AMAJU PINNICK WRONG! FOREIGN COACH NOT THE ANSWER #Go Back to the Drawing Board

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!