Keshi, Eagles and excuses

THE Nigerian will always be
a Nigerian. When in other
climes, people accept
responsibility for their failure, the
Nigerian will always find reasons
and will be the last to accept his
fault. It traverses every part of our
being as a nation. Several
applicants died as a result of the
glaring incompetence of our
Immigration authorities, no one
opted to take responsibility. The
NNPC accounts have been
battling to be reconciled in the
past several months, no one has
volunteered to take responsibility,
though the account is supposed
to be up to date, at all times and
be ready for public scrutiny.
Because we are not tidy at doing
things, there are always
tardiness, as witnessed by the ongoing
South Africa and Nigeria
impasse over $15 million.
Nothing happens in Nigeria
without a reason. A person travels
home to his village, comes back,
maybe as a result of the stress of
the journey, he collapses and
dies. The death is attributed to
"juju" from the village, maybe
caused by an old grandmother
who never knew he existed. You
are sacked for incompetence and
you attribute it to tribal factors.
That is the nature of Nigerians
and that is why our leaders and
politicians are taking us for
granted, because they attribute
reasons for any obvious madness.
Fresh school graduates are now
made to pay N4000 to register for
the compulsory NYSC
programme that is supposed to
be a service to the nation. Why
should these young school
leavers be made to bear the cost?
Why can't the NYSC authorities
work out the cost and put it in their
budget for approval? Why must
people suffer because a negligible
few want to get rich? The NYSC
must reconsider this obnoxious
policy, it is not heard of.
The excuse syndrome recently
got to its peak when the coach of
our Super Eagles told journalists,
on his return from the Sudan
fiasco, that his team was
sabotaged and that is why they
lost to Sudan. So, who is the
saboteur? Coaches and players
who refuse to play until match
allowances are paid or the NFA
that decides to 'siddon look'? What
a reason! Simple "I am sorry we
have failed the nation" would
have been enough, but, not so for
a typical Nigerian.
Our representatives have failed
to realise that the glory for any
victory go to them, as individuals
first, before the nation. It gives
them the required international
exposure that catapults one to the
peak of the profession. There are
monetary rewards which are
sometimes accompanied by other
material benefits. The now former
Super Eagles coach, Stephen
Keshi, is a proud recipient of the
MON award. Victory, therefore,
is for their individual glory. So,
why are they careless with it?
The last time the Eagles played
good football was in the AFCON
competition in South Africa last
year. Since then, it has been on
the downward slide. A major
reason for this is that our players
and coaches have chosen the
pecuniary options over others.
You will notice that each time
Nigerian players begin to put on
airs, their form begin to decline.
It did not start today, past players
like Okocha, Oliseh, etc,
exhibited this trait and their
careers declined accordingly.
There was a time Okocha got lost
in London trying to locate the
Super Eagles camp base.
The Sudan game was a
complete eye sore. I do not know
how to describe it. Our players
were passing the ball to the
opponents and running away
from tackles, while shooting high
balls to no one in particular, it was
nauseating.
Keshi needs to asses his own
performance: eleven games, five
losses, five draws and, only one
win. So, the slide did not start
now, Sudan was only an
accumulation of the build-up.
Keshi has been building since
he came in and in the process,
he managed to drop useful
players who helped him to win
the Nations Cup like Sunday
Mbah, Brown Ideye - his
combination with Emenike, Ike
Uche and others was superb. In
their stead, he brought in very
average players who could not
rise to the occasion.
The absence of a creative mid
fielder has been there since Keshi
took over. Three years after, he
has not been able to fill that
vacuum; that does not show
competence.
All over the world, players that
excel from the youth teams are
drafted into the senior teams. We
did that with Kanu, Oruma,
Okocha and others. Why did
Keshi chose to ignore Iheanacho
who sparkled in the Under-18
World Cup tournament? To make
best player in any World Cup
competition is not a small feat.
Keshi should have included him
in his team. Mexico did it for Dos
Santos and Argentina did it for
Messi. Dropping Iheanacho was
not a good strategy on Keshi's part
and that is the sentiment issue that
critics are accusing him of. As far
as I am concerned, at least three
of those Under-17 boys should
have been drafted straight to the
Eagles. The right back, where we
still have problems till date, the
goal keeper and the creative
midfield, where we have
Iheanacho. The future of the
Eagles is in the hands of the
youths.
Keshi also displayed very
unpatriotic tendencies by openly
flirting with other nations like
South Africa for employment
while still in charge of our Eagles.
That was a big distraction which,
I believe, affected his focus.
His relationship with his
employers, the NFF, was not the
best. That is not a winning
strategy for a super coach. How
can you be fighting with your
bosses and expect to succeed? It
is also alleged that he dumped
all those who assisted him with
technical inputs during his
successful Nations Cup runs.
Keshi does not stay in Nigeria
to monitor his players. So, for the
period he was in charge of the
Eagles, he operated like an
expatriate coach.