SPORT:Super Eagles and the NFF are all at fault

Super Eagles and the NFF are all at fault

When late Sunny Okosun(of Blessed memory)got inspiration to write “which way Nigeria?” he must of had a hindsight of how Nigeria would prepare for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The song though elicited hope,but it dwelt on the anomalies that exists in the entity called Nigeria. But the song asked a pertinent question,of how long the country would continue wallowing in what they felt was right,when other nations have long overtaken Nigeria in putting their houses in order.

There is a maxim that Nigeria loves to do things the hard way,and does not settle for the easy option,it must suffer devastating effects,or else it is not Nigeria.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria is the last country,to arrive Brazil for the Confederations Cup,not because they mapped out their schedule to touch down in the South American Nation on Saturday,but simply because of the undoing of Nigeria.

As matter of clarification,Nigeria made a rod for its back,and that same weapon is now being deployed against the country.

When Nigeria won the 2013 African Nations Cup,after a 19-year wait for success,El-Dorado seemed to have been attained,but alas,it was another endless journey to the unknown.

Winning the Nations Cup,brought lots of prospects and the additional perks,that accompany such triumphs,but everything seemed to have vanished into oblivion even before an eyelid was even bated.

Instead of brainstorming avenues on how to manage this success and harness this diamond that is still unrefined,an unsavoury can of worm was unearthed,and lots of bothering issues were thrown in the open.

First Super Eagles coach,Stephen Keshi,boxed the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) in a corner,when he announced on a South African radio station that he was resigning as the coach of the national team,citing his ordeal with his employers at the Nations Cup as the reason.

Hell was let loose,and the whole Nigeria demanded for the leadership of the NFF to be hung out to dry. With the intervention of goverment,that problem was ably navigated,and on came another ailment,cutting cost.

It was like the arrowhead of the whole menace,first was the trimming down of the Keshi’s backroom staff( which many saw as a personal vendetta),then the slashing of the match bonuses of the Super Eagles by 50%,with the NFF saying emphatically,’with no water in their mouth’ that they are broke,and can no longer sustain the high cost they were running on.

The picture became clearer,that Nigerian football was sitting on a time-bomb,waiting for the approval of the NFF to launch and hit target.

A glimpse of what to expect in no distant time,was glaringly displayed,when players of the Super Eagles led by John Obi Mikel in March,2013 threatened to boycott the World Cup qualifier against Kenya in Calabar,unless they were paid their remaining bonuses for winning the Nations Cup.

NFF rallied round and paid the players a day before the game against Kenya,and danger was temporarily averted.

The lid was finally blown when the players initially refused the $5000,being paid for the victory they got last week against Kenya in the 2014 World Cup qualifier.

At this point,it is easy to start hurling stones at the leadership of the NFF,but on a second thought,we should ask a question on how we got to this misleading junction.

The Super Eagles started getting $10,000 bonus for every victory,when in 2009 that Nigeria’s World Cup qualification chances hung in the balance; so all options to qualify for the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa,was to be exhausted(which included stumping up the allowances to motivate the players)

Buoyed by the monetary incentives,being showered from the coffers of a government induced,Presidential Task Force(PTF) instituted by late President Musa Yar’Adua,the stakes were raised and they now departed from the previous norm of paying $5,000 to a new one of $10,000.

But there was no sustainability mechanism deployed to maintain this on a long-term,after the PTF must have gone with their ‘government’ money.

It is noteworthy that lots of money was expended in making the 2013 African Nations Cup a success,and the NFF in order to meet other set targets this year,decided to cut cost.

Both the technical crew and the players were all affected in the recession,but it did not particularly go down well with the Super Eagles.

What started like gossip,later metamorphosed into a full blown international disgrace,after the Super Eagles refused to board a plane to connect a flight to Brazil for the FIFA Confederations Cup.

As a result, the team missed valuable time and are now scheduled to leave for Brazil on Saturday,when their first game is on Monday against Tahiti.

In NFF’s defence,they argued that they are still one of the highest paying football federations in terms of bonuses: “which is absolutely true.”

All pointers are now to the fact, that the Super Eagles are ‘mercenaries’ as some have termed them; whereby they only play for Nigeria when paid.

The refusal of the Super Eagles to travel, is tantamount to holding the country to ransom,and showing that there is no pride in defending Nigeria.

Should match bonus have stopped the Super Eagles from honouring an international competition,that will be beneficial to their careers?

On Thursday,it was rumoured all over the world,that Nigeria have withdrawn from the Confederation Cup,following the bonus rows,which further tainted the already,bad image Nigeria has globally.

Just picture the commentator running a commentary of the game between Nigeria and Spain at the Confederations Cup,and qualifying the team,as being close to boycotting the tournament.

Not the kind of toga the team would want to have,but it is inevitable at this stage,where we have been made the laughing stock once again.

Not exonerating either the Super Eagles or the NFF,both parties didn’t cover themselves in glory. The leadership didn’t show the qualities needed to manage what evolved,and the Super Eagles by refusing to travel showed that they cared more for money.

We should never have gotten to this crossroad,where there are warring parties. The ripple effect going into the Confederations Cup is one, where we have a disgruntled entourage,going to the competition,with nobody willing to duck for the other.

The debacle in Namibia,just portrays everything that is wrong with Nigeria,everybody wants a win-win situation,with no unified goal.

Just like Sunday Okosun said in a line in his song “ Let’s save Nigeria,so Nigeria won’t die.”

Another line said “ Every little that goes wrong we start to blame the government; we know everything that goes wrong because we are part of government”

The Super Eagles and the NFF,definitely would have a way to come to a truce, and not reduce Nigeria to being the butt of ridicule,by other well organised countries.