By Desmond Ekwueme
•Michael Emenalo – Saudi Pro-League (present Sporting Director)
•Seyi Olofinjana – Chelsea Talent Management and Role Covering Director for Africa 2024)
•Michael Nsien – US U-19 (present Head Coach)
•Ndubuisi Egbo – FK Bylis of Albania (present Manager)
•Emmanuel Amunike – Zanaco FC (Consultant 2023)
•Samson Siasia – FIFA suspension to be lifted on August 5th)
•Sunday Oliseh – Super Eagles Head Coach in 2015-16; SV 19 Straelen in 2022
•Daniel Amokachi – Rejected Super Eagles assistant coach job in 2024. Worked as assistant coach with triumphant Eagles in South Africa 2013 AFCON
•Sylvanus Okpala – Super Eagles Assistant Coach in AFCON 2013 triumph.
The situation Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have placed themselves can be compared to a man by the bank of a clean river yet prefers to bath with his saliva..
We can even compare the NFF with a man in the middle of a clean river yet screams that foaming soap has entered into his eyes. You begin to wonder if he can’t wash his eyes or face with the river water. They’re like people in a river yet searching for water. You ask, are they blind?
In the midst of plenty the NFF decides to stay empty. This is a clinical example of the happenings within the larger Nigeria society where you have brilliant minds in all fields of endeavors yet it’s difficult to fix leadership problem which is the bane of the country.
With plethora of football minds in the country, the NFF decides to seek and hire a foreign coach for Super Eagles. They obviously frustrated Finidi George out of his job with just two competitive games. Their impatience appear like a well orchestrated plan to get him out.
Now rather than quickly look inwards again and appoint another ex-international as Head Coach of the team, they decided to hunt for an expatriate Technical Adviser. Sadly, the kind of coaches they get from Europe aren’t world class neither are they better than the indigenous coaches here. Late Stephen Keshi proved this.
Truth is the NFF prefer dealing with foreign coaches than indigenous ones given that the latter who perhaps are ex-internationals won’t allow persons who don’t know the game or didn’t even play football to push them around.
This is why they don’t accord the ex-internationals employed any respect. They even turn a blind eye when the players decide to revolt against their coach as witnessed recently. When the FA refuses to back a coach to discipline errant players then, they have succeeded in creating chaos in the team. That could be interpreted as laying landmines for the coach to fail.
Many wonder why the NFF is scared of drafting a set of rules and regulations or better still Code of Conduct to check the excesses of the players who feel they’re bigger than their coaches? What most of them dare not attempt in their respective clubs, they do in the national team and walk away with it.
In the past, this team had Code of Conduct, a Camp Commandant and a Team Coordinator. These are positions and measures meant to instill discipline in the team and the world saw the mammoth results especially during the era of Clemens Westerhorf and later Late Stephen Keshi.
With Finidi’s sad exit and the Morocco 2025 AFCON draws held, one would have thought the NFF will swing into action by appointing another ex-international as Head Coach and perhaps two of his colleagues to assist him.
Super Eagles next game is in September and it’s an away tie to Libya. It is the beginning of the AFCON qualifiers. A coach should have been appointed by now to start tinkering his team before that game.
We must not forget that the European 2024/25 football season would have been three weeks old when Super Eagles will take on Libya. Most clubs won’t want to release their players given that the season has just started. Will the next Super Eagles coach fall back on NPFL players and add them to the few Europe-based players who will be available? NFF should be thinking along this line.
Recall that Finidi was appointed in April. He had to play his first two games against Ghana and Mali around May and by June he was facing South Africa and Benin Republic in the World Cup qualifiers. He had barely three days each (both in friendlies and qualifiers) to spend with the players. Should this repeat itself under a new coach? Is this part of the problem?
Methinks, the NFF should look at the names above and pick three or four among them with one as Head Coach. There’s no time. It will be bad if Super Eagles fail to qualify for 2025 AFCON in Morocco and miss the 2026 World Cup.
If it is a possibility for Super Eagles to qualify for both tournaments then, it could also be possible that they may not qualify for both. It all boils down to doing the needful and working really hard. All hands must be on deck.
I wished President Tinubu set up a Task Force in this regard. We have gotten to that point. A stitch in time saves nine.
