By Habib Aruna
For the second time running Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles, are not going to be playing at the World Cup. The green white green colour jersey will not be among the jerseys that will be on display when 48 nations lined up and our national anthem will not be played when the world glued to their television to watch the most popular sport on earth with its unique and spectacular spectacle.
Just like any other national project that requires vision, planning, and merit to execute, those in charge of our football management see it as an avenue or a cheap way of making money, and they have failed. They indeed, failed to realize that millions of Nigerians find solace and happiness in watching our national teams prevail against other nations; they failed to realize that football has gone beyond just a round game or sport but has since been elevated to the status of national pride. Other nations even see it as literally a war of some sort.
Why then were our football administrators so careless and shortsighted to know the importance of rigorous planning and execution so that our team will not again miss out on the World Cup? Why did the players and their handlers not attach much importance to early preparations to have enough points at the end of the day, and why do we always adopt a fire brigade approach to important national tasks? We were conspicuously absent at the last one hosted by Qatar and now with few hours to this year’s edition to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, Nigerians would again be watching other nations as they compete for the elusive cup.
Nigeria is no doubt a soccer loving nation, and we have the capacity to compete favourably with other great football nations if the conditions and preparations are right. A look at our history in competitive football championships will clearly show that with the right preparations, we can do better. We have won the African Nations Cup three times, Under 17 world cups, our Olympic team defeated Brazil and Argentina in the finals to win the gold in 1996 in Atlanta, in what is regarded as our finest moment in football. Not to mention that dozens of Nigerians are doing very well playing professional football all over the world. What then is the matter?
How for goodness sake would we not qualify for the world, when Africa got 10 slots and we are among the five biggest football nations in the continent? How can Cape Verde, a small island nation qualified, and the so-called giant of Africa increasingly find it difficult to qualify? How can other seeded countries like Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Ivory Coast, even Ghana and South Africa see it as their birth right to be at the global football fiesta, while we are still crawling to get to the biggest stage of football? And why are we keeping quiet as if it has become a normal routine?
No, it can’t be considered a normal situation when we have failed to qualify twice in a row, and those that should have been held responsible are still running and managing the affairs of our football association. It’s unthinkable in saner climes that those who contributed to this mess are still around. We should indeed not be surprised that they will be at the world cup courtesy of our elusive dollars, when they should have been sacked and investigated for their failure. Sadly, most of the officials who superintended our failure to qualify four years ago are still in charge, not shown the red card and not in a hurry to go despite their consistent failures.
Even so, the Nigerian Football Federation boss, Ibrahim Gusau shamelessly attended the World Cup draws in the United States. For a man who should have hid his head in shame and resigned when the country failed to qualify to still travel on tax payers money to watch the draws is the highest level of irresponsibility. Gusau did not find it expedient to throw in the towel because to him, it’s no big deal that the Super Eagles won’t be at the Mundial; he did not resign because those that were there before him, like the infamous Amaju Pinnick did not go and was not punished when we failed to qualify four years ago.
The current situation is however more disturbing because, knowing the love attached to football by millions of Nigerians, those at the helm of affairs in the country are not taking more than casual interest on how football is managed. I can’t remember the National Assembly setting up a committee or the subcommittee on football at the Senate or House of Representatives to investigate our failure to qualify for the World Cup. This scrutiny of the books and probe would have brought out what they did wrong and useful lessons would have been learnt going forward.
Yes, FIFA rules do not like government interference in the affairs of the football federation, but no country leaves these important things in the hands of ineffective and corrupt officials alone. Government intervenes at all times to make sure the right people are in charge, given the sensitive and important nature of soccer to the unity of the country and happiness of the people. You can’t be funding an organization without telling the managers to account for how they spend the money and since Abuja is responsible for funding the body, the NFF will have to be responsible and responsive to the yearnings and interests of Nigerians.
In this same country many years ago, we saw the controversy the non-inclusion of Etim Esim in the national team generated. It indeed, became a national issue and Topic A in the polity because of the importance attached to football by Nigerians. Look at the national debate recently about Brazilian highest goals scorer, Neymar Jr and why many soccer lovers in the South American country wanted him to be at the World Cup. Even their president, Lula da Silva, had to put a call to the coach of the national team, Ancelloti, to consider the inclusion of Neymar, which he eventually did. Football has a way of changing the mood of a country. Or are we to talk about the French President and the dinner he had with the national team before their departure to the World Cup or the Portuguese President’s exchange of the country’s national flag with the national team’s jersey handed over to him by the effervescent Ronaldo? Or even the branding of the Argentine aircraft with the national team colour when the team landed in the United States.
These are some instances that showed that football has become a thing of national pride and nations try all they could to make sure they qualify to participate at the fiesta. It’s a shame therefore that we are not going to be there because of avoidable mistakes perpetrated by those who manage our football in the country’s. Hence, Nigerians MUST insist that preparation for the next one should start in earnest because we would not tolerate any excuse next time. And I hope our players have learned their lessons too, because it is to their disadvantage and a minus to their brands that they will not be at the biggest stage to demonstrate their talents.