30 elections in Warri using the FIFA Statutes is the body’s General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu. Had Musa been like previous NFF secretaries, he would have done Minister Tammy Danagogo’s bidding to keep his job.

    Whatever happens in Warri election, it must be reiterated here that Amadu should retain his seat. His handling of the federation in the last four years has been devoid of the pitfalls that landed Nigeria in trouble in the past.

    Besides, Amadu has undergone several courses to update himself for the changing times in sports administration. I hope that Amadu keeps his job even if a northerner replaces Aminu Maigari as the next NFF President.

    Sport is the only endeavour in Nigeria that doesn’t recognise ethnic divides, religion and creed. It is the only part of Nigerian life that forbids national character. Amadu has excelled. We shouldn’t remove him for anyone who would be asking questions. Rather, Amadu should be encouraged to grow on the job because Nigeria doesn’t deserve less. Oba Khato Okpere, Ise!

  • Eagles’ fall guy

    Eagles’ fall guy

    In times past, it was said that Nigerian coaches exhibited inferiority complex towards our big stars from Europe such that they were not respected. Nigerian coaches who handled the Eagles were bereft of the modern day tactics to which most of our Europe-based stars were exposed. So, the trend of recruiting foreign coaches for the Eagles reigned just as it produced the results that we craved for. In fact, most Nigerian coaches who worked under foreign coaches in the Super Eagles were naïve with a few stooping to the extent of carrying the foreign coaches’ briefcases in public places such as the airport, in a bid to curry favour.

    The general belief was that the appointment of some of our retired Europe-based stars would bridge the gap, just as it would finally throw into the dust bin our penchant for hiring foreign coaches, especially journeymen in the trade.

    Indeed, many Nigerians celebrated the decision to empower ex-internationals to train the national teams.  They argued that current stars won’t dare underrate them, having watched them as kids play for the country and their European clubs. Indeed, the choice of the last two Eagles’ technical crew raised hope that Nigeria could realise the dream being among the league of countries whose coaches played and coached the national teams at the senior World Cup.

    I didn’t share in this sentiment because these ex-internationals haven’t been able to transit from being players to managers. Their coaching methods put a lie to the fact that they worked under great coaches. Most times, I’m not shocked by the flawed tactics which I reckon would haunt them while trying to instill discipline in those current stars who play under renowned coaches.

    I was therefore not shocked to read Samson Siasia’s revelation that Chelsea star John Mikel Obi hates being rebuked.  “Someone would have to talk to him. But to talk to Mikel, you have to be ready for your own beating,’’ he said.

    “From what we have seen and what people are talking about, they don’t think he is giving his best. But he should be able to criticise himself; he should do a self-critique. If he believes he is not doing well, he should to try and up his game.”

    My heart sank reading this statement for the fact that Siasia nurtured Mikel to stardom. Besides, it is common knowledge that Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho chastised Mikel over the flaws in his game, yet the Nigerian has not beaten the Special One. Indeed, Mikel has granted interviews where he revealed his fear of Mourinho.

    The truth is Mikel doesn’t reckon with our coaches simply because of their inability to improve on his game with their tactics and philosophy. His seemingly recalcitrant attitude rests with the fact that our coaches kowtow to him and make him feel indispensable.

    Besides, our national team’s coaches’ morbid fixation with where he played in the past has made the Chelsea star play the way he has been doing, knowing he cannot be substituted. Perhaps, if our coaches shocked him by dropping him from the list of invited players for some matches, he would sit up.

    One cannot understand how Mikel is being made to play in the offensive midfield position in the Eagles, in spite of the fact that he has been playing in the defensive midfield position for Chelsea. At Chelsea, he distinguishes himself, so why can’t our coaches do the same. Why is Siasia trying to make Mikel the fall guy of the Eagles’ recent slide when he doesn’t pick himself for the coaches? I challenge the coaches to drop Mikel for the next two games and see if he won’t improve, especially if we beat Sudan handsomely in the two-legged ties in Omdurman and Abuja, like we are being told by the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    The current Eagles’ slide can be traced to the coaches’ tin god status. Having groomed the Eagles to lift the Africa Cup of Nations diadem in South Africa last year, they ought

    to have used that squad as the pivot of their subsequent matches. Instead, they got excited and almost changed the squad members wholesale in the next game after the Africa Nations Cup conquest. I had thought that the Eagles’ disappointing 1-1 draw against Kenya in Calabar should have served as a warning to the coaches to retain the cup-winning squad. It didn’t; they continued under the guise of rebuilding. It also became impossible to correct them, since they were enjoying rave reviews from the public, following their Cup of Nations feat.

    Our reluctance to call these coaches to order is chiefly responsible for the slide in our fortunes. If we think that we can beat Sudan at home, we must be joking. The Sudanese are worried about their team’s dwindling fortunes and would want to stop the rot either by beating Nigeria or playing for a draw. Besides, the deplorable pitch and inclement weather conditions could give them the fillip to beat us since our players would be grappling with the aforementioned conditions. We can overcome the Sudanese if we storm Omdurman with our armada of fit stars most of who would be challenged to give their best.

     Emmanuel Emenike’s goal drought can be traced to the midfield formation that the Eagles play. At the Africa Cup of Nations, he enjoyed a telepathic understanding with Brown Ideye and Sunday Mba. This has been broken by the coaches’ mindless tinkering of the squad using all manner of players.

    Rather than replace the noticeable ageing players with emerging stars from our age grade national teams, our coaches invited wastepipes from novelty leagues in Europe, the Americas and the Diaspora. The coaches refused to subject their lists to scrutiny. It got so bad that we invited ineligible players such as Efe Ambrose for one of such matches. We were saved the embarrassment by one NFF chief, who checked the books and found that the Celtic of Scotland star had bagged the maximum number of yellow cards.

    Elsewhere, when players are picked for games, ardent followers of the beautiful game understand the reasons for such choices. Those coaches pick players doing well for their European and local teams. What this guarantees is the fitness of their players, their mental alertness and zeal to win matches which they would have acquired playing for their clubs.

     Our coaches must learn how to see the Eagles as our team not their property. They must change their style of dropping players that they don’t like. They must learn from managers like Mourinho, who was criticised by Eden Hazard, yet recommended a bumper wage increase for the Chelsea star for the next five years at Stamford Bridge.

    There are several ways of enforcing discipline. It should never be to the detriment of the Eagles which is what we are faced with. If the team had been doing well, no one would be advocating for their return. Our coaches can redeem themselves by picking our best always.

     Weekly, we see other national teams’ managers watch their wards in big European clubs. These technical men use the opportunity to meet with such clubs chiefs to find out how their boys are faring. Those who don’t play due to injury get consoled by their coaches just as the cause of their injuries are established. Nothing is left to chance. There are no cases of inviting injury-hit players for international assignments.

     The advantage of such visits is that they help the managers see the specific positions in which their wards perform best. Perhaps, if our coaches toed this path, they would have asked Mourinho what informed his decision to field Mikel in defensive midfield role than his traditional offensive position. Mourinho would allay their fears about the bench role to which the Nigerian has found himself. This could also be the platform to exchange numbers, and routinely rub minds with the Special One on tactics and players’ management.

    A coaching relationship with Mourinho is worth all the money and time that our coaches spend sleeping at home or being guests of television stations during European league games. Recall that the ‘White witch doctor’ Phillipe Troussier got the Nigerian job courtesy a recommendation from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

     Our coaches must accept that they have failed us with their choice of players. Indeed, Nigeria’s number football supporter, Dr. Raufu Ladipo, on Thursday lampooned them insisting they should forgive players who have offended them by picking them for Nigeria’s next matches. Ladipo admonished the coaches further when he said: “We in Nigeria know that football is one thing that keeps us united. It is one thing that gives us joy. So, I’m using this opportunity to tell Keshi and his technical crew that they need to open up the space for other players to come in because presently, more than 30 per cent of the players that we are parading have no business in the national team.”

    One sincerely hopes that the coaches will heed Ladipo’s warning. Only the best is good enough for Nigeria. There can’t have be a better time for this advice than now when Nigeria is rated sixth in Africa at a time we are the continental champions Oba Khato Okpere, Ise!

  • Good luck Eagles

    Good luck Eagles

    Ordinarily, this column should have focused on Super Eagles’ game against Congo Brazzaville in Calabar today and the next tie against Bafana Bafana in Cape Town, South Africa on September 10. This column ought to have examined those picked for the two matches to find out if our coaches learnt anything from the Eagles’ World Cup outings in Brazil.

    I would also have looked at the propriety in asking Stephen Keshi to handle the team pro bono, as if we have not seen coaches renegotiate their contracts without leaving the team in limbo, like the Big Boss did until recently.

    I would have chastised goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama for choosing club over country with his laughable excuse for missing today’s game. In as much as the timing of Enyeama’s pullout was wrong, it also showed the goalkeeper as one who isn’t sure of how well the team would prosecute the two matches, given the impasse at the Glasshouse.

    I know that Enyeama must surely play for his French side next weekend, because he dares not give any flimsy excuse to his coaches. Perhaps, the Eagles coaches should shut the door against Enyeama in subsequent matches to allow other goalkeepers gain confidence by manning the goalpost in his absence. What does family issues mean? He should be stripped of the Eagles captainship. Put simply, Enyeama dodged the two games. He should be left out completely in this campaign. Enyeama must be told that he got the European contract playing for Nigeria at international competitions.

    But would you blame Enyeama when those who held us hostage in Namibia and Brazil are being treated like kings? It is a pity that this needless feud at the Glasshouse has once again stopped the move to get the Eagles’ coaches and players to sign the Code of Conduct document that would clearly spell out the team’s dos and don’t.

    One is pained that we have a rudderless NFF as it were arising from this crisis, otherwise, we ought to be talking about confronting the Congolese with a larger number of graduates from our junior national teams, not this vicious recycling of players who won’t be worth our while ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

    If we are not careful, a boy such as Kelechi Iheanacho won’t play for the Super Eagles due to his fast growth, especially with the type of coaches that we have in the team who can’t handle successful players plying their trade in bigger European clubs. It is only in a country like ours that Ihenancho isn’t in Calabar to destroy the Congolese today. The argument that the coaches should be given a freehand to pick their players is bunkum because we are seeing Iheanacho’s mates in other countries being integrated into their senior national teams. For instance, Neymar was in Lagos for the 2007 U-17 World Cup. Brazil didn’t get to the finals but Neymar was outstanding even as a substitute. Today, Neymar is a world class star while his contemporaries in the Golden Eaglets that finished as runners up haven’t been able to make the Super Eagles. Eagles’ coaches need to explain to us why Ihenanacho wasn’t considered for these two games? He has been outstanding for Manchester City. He isn’t in the first 11 because of his age. This certainly isn’t the reason why the coaches left him out of this squad. Or is it?

    What a country. A polity where we strive to stand truth on its head, yet we expect such reforms to produce the desired changes. We seek to propagate personal interests above national issues, even if it means destroying all that we have gained in the past. Little wonder, the common phrase among our leaders when they get into such positions is “we will go back to the drawing board.” Hmm! I wonder what is left of this drawing board. It must be in tatters now with our jaded reforms meant to feed the interest of those who put them there.

    Since our celebrated second round appearance at the Mundial in 1994, our football has known no peace. Rather than face the task of ensuring that the business of a flawless participation of our athletes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the sports minister chose to direct the affairs of NFF that had barely 40 days left in its tenure. Why the minister was in such a hurry to install his man beats one’s imagination, especially with FIFA’s insistence on government not interfering in the administration of its affiliate bodies. It is common knowledge that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent a strong worded letter to Nigeria over the show-of-shame kits our athletes wore. What that setting showed was a failure of leadership at the NSC, since the buck stops on his table. It was also clear that the federations acted independently instead of allowing the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) to kit them. Sadly, despite being in Scotland, the minister didn’t ask the NOC why the Nigerian athletes were so shabbily dressed. The international media feasted with our coat-of-many-colours attires but it didn’t mean anything to the minister it seems. If it had been football, heavens would fall. While the minister orchestrated the need to keep the Super Eagles technical crew for their ‘remarkable’ outing in Brazil, he chose to lampoon NFF chiefs for the Eagles shambolic performance at the Mundial. One isn’t shocked with the minister’s doublespeak because it is the hallmark of our leaders- they only think after they have spoken. Indeed, when the Eagles clinched the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa on February 10, 2013, the coaches and players got all the applause while NFF men were treated like orphans. How come the NFF keep getting the stick, in the victories and losses of the Eagles? Shouldn’t those who got the praise in the period of triumph get the whip in defeat? Since the World Cup ended, Nigeria is the only country among the 32 nations that took part in the tournament that is in turmoil. By the ratings of FIFA, Nigeria is one of the 16 best countries at the last Mundial, so why didn’t the minister allow the NFF’s tenure to lapse instead of his tactless approach to force their exit. Curiously, rather than blame himself for failing to provide the logistics for the Nigerian contingent to the Commonwealth Games, he continued to push for the ouster for a board whose members have been commended by FIFA as being the only nation among the 208 others to qualify for all the body’s competitions. How else do you measure success than with such verdicts from credible bodies like FIFA? Facts are sacred. Indeed, the fact that one of our weightlifters tested positive for steroids was enough reason for the minister to have pursued the task of fishing out those who gave the girl the banned substances with the same enthusiasm he has shown in getting the NFF out of office. The minister’s utterances since the furore began explain why he hasn’t been able to resolve the crises. A more tactical administrator should have ensured that the President received the Eagles and the NFF men in Abuja for commendation. He could later sit with the NFF men to tell them where they erred. He would have used that platform to ask for the roadmap for the future more so when we have two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, 25 days after the Mundial ended. During the heart-to-heart talk with the NFF men, the minister would have sounded them out on their next movement as it concerns the body’s elections. He would have known those eager to return to the NFF and plotted his next moves. The minister must redeem himself by asking those elected into the kangaroo NFF board to respect FIFA’s directives, else we are banned. We must accept the fact that FIFA didn’t invite us to participate in its competitions. We elected to do so and must therefore respect their rules. I really don’t know why government officials have refused to allow the NFF run as an independent body? Must government fund NFF? Is the domestic league being funded by government? No. If the domestic league can run on its own, what stops NFF from doing so? Government should just restrict its sponsorship to Nigeria’s participation in big tournaments (World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, Olympic Games etc) and allow the NFF fund other things. The minister should as matter of necessity ensure that he fast tracks the process of abrogating Decree 101. He must ensure that our football is governed by the FIFA Statutes, if we hope to open the horizon for other Nigerians to aspire to run for the NFF elections. The calibre of people who can run the NFF will remains at its pedestrian level until the Statutes, as operated elsewhere is instituted. We must jettison the Nigerian version which leaves the window for government to interfere. We are tired of the bickerings at the Glasshouse, especially after every World Cup. Does it not worry the minister that FIFA have written us six letters since after the 2014 World Cup telling us what to do? Minister sir, allow NFF men run their elections the way FIFA wants it to.

  • Wanted: a neutral arbiter

    This is my most difficult weekly column.  Why? Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo’s media man is a colleague. I have known Patrick Omorodion since our high school days at the Advance College, Igueben in 1979.  My apologises, Omorodion. He may be feeling that I should have discussed these issues with him instead of writing a column on his boss. But this is a national issue and I feel strongly that Danagogo hasn’t been the neutral arbiter as his exalted office demands.

    Sir, the biggest public relations tool that Nigeria has is sports. The sports industry has redefined people’s perception of our country. Soccer crazy Nigerians around the world didn’t sleep on Monday morning to watch our gallant girls fight the Germans to a standstill. Images and complimentary comments from our girls litter the media space at a time the government is pumping billions into fighting the Ebola scourge. Nigerians hug themselves only when they celebrate the nation’s success as they ignore ethnic or religious inclinations.

    Besides, it is sad that those who should work with the kangaroo NFF board are pulling out, knowing the implications with FIFA. May I ask the minister what his duties would be if the domestic game is destroyed by this confusion? What would the players, coaches and those ancillary workers in the clubs be doing now that the league matches have been halted?  How do these board members hope to work with others, most of who are aggrieved with the way the election was conducted to openly favour those on the board? Is it not ridiculous that Segun Odegbami can be denied a right to contest on frivolous grounds of endorsement of his papers? A system that can so brazenly reject Odegbami for all that he represents in our soccer today should never be allowed to organise our game.

    I first met Danagogo at an interactive session in Lagos in May. Some of the questions I asked then are chiefly responsible for the crises in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).  I misread Danagogo’s stoic silence then to mean that he was studying the situation. With what has transpired since that interactive session, I shudder to ask if Danagogo enjoys what is happening. Is he looking at the bigger picture?

    Sitting in my office on Tuesday night, Channels television’s crew caught Danagogo live discussing with an unknown caller on telephone. Danagogo didn’t know that he was being recorded. His utterances told the story of why the crises won’t abate. Channels television showed us clips of the virtually empty conference room, with very few stakeholders. The minister ought to have asked what the problem was. At what time did Danagogo leave Chida Hotel? Was it after the purported Congress?

    Even with the apparent confusion on the ground, which was adequately covered in the international media, Danagogo told his listener in the telephone conversation that all was well and that he had just arrived in Chida Hotel, Abuja to declare the ceremony open.

    I was shocked when I saw him arrive with NFF General Secretary Musa Amadu for the Chida session. I thought that at the truce meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim that the congress would be without an election. I was miffed when it dawned on me that Danagogo had secured Amadu’s release from the DSS custody as part of the ploy to legitimise the Chida charade. Danagogo ought to have known, with the reversal of Aminu Maigari’s impeachment by the NFF board, that only Maigari can convoke a Congress, more so when FIFA’s letter categorically directed that Maigari should take charge of the Congress.

    Since the sham at Chida, I have waited patiently to hear Danagogo’s pronouncement that what was done wasn’t in sync with what was agreed with the Secretary to the Government. If what happened at Chida Hotel was just a Congress, Danagogo’s flaunting of Maigari’s resignation letter would have been justified.

    In defending his decision to leak Maigari’s letter to the public, Danagogo stated that he waited until August 26, when the body’s tenure ended, to release the August 12 resignation letter because he didn’t want to rock the boat.  Why didn’t the minister wait until the next election as decided with Anyim before releasing the letter? It also would not

  • Calling coaches’ bluff

    What is the trouble with our football? When will those seeking offices in the Glasshouse learn how to obey the FIFA statutes in actualising their ambitions? Who is responsible for the Wednesday morning NFF secretariat carnage that left key offices in ashes? Why do people like to attract attention to themselves for the wrong reasons? Which other body owns the beautiful game aside FIFA? How come nobody has called to order the faction of seven that still meets under a perceived NFF umbrella, after FIFA’s ruling which the sport minister has obeyed? Or is the minister no longer the final authority in sports?

    One had thought that with FIFA’s verdict on August 4 and the minister’s compliance, the last of the crises at the Glasshouse had been heard. But, like a thief in the night, the fire came suddenly, destroying everything in the General Secretary’s office, the accountant’s office and some adjoining offices.

    But the good news is that NFF men are saying no document was destroyed; all plans will go on without any hindrance. So, the theory of the fire being a happenstance raises hope of a new dawn at the place.

    Will this be the end of the wahala in NFF? I don’t think so because the police will begin investigations that will soon unveil a lot. The police must get to the root of the carnage. Those found culpable must face the sanctions.

    What this writer doesn’t understand is the refusal by the body’s first vice chairman to accept that FIFA’s verdict is final. He is still bickering. He has refused to present Aminu Maigari’s resignation letter. One will love to ask the vice chairman how a man that was impeached, dismissed and asked to leave the meeting hall could return with a resignation letter. If the vice-chairman, in his then capacity as president of the body, accepted Maigari’s purported resignation letter, he has no business being the face of our football. We want knowledgeable people in such exalted offices.

    Maigari returned to the NFF presidency because FIFA annulled the process that removed him from office. In the eyes of FIFA, the meeting where Maigari was impeached, dismissed and asked to walk out never held.

    In other climes, the vice chairman won’t be allowed to contest. A man who was impeached and dismissed has no basis to resign from a non-existent office. FIFA’s “Statutes” is the rule book for soccer globally. Our soccer chiefs must sit down and read it properly. We are tired of repeated FIFA interventions. I digress!

    I had my fears about our September 6 and 10 ties because of the stipulated 14 days notice to foreign clubs to release players to their national teams for approved international matches and friendlies. Now that the Glasshouse men have beaten the 14-day clause by naming 23 players for the two matches against Congo in Calabar on September 6 and South Africa in Cape Town on September 10, the question to ask is who picked the players? Is it the NFF or the chief coach? If it is the coach’s list, why all the talk of unresolved contract details? If it was NFF’s list, is it a pointer to the fact that they have given up on the coach’s demands and intend to announce a new helmsman? If yes, they better do it now, if they are sure that the coach’s contract has lapsed.

    But a story in one of the online networks quoted Keshi as saying that Victor Moses, who wasn’t listed in the 23-man squad had lost form. What struck me was that Keshi may not have forgiven Osaze Odemwingie who is also dropped. The noise of Osaze not playing to instruction in Nigeria’s first game in Brazil against Iran may be the reason. One could be wrong. Who knows, Osaze may have quietly resigned from playing for Nigeria. We will surely get Osaze’s response in the coming days.

    Keshi also told a radio station this week that he picked the 23-man squad in consultation with the Eagles secretary Dayo Enebi. What this simply shows is that Keshi picks his players without consulting his assistants. If I were in NFF, I will offer the job to Daniel Amokachi for N3 million and call the Big Boss’ bluff for the two games against Congo and South Africa.

    Reading through all the stories in the media concerning the renewal of the contract, the problem appears to be the coach’s insistence on having more than the N5 million monthly pay. His demands are legitimate, except that the NFF is saying that it went through hell paying the N5 million monthly and wouldn’t want that scenario to repeat itself.

    There were suggestions that the NFF men toyed with N10 million, which one of the negotiators to the coach described in the media as “slavish”. I don’t want to believe that anyone would say so. If indeed he said that, the NFF had better pull out of the discussion and quickly announce a new coach.

    Stephen Keshi has done well for Nigeria. His records with the Eagles are a clear testimony of his hard work. I know that Keshi is a patriot. He also has a right to make such demands. But where there is a stalemate, Keshi should let everyone know what he wants. Keshi doesn’t need to send negotiators for a new deal. After all, when he signed the first one, he came alone. Many have argued that there was no written document between the coach and the NFF in the first deal.

    So, has Keshi learnt lessons from what happened the first time with his bosses? Of course he has. But would the NFF want to do business with a coach who doesn’t think that his employers have a right to supervise his work? Are the NFF chiefs willing to have an employee who has unfettered access to big men in government on their payroll? Shouldn’t the NFF men use this platform of a new deal to include a code of conduct, telling the coach his contracts dos and don’ts?

    One is glad that the minister has stayed out of the discussion. We need to know the true employers of the coaches, if we hope to stop the show-of-shame in foreign land where the players and coaches refuse to honour our international matches until their dues are paid.

    Other countries strike deals with the players and coaches which terminate with the World Cup before the qualifiers begin. This idea of paying players and coaches match bonuses and allowances isn’t in sync with global best practices. The Germans who won the 2014 World Cup diadem were paid $400,000 each. The players and coaches didn’t get a dime for the qualifiers because they knew that their contracts terminated with either winning the World Cup or crashing out of it. They chose the profitable option, with many of them donating their cash to charity homes. Little wonder many of the Germans are being chased by big clubs in Europe.

    Nigeria joins the ignoble league of protesting nations like Ghana and Cameroun who have paid appearance fees to their players and officials, simply because many of them feared that they would not get theirs if they had to leave. What most people don’t understand especially those in government is that FIFA lays bare what players’ and officials’ entitlements are. Any country that breaches laid down rules will be compelled to fulfill its obligations or have such cash deducted from its earnings.

     

    Magicians in Canada

    Anytime our girls excel in international competitions, I describe them as magicians. These girls don’t play the game here, like boys do. Their league matches are played in far flung areas. No television coverage. I’m sure these girls can’t be tagged professional players.

    For the girls in Canada, qualifying for the women U-20 World Cup is a feat worthy of celebration. Assiat Osholala is the highest goal scorer, with seven goals. Courtney Dike scored the fastest goal of the competition. My fervent wish is that Nigeria becomes the first African country to lift the women World Cup at the U-20 level.

    When these girls return, their lives will change for the better. New deals struck with European clubs, increased income and sufficient cash to change the families’ lives for good. One only hopes that President Goodluck Jonathan can give the girls $100,000 each, like he gave the boys, a national honour and perhaps ask the First Lady to donate a trophy that the girls will compete for yearly. The First Lady should use her influence to get Nigerians and companies to bankroll the competition such that the girls can live their lives as true professionals, not the eyesore that we have now in the few places where they play on empty stomachs.

    No matter what anyone says, the Maigari-led board has added another feather to its cap. Why some people want Maigari out of the NFF remains to be seen. Honestly.

  • September 6 & 10 ties

    September 6 & 10 ties

    I pity soccer fans who would throng the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar on September 6 to watch the Super Eagles begin their defence of the Africa Cup of Nations diadem, which Nigeria lifted on February 10 in Johannesburg. They would have deprived themselves of some of the luxuries of life to save cash for the game. Soccer fans around the country who like to place bets on matches would need to see their doctors after the game to check their blood pressure, if they don’t get to the hospitals in ambulances.

    The fans will be coming to witness a continuation of the slaughtering of teams in Calabar by the Eagles. And no one would blame because we have a richer pedigree than our likely opponents- Rwanda or Congo. Did I hear you say Congo not Rwanda? Yes, Congo, because their football authorities have an incriminating document that suggests one of the Rwandan players has two international passports with two names.

    The Congolese Football Federation has lodged a complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) against Rwanda. The Wasps edged Congo out on penalties in the second round of qualifiers of the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2015 in Kigali on August 2, after the two teams had tied 2-2 on aggregate. However, the Congolese officials complained to CAF that Rwanda might have fielded an ineligible player in the first leg in Pointe-Noire on July 20.

    According to Fecofoot, Rwandan striker Dady Birori is holding two passports and registered under the different name of Agiti Taddy Etekiama in DR Congo where he plays for AS Vita Club in Kinshasa. Indeed, CAF has banned Birori from its club competitions. We are waiting for CAF’s verdict on Congo’s protest. Should the continental body decide to uphold the claim, Congo could be reinstated to compete in the final qualifying round in Group A with South Africa, Nigeria and Sudan.

    What this scenario suggests is that the Eagles don’t know their opponents. It means that the coaches will have to study the tapes of the two countries to fashion out counter strategies to drub them groggy with goals on September 6. This isn’t an insurmountable task for the Eagles, except that the team has no coach. Nor is the NFF paying attention to how we hope to prosecute two games in four days from September 6 to 10.

    NFF chieftains and indeed eggheads of the supervisory body are focused on how to dislodge Aminu Maigari from the Glasshouse, forgetting that without the Eagles and all the national teams, they will have no business being in the NFF and the NSC. They are paying lip service to how the Eagles will prepare for both games, especially the September 10 clash against Bafana Bafana in Cape Town. They have forgotten that we are the defending champions and will need the six points from both matches to secure the group’s qualification ticket.

    Matters are made worse by the incredible figures being bantered in the media as the chief coach’s fees. Some reports suggest that the coach wants a tax-free N15 million monthly salary, a car and a house, not forgetting the funny clause of getting ten months salary upfront. What happened to the two cars the coach got from Globacom’s owner Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jnr), following a written letter from the NFF for the vehicles? What won’t you hear from the Glasshouse when it comes to the Super Eagles?

    There is also the cheap talk that the coach is being wooed by as many as seven countries. Equally disturbing is the chest-beating claims by one of the coach’s agents that he turned down a mouth-watering $120,000 monthly salary from an Angolan club for the Eagles job that is still a contentious issue as at today. The loquacious agent also told the media that the coach won’t come to the country until this matter is settled.

    If the coach was asking for these mindboggling figures after the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, many a Nigerian would have pleaded that he be paid what he asked for. They would have based their position on the Eagles’ remarkable outing in South Africa. They would be projecting into the World Cup held in Brazil. But, given the way the Eagles played so poorly at the Mundial in Brazil, especially the worst game against Iran, not many people would subscribe to paying the coach as much as N15 million monthly, if it is true such demands are before the NFF negotiators.

    I hope that the coach understands what his canvassers are doing. What should be paramount on his mind, if he wants the job, is for him to sign a deal in which his salary can easily be paid. Stories about salary indebtedness are legendary with NFF. The flipside is for the NFF to insist on paying the coach what it can afford.

    We are tired of incidents where players and coaches refuse to embark on trips until their entitlements are paid. Such disgraceful acts can be avoided if the NFF seals a deal that will make it have full control of the coach. And it starts with prompt payment of his salaries and entitlements. Indeed, we had forgotten about players holding us hostage before big competitions over their entitlements – until this era. The show-of-shame in Namibia and Brazil mustn’t be allowed to repeat itself.

    The first question one should ask the feuding NFF chiefs is what their mandate is if the Eagles don’t win both games on September 6 and 10? Don’t they know many of the Euro