Nigerian President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan ordered on Tuesday that the country should withdraw from all football competitions until 2012. This is due to the country’s poor performance in the current world cup in South Africa.
The president’s directive didn’t surprise me, considering our teams’ lackluster performances of late. The last time they gave Nigerians cause for joy was at South Korea 2007, when the U-16 team conquered the world and came back with the trophy.
Our performance at Egypt 2009 (FIFA U-20 World Cup) was less than satisfactory as we failed to progress beyond the second round in a competition that was ultimately won by the Black Starlets of Ghana. We eventually hosted the under-16 world cup (October/November 2009) and lost to debutants Switzerland in the final; We should also not forget that we did not qualify for the competition because we were eliminated by the little-known Republic of Benin, and only got there as the host nation.
Why the waning fortunes?
Many things have contributed to this downward spiral of our national teams; I will only mention some of them for reasons of time:
Corruption: This is still the nightmare of our football, as certain people who hold high positions in the government impose players on coaches. This paternalism issue has contributed greatly to the lackluster performance of our players, as those who are backed by these cabals believe that no one could kick them off the team as long as their godparents are still alive. So they don’t give their best because they never arrived on merit but through the back door.
Quota system: The use of the quota system in almost all spheres of life has also affected our football, as certain areas/zones must also supply players, fit or not. Players used to be selected to play for the national teams based on merit, skills and fitness and not by geographic affiliation; but today the opposite happens.
Lack of continuity: Ghana is going strong today because they were able to graduate their young talents to replace those who are aging. But in our case, the old players have tenaciously clung to the national team jerseys, preventing the youngsters from graduating. How do we explain a situation where Kanu Nwankwo, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, John Utaka, Joseph Yobo, Rabiu Afolabi, etc. do they still keep a regular jersey on the team? Only Haruna Lukman now plays for the Super Eagles when all of his teammates in South Korea: Rabiu Ibrahim, Yakubu Alfa, Oseni, etc. everyone has been left out. What also happened to coach Sampson Siasia’s Olympic team?
What should we do?
Administration: NFF veterans should be kicked out and ex-footballers should be administering our football. They would bring passion and commitment, unlike today’s people who are looking for money.
Continuity: Our young players who have done well at various levels should graduate to take over from older players struggling to get fit – we should borrow a blade from Ghana.
Stop the quota system: Players should be invited to national teams based solely on merit and not on the quota system that is bringing mediocrity to the teams.
Discipline: Our players must be subject to discipline; No one should be guaranteed a permanent jersey anymore. Anyone who doesn’t do well should be shown the way out and the most committed ones brought in.
Good development plans: The foreign coaches have not done too well for us (except Clemence Westerhof and Otto Gloria). Therefore, we must begin to develop our local coaches who would show more commitment if they were appointed to manage our teams. Our soccer academies must also be improved to produce quality players.
