At one point Nigeria ruled Africa and gave the world a scare. That was the time when the likes of Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh, Tijani Babangida, Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and the rest, dazzled for clubs and country and won so many laurels in the process.
Between 1994 and 2014, Nigeria football exploits dominated discussions among keen followers of the beautiful game. Our players thrived in the big leagues across Europe and our local league rating rose to a point where players where moving to top European clubsides directly from the NPFL
Victory at the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa, came at a time when there was a drop in quality but administratively, the Nigeria football federation NFF, under the able leadership of Alhaji Aminu Maigari made good use of available resources to produce one of the biggest shocks of the competition as Nigeria defeated Cote D’Ivoire in the Quarter finals of the AFCON, a victory that came against all odds.
After the Nations Cup victory, the Super Eagles qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but lost in the second round to France, to exit the competition with heads bowed.
After the World Cup, a few persons who claimed to be acting under the instructions of the presidency, suddenly hijacked the process leading to fresh elections into the football federation and in the midst of that confusion came a journeyman called Amaju Pinnick who alongside his friends and partners conspired to effectively nail Nigeria football to the coffin.
From 2014 to 2022, the whole facet of Nigeria football was destroyed beyond recognition. These individuals flourished and shone like a million stars at the expense of Nigeria. They used the Nations resources to promote their egos and position themselves in FIFA and CAF.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for back to back Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and when they eventually did in 2019, the hardwork of those set of players was rubbished by very poor coaching and some administrative lapses as Nigeria managed to win a Bronze in Egypt.
Before then, the Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles had failed to qualify for both the FIFA Under 17 and Under 20 World Cups, two competitions where the nation held sway for more than two decades.
What this meant was that, the chain of transition, from the youth teams to the Super Eagles was destroyed, leaving the Nation at the mercy of some aging footballers who have continued to disguise even when it is obvious that they are older than what they claimed.
As if that was not enough, Amaju and friends conspired to give a Franco/German tactician, Germot Rohr, who failed to go beyond the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, a fresh contract and waited until the damage was done before sending him packing.
After the exit of Rohr, the Delta state born administrator again appointed a jobless Augustine Egyaveon, who before his appointment was head of a technical department that had no input in the national team during the 5years reign of Rohr
Eguaveon came, flattered to deceived at the Nations Cup in Cameroon but got booted out in the second round.
In order not to hurt the brotherhood, Eguaveon was retained for the World Cup Qualifiers and again, he fumbled by losing on the away goals rule to Ghana as Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
That failure ended Amaju’s third term dream as a new NFF president emerged from his shadows. Before leaving office, Amaju succeeded in imposing a Portuguese coach whose CV is worse than that of his predecessors, as Nigeria’s National team coach.
Alongside this journeyman, he also appointed another foreiger, in Randy Waldrum as Super Falcons chief coach, leaving Nigeria football in the hands of two Whiteman who are in desperate need of a job and a platform to improve their poor CV.
For Waldrum, he has succeeded in reducing our Super Falcons to Super hens, while Pesairo is on the verge of reducing the Super Eagles to Super Chickens.
The Portuguese has lost his last four friendly matches and it is now looking like, he is building a National team that is uninspiring, unmotivated and lacking ideas.
For the first time in a long while, Nigeria football has no pattern, no game plan and no life. There are always eleven players roaming on the pitch with little or no ambition to win.
Against Portugal on Thursday, the team lost 4-nil but beyond the scoreline, many are quick to condemn the approach, the performance and the behaviors of the players and the coaches. They were quick to pass their judgements as they called for the disbandment of the National team.
Micheal Obasi- Journalist: I think it’s high time we begin to call a spade a spade if we want the Gusau board to succeed. His success is our success. Enough of business husbandry in the super eagles in terms of players’s selection and coaches appointment. What kind of disgrace is this. Even the commentator could not respect Nigeria anymore by saying we did not raise a glove at the Portuguese . The match looked like training session for the Portuguese. This Super Eagles need to be overhauled and this is the time for that to happen
Harrison- Journalist: The team should be disbanded while the manager should equally be asked to go.
If we can’t get good Nigerian coaches to handle the team let’s go for an established African coach with an African playing mentality and stop our over dependance on foreign players.
Akinsemola- Journalist: Super Eagles have degenerated so badly. The earlier something is done to avoid a total collapse. This is a case of something must be done now and quickly too!!
Imagine Dennis! He has hit the final nail on his own coffin. He was left out by Rohr for bad attitude and then recalled. Today, Dennis insisted on taking our penalty kick. There is no direction and leadership from the top the reason Dennis would upstage the regular penalty taker. Until we get the right leadership, we are in dire trouble. No leader in Super Eagles, what a shame!
Seriously, Etebo does not have any reason to be invited for today’s tie. The last time I checked, he was not playing anywhere. He almost scored an own goal but for Uzoho who stopped the ball on the goal line.
Italy have rejigged their team after missing out on the 2022 World Cup. Nigeria should do same now that the Cup of Nations qualifiers are almost here.
There certainly must be consequences. I don’t care who is on the receiving end but we must return to our winning ways.
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