Eagles: Why Keshi will fail – Editor

From Edoborn Amodu Shuaibu to Swede tactician, Lars Lagerback and just recently SamsonSiasia, it is obvious those who run Nigeria football at the Glass House eitherdo not know the real problem confronting our football or are turning blind eyedue to pecuniary gains!

Was SamsonSiasia responsible for the failure of our Under 23 National male and femaleteams from qualifying for the All African games or London 2012 for the femaleteam?

Was theBayelsa born former JUTH FC gaffer the cause of semi final ouster of EnyimbaInternational football club from CAF Champions league as well as that ofSunshine Stars from the Confederation cup?

Maybe it wasSamson Siasia that made our Under 16 team not to qualify for the last cadetworld cup. It appears we’ve forgotten that the former Under 21 as well as Under23 tactician did not lose any competitive game while in charge of the SuperEagles! I’m not an apologist of Samson Siasia, but one who follows Nigeriafootball in particular and the global game with deep interest andprofessionalism. Members of the NFF board, Sports Journalists, federal andstate ministries of sports, coaches, club owners and other stakeholders shouldtake responsibility for the increasing decline our football is going throughand not lay the blame on National coaches alone.

How many ofus have taken time to note that the few public schools across the country thathitherto had football pitches and other sports facilities are fast losing themto land invaders, owners of driving school, hoodlums who turn them to toiletsand hideouts as well as people of surrounding communities who convert them toparty venues. Or have we also noticed that majority of privately owned schoolsacross the country do not have spaces for football, volleyball and other gamesexcept for swings? Does it really bother us that Headmasters’ and principals’cups are fast becoming history in Nigeria? This is not to talk of our domesticprofessional league which is nowhere near an amateur league outside Africa andeven some part of the African continent! Where then are we going to unearthbudding talents and tutor them to become world class stars if the foundation isfaulty? Until we go back to address school sports, particularly football andour almost dead football league which doesn’t have a definite date ofcommencement, a Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson will fail in Nigeria, letalone Delta born Stephen Okechukwu Keshi who may be tempted to see himself asan expatriate Coach and visit the country a week to vital Super Eagles matcheslike other foreigners who failed woefully, instead of attending match venues ofour league to scout for raw talents.

The thrustof this discourse is that Nigeria should take cue from neighbouring Ghana whichwent back to the basis after failing to qualify for Nations Cup a few years agoby addressing the woes in our football structure rather than looking for thenext manager to fire.

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