Sunleye-Solawumi Olaleye
16 December 2008
opinion
Lagos — The times are really hard, very hard. Although I would have loved to say they are bad; really, really bad, but I am not going to say that because I know more than a purse of optimists and romanticists who would be loathe to agree such extremist phraseology in the description of the depths that football has fallen in Nigeria. And in this, we would not be talking of the local games alone. It would be everything, from the grassroots to national football and our international game.
To tell how deep down into the abyss we have fallen, I should remind of the days when Nigerians used to see a footballing bronze as a failure, and merely tolerated silver as an achievement for which a coach could be forgiven his failure on the strength that things would definitely look up on the next occasion.
Those were days when a certain Clemens Westerhof, who was at the helm of our international football affairs would apologise profusely for taking our dear team to a final loss against home side, Algeria, in a Cup of Nations Finals, or when a Jo Bonfrere would beg to be allowed to take his team away to camp in preparation for an Olympic tourney, in the wake of a home loss in Lagos, to Benin Republic, saying he had a super team, and only that his boys were getting distracted.
Those were days to be remembered nostalgically, and if I dare say, craved again. But dare we hope for so much with the type of Nigeria Football Association (pardon me, Federation) eggheads and coaches that we have at the helm of our teams.
Well, I made the mistake of calling the Glass House, Abuja body, 'Association' because though I am one in the believe that everything is in a name, but in the particular situation of this body, I have failed to see what the difference an association made from a federation. For me this past few months since that name change was covertly, dubiously and surreptitiously made, nothing has changed except the body's style of news dissemination, which had to be coming because a professional news man is at the helm of communication things of the federation. The attitude, mode of working and the leaning towards performance, are still the same and as old as the bad history of the association, before it became a federation. I hate clichés so I am not going to join the bandwagon and say it is still business as usual at the Glass House.
And if you think I am being hard on them, then consider that a body as important and big as the NFA, would make a name change right inside their board room without anyone knowing, nor an official pre-change announcement being made, not to even talk of an unveiling conference for a new logo. Or is somebody saying the crest of the old NFA is still being used?
Anyway, this is a matter for another day. The day's issue is about how, thanks to lack of ambition and vision, failures have become things to celebrate at the NFF.
But it is not only that failures have become a habit with those at the NFF Sixth Floor Citadel, it is the fact that those who so fail abysmally in that house can always come around and thumb their noses at us and kick the national collective psyche by telling us we can go kick ourselves if we don't like their faces or their deleterious performances. It's so, so rank.
Otherwise, how would you describe a certain bozo of a coach, by the name of Ladan Bosso, who would continue to mis-perform but yet drag the name of Nigeria in the mud and put the white and green into international opprobrium and disrepute in the illogical defence of his own lack of achievements?
Over a year ago, in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, after scandalously losing a quarter final match, this 'gentleman' would go on to accuse the whole world and indeed FIFA - a body that is in the forefront of the fight against injustice, unfair play and racism - of these same things that are the hallmark of its existence.
Of course, he was banned for a year and fined and made to apologise for his reckless vituperations.
But he had hardly finished serving the term of his banishment when NFF rushed, heads over heels; to beg him to accept the next juicy job it had on offer. (Actually, we know that job was frozen in reserve for him to finish his punishment period.)
Now, he has gone again to crash land another Nigeria team, the latest that he has been begged to take through his very effective line of godfatherism, and what have we got in response from him. An insulting statement about how despite having lost at home, he thinks we should celebrate him, declaring he did not fail.
Now he is taking the Under-20 away to another championship. We don't need to mention what championship it is this time, because it really does not matter. It does not matter because we already know the result he is bringing, failure, and we know what he will tell us on arrival back Nigeria: 'Shut up you so, and so. Who told you I did not do well. I am the latest Nigerian superstar'.
And if ever there is anybody who does not know what would be the NFF's reaction, this is it: it would quickly honour the man with a dinner and announced his next programme of action on his behalf.
Cry the dead beloved days of proud Nigerian soccer fans.
Meanwhle, another coach has taken another national team to a crashing landing against our old rival that we thought we have recently made our victim, Ghana. And what does this coach do as a result of leading our team to disaster before our very own eyes and on our very own realty, the Calabar Stadium? Your guess is of course as good as mine, or anyone else'. He does not apologise for himself as any half decent professional would do, he does not immediately tender his resignation with apologies, for heaping shame on our football in front of our home fans. He does not do any of these, no. He goes ahead, like his other entire ilk before him, to rob salt into our festering injury by exonerating the NFF, as if it is in his place to do that.
Of course he would do that because they are all birds of the same failing feather with duties to each other to help 'theirselves' to swim or sink together - Okey Emeordi. Yes, he would do that because he has been told to do so to neutralize any negative opinion that may form against him in the throes of the technical committee meeting tomorrow.
In this, their 'Omega' credo is to one another their own, and the Devil for the rest of us football loving Nigerians. But Emeordi and NFF's matter is not for now. That will come some other time.
Again, cry the dead beloved days of proud Nigerian soccer fans.
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