Tony Okerafor
5 November 2009
column
MR. Aminu, the caller who initially gave me the impression that he was prepared to listen and be listened to, finally ended our chat, handing me a lengthy lecture-lasting 15 cool minutes.
"If Rasheed Yekini complained that his team-mates had tried to scheme him out of glory and more success," he continued, "then, I know and you too know, that it was his choice and his right to speak out, which he did.
While I understand your argument in favour of setting standards and keeping them, I also believe that no present member of the Super Eagles has come out to publicly criticize Mikel for saying what he said, or claimed that Mikel's comments has actually led to disaffection among the team. So, if his colleagues, Mikel's team-mates, don't care why should you? Why should I ?"
For whatever reason(s), many people feel protecting John Mikel Obi from what they see as a vendetta comes first and every other thing follows. The truth is: the young man has served his country better than most of us.
However, one key to true greatness, for those who really care about getting there, is discipline, and like many of us, Mikel still needs more of it to acquire or learn or imbibe. In the words of one correspondent, "No discipline at all, and even very little of it, is not good sportsmanship", and given how thousands of sports men and women rode on the backs of their national colours to success, in some cases, super-stardom, "the least anyone can give to the country is patriotism".
It's no crime to ask someone to give as much, if not more than he's getting from the country. Playing for the national team raises anyone's profile, be he a Drogba, a Mesi, McCarthy, a Kaka, an Esien, a Beckham, an Iniesta, a Ronaldo or a Mikel. No matter how accomplished you are in the game of football, your name will never really have entered the hall of fame if you didn't go to play at the World Cup, during your "illustrious" career, and the only way you can get that far is to be a member of your country's national football team.
I must say here, and without fear or favour, that I've thoroughly "enjoyed" myself, receiving the litany of mails and other correspondences, and being opportuned to gauge the mood of a cross section of Nigerians on an issue such as this. I don't bear grudge against anyone, including some anonymous correspondents, others not so anonymous, who thought I was "in the pay roll of some miscreant team-mates of Mikel, who want to put an end to his career because of envy", that I'm "a helpless trouble-maker looking cheap for publicity", "a clown", "a hypocrite", "hapless whistle-blower", "confused fellow," "beastly" or "someone suffering from a case of sour grapes", whatever that may mean.
Leaving out the hate-mails, some associated with libel and others I simply describe as unprintable, fictitious and utter non-sense, I've picked out this critical, but, fairly constructive E-mail from one Haruna Lawal, writing, he said, from the U.K. The writer said nothing about his own nationality. But, he asked to know if "Mr. Okerafor is aware of reports that the Chelsea coach, Mr. Ancelotti, may now be thinking of off-loading John Obi Mikel, because he thinks the Nigerian international is not playing with sufficient authority in his front-of-the-defence role in the team".
Lawal then went on to make a claim that I'm not yet prepared to buy: namely, that the game of the former Flying Eagles star, i.e. Mikel, has yet to mature "adequately". One reason Lawal gave for what he called Mikel's "slow rate of maturity", compared to counter-parts like Mesi of Argentina, he said, is the absence of a commensurate "level or standard of performance" in the national football team of Nigeria" which I dare say borders on ridicule, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. If he's right, and I dare say he's not, then, the general rule becomes that of players bringing experience and higher standards from their national teams to their club-sides, rather than the other way round.
Whichever way one chooses to argue the matter, the fact, the undisputed fact, remains that most people are almost always beclouded by sentiments and/or half-truths and utter falsehoods, often to the point that we allow common sense and good reason to a fly out the window. See! It's important, as a people and as country, that we learn to enforce rules and standards that we've set for ourselves, in order that we don't continue to admire or wine and dine over meals prepared by others, at the expense of ours that is still, probably, on the fire, burning.
"Let's tell ourselves the truth, so that we don't continue to," as yet another E-mailer wrote to me, "deceive ourselves and chase shadows." Telling ourselves the truth, for instance, means not asking for the head of someone like the former Green Eagles defender and former Rivers State attorney-general, Mr. Adokiye Amesiemeka, for telling us the truth about how truly unimaginable it is that a 16-year old Nigerian Golden Eaglet would have successively played for two Nigerian Premiership club-sides, and yet, remains under-17.
The question here is not whether FIFA's M.R.I. scanning machines are the full-proof devices some people said they were, because we know they are not. Rather, the question, the blame, if any , rightly goes to the N.F.F. and the coaching crew, because they are the ones who want to prove at all costs to the government that they haven't wasted N10 billion on the W.Y.C.-under-17 without at least winning it.
You know it, I know it, they know it, that the performances we've seen our boys and some of the other teams produce over the past fortnight or so are too top-class for even the best of raw, under-17 talents. So what are we talking about here?
As regards the way ordinary Nigerians have reacted to that article, "Ted card to John Mikel Obi", let me say here, without mincing words, that the people of this country are very expressive folks , and not at all laid-back. That, if you ask me, has many things to recommend it. But, I think, on the other hand, we, as a people, could do with being more realistic about life. We should learn to call a spade a spade.
Our sports administrators can also learn from this: namely, that when you set one standard for Paul and another for Peter, and yet another for James, you're bound to create disharmony. The question here transcends mere logic; it impinges on fairness and justice, and will not entertain any sacred cows.
We want to go to the World Cup, come next year, or don't we? Even if this group of Super Eagles players don't manage to find the luck they need to displace Tunisia, ahead of South Africa-2010, Brazil-2014 will be there to be fought for: Giving us enough time to learn how to put round pegs into round holes, and square pegs in square holes. To make it, we need a disciplined, able and sufficiently committed bunch, which we currently don't have. Look! Every single one of the seven countries that have won the Mundial since inception in 1930 demonstrated the highest degree of team cohesion, strong individual commitment and discipline-combined.
If you take an elaborate look at history, you will discover that the crux of this discussion, while bordering on a Mikel Obi case-study so to speak, transcends the shortcomings of just one, poor old footballer. Why, you may ask, did France World Cup-winning national team coach reject all entreaties to include a player who was on top of his game, ahead of France-98? Nicolas Anelca had for long been a dissenter, and had disciplinary problems that, as they were not resolved, were certain to affect or impact the wider squad and cause disruptions.
What about the legendary Edgar David of the Dutch national team of the 1990's? His personal soccer abilities aside, no one seemed to raise an eyebrow when he walked out on the coach and his colleagues, ahead of a Mundial, because his presence was already sowing seeds of discord among the team.
Did not a similar fate befall the likes of the former Irish international and Manchester United F.C ex-captain, Roy Kin, and Egyptian striker, Mido, when they showed utter disrespect for their coaches and team-mates?
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