Imagine this is an examination question thrown at
you: ‘What do we need now to rescue the beautiful game of football in Nigeria?
Nigeria Football federation (NFF) President, Amaju
Pinnick, while speaking on a radio program in Abuja said, “The steady downward
slide of football in the country has necessitated the decision to rescue the
football from total collapse. Therefore, NFF board has decided they prefer a
foreign coach to replace the former indigenous coach, Stephen Keshi.”
Think about it a little while, and let your mind
ponder through all that has been happening in the past 5 years. Have the NFF
President and his board taken the right decision?
We have had quite a number of foreign coaches in the
past. I can give you a list of all them that had worked with our national
teams. What new will a foreign coach achieve for the country? Will a foreign
coach win the world cup for Nigeria? Sorry statistic has it that no foreign
coach had ever won the world cup.
With the legion of foreign coaches we employed in
the past, what where they able to impact on the indigenous coach? Nothing! It
isn’t wisdom to think that a foreign coach will come and change our domestic
league, by working with some experienced indigenous coaches – that won’t work!
Pinnick explanation has been the same reason NFF
have been given to Nigerians over the years; whenever they want to start their
money expending spree on a foreign coach. It had never worked in Nigeria and
this one will not be an exception.
Aminu Maigari, the former President of NFF, told
Nigerians that Lars Lagerback would be the last foreign coach to work with
Nigeria national team. NFF technical committee didn’t succeed when they tried
to impose a technical director on Stephen Keshi.
Keshi has proved beyond doubt that Nigeria doesn’t
need a foreign coach any longer. Within 3 years of his tenure as head coach of
Super Eagles, he met all the records any
foreign coach had ever ever achieved here in Nigeria.
Keshi without a foreign technical director, won
AFCON 2013, qualified Nigeria for 2014 world cup and got to the second round of
the FIFA tournament. What else had a foreign coach achieved? Nowthat Keshi had
been asked to step aside, let NFF get another quality indigenous coach to take
over – Shaibu Amodu, Samson Siasia, Sunday Oliseh, Manu Garba, Mike Emenalo…
I raise my hand up to now answer the question. What
Nigeria needs so badly is foreign football administrations not a foreign coach;
and I’ll tell you why? First, you’ve to understand the nature of the problem
before you proffer solutions.
Why Nigeria football run in vicious circle; today
foreign coach, tomorrow indigenous coach; is wrong diagnosis of the problem.
It’ll not make much difference whether you employ foreign or indigenous coach.
Where the problem lies is the ones that select the
coaches for employment, who manages them to achieve set targets; the ones who
run the league and own the clubs. ADMINISTRATORS ARE THE PROBLEM OF NIGERIA
FOOTBALL!
Let us replace the indigenous administrators and
bring in foreign consultants to take over the management of our football. I am
not being sarcastic at all. Seriously, Nigeria need foreign football
Administrators!
