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Tag: Nigeria football

  • Why Nigeria Football Became Africa’s Football Powerhouse

    Why Nigeria Football Became Africa’s Football Powerhouse

    Lagos National Stadium stands quiet now, its concrete terraces worn by time and tropical rains. But on a sultry evening in 1980, these same stands erupted as Nigeria’s Green Eagles clinched their first Africa Cup of Nations title. The roar of 85,000 voices marked the moment a nation found its sporting identity.

    Today, those scenes repeat across living rooms and beer parlors nationwide. Last year’s Africa Cup of Nations broadcast drew 86% of Nigerian viewers, numbers that speak to football’s grip on the nation’s consciousness.

    The game’s roots stretch deep. Nigerian students first faced British sailors in 1904 on a dusty pitch in Calabar. That casual colonial pastime has grown into the country’s defining sport, followed religiously by two-thirds of Nigeria’s 220 million people. Through triumphs and setbacks, the Super Eagles have soared from local pitches to global recognition, while the domestic game has built foundations for future generations.

    Early Days of Nigerian Football

    Hope Waddell Training Institution sits quietly in old Calabar, its weathered brick walls holding memories of Nigeria’s first football match. Scottish missionaries established this prestigious school in 1895, unknowingly planting seeds that would grow into the nation’s most beloved sport. British officials and missionaries saw football as a tool for what they called “character building” in schools and communities.

    A warm June afternoon in 1904 marked football’s first documented moment on Nigerian soil. At Hope Waddell’s playing grounds, Nigerian students and expatriate staff lined up against sailors from HMS Thistle, a British naval vessel anchored offshore. The home team’s 3-2 victory sent ripples through the colony. By 1906, football clubs began sprouting across Nigerian cities, their formation sparked by that historic match.

    The game needed structure to grow. Lagos took the first step in 1932, establishing the Lagos District Amateur Football Association. Historical records recently unearthed by Kunle Solaja suggest the Nigerian Football Federation’s roots reach back to 1933, not 1945 as commonly believed. Two yellowing copies of the Nigerian Daily Times from that summer support his finding.

    The real watershed came in 1945 when Governor General Arthur Fredrick Richards donated a silver cup for competition. The federation grew in strength and reach. Nigeria fielded its first national team in 1949, joined the African football family through CAF membership in 1959, and took its place on the global stage with FIFA in 1960.

    Rise of the Super Eagles

    The old photographs tell a story that many of us might not know, eleven men in red jerseys, Nigeria’s first national team, known then as the Red Devils. Not to be mistaken for Manchester United, with the same nickname, or Red Dog Casino Review, which allows punters to make bets on the Super Eagles. However, independence in 1960 brought more than political freedom. The team shed its colonial colors, emerging as the Green Eagles. A golden afternoon in 1973 marked the first triumph – victory at the All-Africa Games. But it was 1980 that wrote itself into African legends.  

    The Green Eagles soared past Algeria 3-0, claiming their first Africa Cup of Nations title. This winning success kept going through the late 1970s and early 1990s. The transformation to Super Eagles came in 1994, after another continental conquest. Dutch tactician Clemens Westerhof had built something special. FIFA rankings told the story. Fifth in the world that April. Rashidi Yekini’s goals, Daniel Amokachi’s power, Emmanuel Amuneke’s flair – this was Nigeria’s golden generation.

    Their World Cup debut stunned the football world again. Group victories over Bulgaria and Greece, and standing toe-to-toe with Argentina. Italy eventually ended the dream in the round of 16, but Nigeria had announced its arrival. Atlanta 1996 remains etched in memory. Jay-Jay Okocha’s magic, Kanu’s presence, Celestine Babayaro’s energy – this Olympic team carried Africa’s hopes. They didn’t just compete with football’s powerhouses; they conquered them.

    Nigerian Football’s Global Impact

    Champions League nights now sparkle with Nigerian talent. Ten players wear their nation’s hopes across Europe’s grandest stage. Victor Boniface lights up Leverkusen while Samuel Chukwueze brings Europa League winning pedigree to AC Milan’s famous red and black stripes. Victor Osimhen claimed African Player of the Year 2023, and Ademola Lookman followed in 2024. Lookman’s story particularly stirs hearts. 18 goals across all competitions, including that unforgettable Europa League final hat-trick.

    Nigerian transfers also touched USD 104.20 million in 2022, leading Africa and ranking top ten worldwide in player exports. Nigerian women’s football tells its own success story. The Super Falcons stand unmatched in Africa, presented at every Women’s World Cup since the tournament began.

    Each victory, transfer, and goal reshapes how the world sees African football. From dusty Lagos pitches to Milan’s San Siro, Nigerian players carry more than talent – they carry the dreams of thousands back home.

  • Setting agenda

    Setting agenda

    Compliments of the season everyone. Permit me dear, to dwell on events associated with the European leagues, which one hopes their lessons are not lost on those who run the beautiful game in Nigeria. The past two weeks’ scenes captured the essence of having top-ranged medical facilities with dutiful medical personnel, whose knowledge of their trade comes to them as second nature.

    Two European examples in Spain and England showed how to effectively handle life-threatening incidents without making a meal out of it. The Spain incident should have taught Nigerian clubs, the organisers of the league (Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that any spectator’s life is as important as that of any top functionaries, sitting in the VIP lounges of any stadium in the country. It is expected that the Nigerian clubs didn’t see any confiscated facilities on display, while they are saving  distressed people’s lives. There was no margin for error. Everything needed  in the medical boxes to be taken to the stadium are inspected and tested and certified functional. The oxygen cylinders didn’t require a wheelbarrow to tow them to the field. They didn’t require hefty men to bring themto the field either.

    Nigerian clubs should understand that fans form an integral larger family of matches. The Nigerian referees ought to be educated by the referees’ trainers on the need to monitor what is happening in the fans’ seating area to enable them aware of  any emergence and stop the game pronto if it involves threat to life of  a distressed fan irrespective of his or her status in the society. The provision of medical facilities must be readily available.

    The ambulances in the stadia attract attention as a  distressed patient is wheeled into it. The drivers of the ambulances are usually on standby with their engines humming and ready to speed off if that was the instruction of the doctors. Of course, the ambulances are miniatures of what you find in the hospitals, equipped with what are needed to revive, stabilize distressed fans in response to the prompt attention and treatment administered to them.

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    A search party wasn’t needed to get the standby drivers to ignite their ambulances’ engines. You don’t hear any of the driver  complaining of lack of fuel. The ambulances’ batteries didn’t malfunction  in the processes of their rescue missions. I hope that Nigerian club owners are reading what I have highlighted. No soul should be lost owing  to anyone’s negligence of duty. We are tired of government setting up Commissions of Inquiry to find out what happened as incidents are handled with expertise on top of their games as it’s the practice in other climes. Life-saving gadgets must be seen to be functional and even tested during pre-match meetings before games begin in the evening. Need I say that no fewer than six specialised hospitals would have been  on alart and standby for  patients as soon as crisis begin. Right from the scene of the incident, doctors on ground, who participate in administering necessary first aid. Such  exercises would have provided doctors in the targeted hospitals with the patients’ case history to guide them.  There is no room for laughable foolery of the hospital’s management, asking to be paid deposits before continuing treatment of  patients.

    While the doctors at the stadia do their job on the field, no government official is expected to be  seen interfering as it is common practice  in Nigeria where agbada-wearing big guns usually heighten tension at the stadium with their needless darting to and fro seeking and attracting attention. There should be no room for busybodies.

    The English people can’t stop making the game beautiful in England with innovations. One of such innovation happened last Saturday when 40-year-old Rebecca Welch took charge of Burnley’s 2-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage. She became  the first woman to officiate a Premier League. Welch became a referee in 2010 when she combined it with a job in the NHS, before becoming a full-time official in 2019.

    ”In January, Welch became the first woman to officiate a men’s fixture in the Championship. She returned to Craven Cottage a month later after serving as the fourth official during Fulham’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Manchester United,” according to one of  the BBC match reports last Sunday.

    Welch’s handling of last  Saturday’s match was top notch. She didn’t need  VAR decision to authenticate her decision and  VAR did not overrule her judgment either. Of course, women are very dutiful on matters such as this. And Welch’s debut in the Premier League won’t be the last. Rather, it is just the beginning of an epochal day when the centre referee, the two assistant referees and the reserve referee would all be women. That would be the day. I look forward to Welch handling a game and the players pushing and shoving one another even after she would have blew\\ her whistle.

    Interestingly, as I watch the game which Welch handled I looked forward to any setting where players would cluster her the way they behave with male referees. Welch followed the movement of the ball and was always close to any spot where offence could be committed.

    Burnley’s manager, Vincent Kompany, who spoke to Welch at full-time, said: “I wanted to congratulate her because it’s a big moment.

    “After the game, it’s fair to say that it’s a milestone moment and may there be more, and the best thing will always be when someone is judged on merit. But you have to have a first and this is it, so well done [to her] and I’m happy to be part of this moment.”

    Truth be told, the English people know how to set agenda for the good of the game. It explains the reason the game in England is the showpiece that it is in all ramifications. Again last week, the first black man to officiate in a Premier League game, Sam Allison becomes the first Black referee in Premier League for 15 years in a Boxing Day match between Sheffield United and Luton. It made Referee Sam Allison the Black man to officiate a match in England’s top division since Uriah Rennie in 2008.

    According to Skysports’ report: ” BAMRef – which offers guidance, support, mentoring and counselling to Black, Asian and mixed heritage referees – said before the game: “It is a further step in the right direction towards refereeing, reflecting society and the playing contingent within football.

    “It is also the culmination of years of hard work by BAMRef members. We hope to work with Howard Webb (Professional Game Match Officials Board chief) to identify and promote more black officials to the top flight.”

    Dan Forbes, at level four in the referee pathway and working for BAMRef, said: “It’s been a long time coming for him and it’s been a long-time ambition as well. He totally understands the pressures.

    “Sam absolutely deserves to be there, he’s one of the top referees in the country and there’s no doubt Sam will deliver and fly our flag.

    “We’ve also got some other top referees coming through – Lisa Rashid, Ruben Ricardo, Aji Ajibola – who deserve the opportunity. “This is just the starting point. This is not the end. It’s huge, it’s also well overdue. The impact will be huge. If you can’t see it, it’s a lot harder to be it,” Skysports wrote on their website.

    Did you notice the name Aji Ajibola as a black referee deserving of the feat in the future. It raised high hopes that something good can come out the country though Ajibola learned his trade in England. Had Ajibola been a footballer, moves would have been made by the NFF chieftains to persuade him to play for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations which begins next year in Cote d’ Ivoire. Ajibola isn’t so the NFF wouldn’t bother itself about the upcoming feat. It would just what it is to him.