here is a Russian folk lore about two farmers; one successful, the other not so successful. When a genie appeared to the poor man and asked what he wanted, the sadist grimly replied, “Kill my neighbor’s cow.” I guess that is the Nigerian attitude towards preparations for the World Cup finals due to be held in South Africa next year.
Many Eagles fans (not this one, certainly) are watching, praying and hoping that Tunisia, the top contender, loses a game in order to give Nigeria a shot at qualifying for the mundial. As we pray and fast (sackclothes, ashes and all) for our ‘miracle-working God’ to kill our neighbor’s cow, what we fail to see, are any genuine efforts on the part of the Nigerian team to achieve success in the endeavor. In the words of a chat room contributor: ‘we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,’ when we met the Tunisians last month and we could barely score a convincing defeat against the Mozambicans at our last engagement. The maxim for hardworking men has always been ‘ do the best you can and leave the rest to God.’ For today’s Super Eagles, the working maxim is : ‘ if we get lucky.’
The questions this author wrestles with time and again are: how did we find ourselves struggling to qualify for South Africa 2010? Was it not enough embarrassment that we had to watch the actions of Germany 2006 from the sidelines? Are we simply too stupid and possess no abilities to learn from our failures? Did our miracle-working God finally quit in disgust and decamped (like everyone else) to Ghana? On the subject of Ghana, I want to say a big congratulations to the Ghanaians for securing the U-20 World Cup , beating Brazil and playing with a heart worthy of a lion. They remind me of a happier time in an age long gone when the Eagles were truly superb , before we took our eyes off the ball. Ghanaian football has undergone some major makeover, just like its government and the end result is a formidable team that works hard for its success.
When we look at the big picture, it is quite unfair to place too much expectations on the Nigerian national team. It is like expecting a blighted tree to produce healthy fruits. Our national team reflects our national character. Just as we have men and women who put themselves first and the country second, so we have foreign players who will place their foreign club sides first and the national team second any day. In the same vein, just as we have an ‘accidental’ president, Yar’ Adua with his head up in the clouds; so do we have the powerless coach Amodu Shaibu who has allowed his camp to be sabotaged by his players while he plays water boy for his millionaire players. If a tree is felled, its fruits die. Just as the sun sets on the greatness of this giant of Africa, so does the national team and the other sectors suffer from this gross incompetence.
Come to think of it, what makes it our God-given right to make it to the World Cup? That tournament is a fiesta for countries that have fought hard and won the right to appear among the best in the trade, not a festival for the lucky. Hard work and experience trumps luck and good fortune at the finals. What efforts have we made to convince the world that we deserve to be there and not Tunisia or Ghana or Cote d’Ivoire or even the host, South Africa? Have we worked harder than everybody else? Have we shown more football maturity or built on the successes of the past? Certainly not! One vital ingredient missing from our recipe for success is national spirit. With all that we have been through these few decades, I would be most amazed if this spirit still exists in your average Nigerian who has been bruised and battered by his corrupt government. The absence of national spirit in any country leads to the ruin of that nation. The history books tell us that Rome, one of the greatest empires in antiquity, rose to its height because of the level of loyalty and dedication of her citizens. When the Romans fell into debauchery, sloth and corruption, they became weak and barbarians invaded and destroyed that glorious empire. It is the same spirit of nation building that made a mob of ragtag citizens take on the cream of the British Army, and defeat them to found the most powerful nation of all times- the United States of America. There was a time when the Eagles were known for their tenacity, their dependency, their dedication and their spirit of nationalism. Those long gone days bred the likes of Best Ogedegbe (RIP), Christian Chukwu and Teslim Balogun.
One can only wonder why the disconnect between the yesterday and today’s Eagles? The poor excuses we have today desecrate the green and white jersey. The memory of yesterday’s Eagle draws up pictures of dedicated young men ready to take on any team anywhere, any day; a team whose World Cup debut in 1994 opened the door for African youths to become accepted into foreign club sides with respect. Yesterday’s Eagles were in Atlanta in 1996, pummeling the Brazilians and Argentinians, and bringing home the Olympic Gold; yesterday’s Eagles were Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi, Finidi George, Emmanuel Amuneke, Kanu Nwankwo, J J Okocha, Tijani Babangida and Garba Lawal (yes, that Garba Lawal), just to mention a few. Today’s Super Eagles are anything but super. The overrated millionaires, who spend more time sitting on some foreign club bench than anything else, have ceased to be a formidable factor in African football for quite sometime now. This author realized that we were heading for trouble when people began fasting and praying for the Eagles to triumph over Cote d’Ivoire, two African Cup of Nations ago. Fast and Pray? I thought that privilege was reserved for only Brazil? Well our fatigued and bloated excuses of millionaires and their clueless coaches and technical advisers have succeeded in undoing decades of handwork and tradition of success established by their predecessors. It came as no surprise that the last qualifying game by the Eagles against the Mozambicans was played to the audience of a practically empty stadium. Moral of the story: you turn your back on your fans; they turn their backs on you.
The growing consensus among Nigerians right now is that if the Eagles are going to play in South Africa the way they have been playing so far, they should remain at home, to say the least. Yes! Let the Eagles stay at home and do some soul searching. Let them organize retreats and try to discover why we have toppled from this lofty height to become the whipping boys of Africa. Obviously nothing has been learnt from our failures to make Germany 2006 and hence back to the soccer wilderness we must return. I advise that we remain at home and give all the millions of dollars voted for the World Cup to university lecturers, so that we can end the incessant strike actions keeping our kids at home. While on the subject of the present-day Eagles, I must point out that our Eagles have always planned to fail since they are experts at failing to plan. We have tossed aside careful planning in favor of the fire-brigade approach. Today’s Eagles simply consists of Osaze Odemwingie and any ten other incompetents that Amodu Shaibu picks from the hat to play with that hard-working and enterprising young man.
In the final analysis, if on the off chance the Eagles find themselves in South Africa by some fluke, this author will not be among those cheering that we have finally made it. It simply translates to the fact that we have again blown another opportunity to retreat and overhaul our football thus leading to worse days ahead. It also means that our miracle-working God has again heard our prayers.
And killed our neighbor’s cow.
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