Ridiculing Nigerian football.

   Late 1999, Kojo Williams was made the head of the Nigerian Football Federation. He barely lasted for three months before he was booted out of office in a clandestine manner, widely condemned by Nigerians in the know of the running of Nigerian football. According to Zaria Sani, a board member of the NFF, Kojo Williams was booted out because "he failed to carry other board members along". Since that unfortunate incident, the only way Nigerian football has headed is downward. The Glass House is now more like a venue for reality television shows where there are constant evictions. Drama unending. Nigerian football administration have become a show of shame.

   CAF President Issa Hayatou told a Nigerian delegation on Friday that he was able to convince FIFA President Sepp Blatter not to wield the hammer on Nigeria that Friday. This he said,was because of the African Women Championship which Nigeria was supposed to play in the finals with Cameroun. Therefore,hammering Nigeria would be a major distraction for CAF, the sponsors and the participants. He made it clear to the Nigerian Sports Minister that the entire world is tired of the drama Nigerian football have become. In the meeting, which the multi lingual Paul Bassey interpreted the speech of Hayatou, the CAF Supremo told the delegation that they have till Monday, 27th October to sort themselves out. 

FIFA statutes clearly frown at civil courts and government interferences in football matters. After the world cup, a date for the NFF elections were scheduled, some board member convened before the said date and held an election. The outcome of the election was a Giwa led executive. FIFA frowned at it and insisted on an election on the agreed date. By late September an election was held and Amaju Pinnick emerged NFF President. Pinnick received congratulatory messages from both CAF and FIFA and then resumed work. Only for a Jos Court to sack the Pinnick led board and Giwa took over again. Before CAF and FIFA even got tired of our football movie, we Nigerians got tired. We are tired of being thrown around. We are tired of the show of shame and mediocrity exhibited in the Glass House. The Federal government have to wade in nicodemously and resolve issues. 

   In a 2010 BBC world service documentary, Africa Kicks, Kojo Williams said "the Nigerian government is afraid of change in football....we keep using over aged players to play under age competitions. Corruption has eaten very deep into football in the country". He is right. In fact I make bold to say that the board members as at then felt uncomfortable at Kojo's policies and needed him out. He in my opinion is the best NFF President that never was. Until we decide to bring in even the smallest honesty into football administration, our football will remain in the abyss. We have square pegs in round holes. Men and women who see football governing bodies as their private businesses will see to it that things are never done rightly. After all, the filth in a community is to the benefit of the chiefs. Instead of glorying in our vastly improved Nigerian league and the brand new stadium built by the pragmatic Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio, we are watching movies by the football house. Appalling.

   Football, the singular unifying factor among Nigerians is dying. A gradual death. When it happens eventually, a lot will go wrong with the youths and members of the Nigerian football community. A stitch in time saves one million.

Keshi's sack; matters arising.

   The big boss, Stephen Keshi, was in the early hours of Thursday relieved of his duties as Super Eagles Supremo. Together with his crew, the big boss should be plotting his next move. Knowing The NFF and her famed clumsiness, be not surprised if Keshi head to court due to one breach or the other by the NFF.
   After super Eagles loss to Congo in Calabar, the hash tag #KeshiOut appeared on twitter. Somehow, it died down. The loss to Sudan reignited it again. Yesterday in Abuja, the Super Eagles beat the Sudanese in a surprisingly almost filled Abuja national stadium by three goals to one. A brace by Ahmed Musa and one by Aaron Samuel sealed victory.
There were rumours of a planned protest by Abuja fans prior to the match. A plan that was scuttled. The Super Eagles love playing in Calabar. There,they are under no pressure. Whatever the outcome of a match, the fans go home. Abuja fans pamper them. In fact I was surprised when I heard of the planned protest. That was quite unlike Abuja fans. In my humble opinion, Super Eagles matches should be taken to Lagos. Even them,wouldn't like the idea. Lagos football fans are fanatics. Tell the average Lagos fan that ticket for a Super Eagles match is ten thousand naira, he will hustle for the money and pay. But value for his money is a must have. Because to him, it's a no - story - investment.  The fans in Lagos will not forgive any player that subtracts a kobo from his gate fee. Erring players will receive missiles ranging from water sachets and bottles, pieces of anything hands can be laid on and even sun baked pieces of sh!t. The expectations of the faithful Lagos fan will make players sit up.
   On the issue of Keshi's sack,I think it's a wrong move. He was not sacked after our losses to Congo and Sudan, but was sacked after the return leg victory against same Sudan. Logically, morally and however else realistic you choose to look at it, the sack was a wrong move. Stephen Keshi had before the game, screamed to all Nigerians that he was being sabotaged. That some administrators were out to sabotage him. My humble opinion is that he has a valid point. Stephen Keshi is a very stubborn mule. I am sure this attribute contributed to his sack as some officials can't deal. He had to be removed,somehow. He didn't dance to the azonto of some people who consider themselves football oracles in Nigeria. However note that I am not saying his stubbornness is a good thing. No it is not. I have heard some of his colleagues complain that he doesn't take advises nor does he consult them. That is actually his own cup of tea. He decides such matters. I make bold to say that he was frustrated out of the seat. Those that understand the intricacies of football will know that if forces conspire to ruin a coach, he is as good as doomed. I am not in any anyway holding fort for Keshi. In my last post,I opined that Keshi is not the problem of Nigerian football. It is beyond him. He has been relieved of his duties. Fine. Watch Super Eagles qualify for the nations cup. Aren't we Nigeria again? We will qualify. I will be surprised if we don't. Every hand will now be on deck to ensure our qualification. Obafemi Martins and some other exiled players will return to the team. Some people who were regulars under Keshi might never see the Super Eagles camp again. We are starting afresh. I am sure Amodu Shuaibu will want to set up his own team,which is okay. But I think Pinnick is starting off wrongly. I think Keshi's sack have always been in in the pipeline. But how they chose to sack him after a victory is what hit me in the middle. We are back to square one. Every football administrators see Nigerian football as a lucrative business outlet. You get in, scatter a previous set up, set up yours, carry your loot and scram. No NFF President have ever taken a decision based on patriotism. No way! Where we go from here we don't know. They bicker and say all sorts when Nigerians rate foreign football higher than our football here but nobody has any bloody moral right to blame us. I watch the Nigerian league,week in week out. What do I see? Comedy and eye sore. I know the matches I expect to see real football and I never miss those ones. The rest are just super bloody comic relief. Kudos though, to the LMC for the little sanity and shape that the local league has taken due to their efforts. Nigerian football is generally rotten. Stagnant. Dead. But please we shouldn't bury it. An Igbo adage says that "ani a diro mma bu uru ndi nze" (the rot in the land is to the benefit of the chiefs). We know that people make money in chaos. Everywhere. But please consider millions of Nigerians whose hope they carry. Amaju Pinnick should try and be the first NFF President to run things with patriotism in mind. Otherwise the next time Nigerians gather in Abuja national stadium,it will be be for the funeral ceremony of Nigerian football. One like me though, will be in front of my television,seeing an EPL game with a chilled bottle of Campari and tilapia  barbecue.

Drowning Eagles, Keshi and the NFF.

   Bad pitch; the most notorious reason presented by apologists as to why the reigning African champions,the Super Eagles of Nigeria lost to Sudan on Saturday in the ongoing AFCON qualifiers. Since Nigeria won the 2013 edition of the African Cup of Nations, football in the country have taken a dip. Both on club and national team levels. Nigerian club sides have disappeared from mainstream continental championships and the Super Eagles have drowned. Pure and simple. Like Nigeria's Jay Jay Okocha rightly opined, football is dead in Nigeria. The game against Sudan was just a mere confirmation of this fact. After the AFCON victory, we went ahead to represent Africa at the Confeds in Brazil last year and had a decent outing, regrouped for the AFCON 2014 qualifiers and it has been disaster after disaster.
   Congo came to Calabar and tore us apart. They didn't just win, they outplayed and out muscled us. We went to South Africa and played out a draw. The loss to Sudan is a clear picture of the state of football in the country. Now to the details. The goal keeping set up of the Super Eagles is an interesting one. Enyeama is in my humble opinion, the best goalkeeper in Africa, and one of the best in the world. He is the only Super Eagles player that is worthy of a fans uprising to keep him in the team. Austin Ejide is an able deputy for him. Chigozie Agbim? The former Warri Wolves and Enugu Rangers shot stopper fall below what we expect in the Super Eagles. If indeed the third goalkeeper must come from the local league then we should be talking about Enyimba's Femi Thomas. I am an ardent follower of the Nigerian football league so I know. He has been very consistent between the sticks. So one wonders why Femi Thomas sits at home while Agbim remains Enyeama's second assistant. Our midfield in Sudan was a bunch of headless chickens. Stringing passes amongst themselves seemed a heavy task. Disjointed,to say the least. Our defence line went to sleep and the result was the Sudanese goal. Nigerians were left bitter.
   One school of thought blame the players. Others blame Keshi. The rest blame NFF. These people all have a part of the blame. The players played as if there was nothing at stake. I feel that was a rub off from Keshi. It's true that no coach sets out to loose a match. But it's equally true that players will in most cases exhibit the attitude the coach has,towards a game. A manager's seriousness translates to his players. Eg. Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Carlos Dunga etc. I dare say that the players weren't serious because Keshi himself didn't show a high level of seriousness too.
I wonder why exactly Keshi entered into the banter with his former striker,Ikechukwu Uche. I don't think it was necessary. An elder shouldn't be seen publicly bantering with a 'kid'. As it stands now, the player refuted all Keshi's claims. So who is right? Player or manager? The banter didn't do the image of the Eagles Supremo and the team itself well. It beats me why Keshi have blatantly refused to invite Kelechi Iheanacho to the Super Eagles. The case for him is not that he comes to take over from Mikel Obi, but that at least he becomes part of the team. Who knows, some minutes under his belt could show us what he can really do. He showed us a glimpse of what he can do in his pre season games with his club Manchester City. Even if he doesn't get match time, training with the more experienced players in the squad will help him learn the ropes.
   Amaju Pinnick is the new NFF Chairman. He is not new in football administration,having led the Delta state wing for a while. He should therefore know that he is carrying the hope of millions of Nigerians on his shoulders. NFF have always been deemed to be corrupt. He can change that notion. Since I was born, and now I am getting older I have neither seen, heard nor even imagined the NFF distanced from corruption. Fact is Nigerian football is dead. It didn't die after a brief illness. It died after a prolonged illness. And illness it was born with. And a death aided by corruption. The glass house have become an epitome of corruption. Most recently part of the glass house was gutted by fire. An incident that will need the intervention of my great grandmother to convince me it was an accident and not man made. Pinnick need to discard what has been, and get his own drawing board, map out how exactly he will run the Glass House. I remember how my northern brother, a mai ruwa, hugged me passionately (no homo) in one of our Beijing Olympic football match. Before I could say Jack Robinson he flew into my outstretched and celebrating arms. That is how we love football in Nigeria. That is how football unifies Nigeria. Something Amaju Pinnick should note.
   Our Eagles are no longer super. They are drowned. But we can get it right again. Even if Keshi is sacked like some people want,who takes over? The Keshi of today is not the Keshi of yesterday. Something went wrong. And it sipped into our football generally. I don't know what it is. But we need to find out. Because if we don't, even a post Keshi era won't be beautiful. Our dead football should be resurrected. And please, we should do so before the same people who killed it come out with the burial plans.