Football is presumably the prince of sports in Nigeria, loved by all. Hence, whenever the senior national team, the Super Eagles of Nigeria are engaged in a tournament, the nation stands still and looks up to the game with great passion.
A recent example of the nation’s attachment to football was during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cote d’Ivoire. The nation vibrated with prayers, resources mobilized and society almost came to a halt as all eyes were on Eagles in Cote d’Ivoire.
Some people even lost their lives unfortunately as the ecstasy of the game dynamics could not be controlled.
Such is the passion Nigeria has for football.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, a very senior citizen, took to pages of the newspapers to discuss the issue of the use of penalty kicks as a means of deciding the outcome of football games.
Chief Afe Babalola, an Octogenarian of great repute, so much loves football that he went out of his way to share his thoughts on the above topic.
In all, therefore, it is a ‘sine qua non’ to state that where football is, particularly with Super Eagles involved, the soul and spirit of the Nigerian nation is involved.
The management of football in Nigeria, particularly the affairs of Super Eagles, is in the hands of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
A major role this organisation plays is the role of hiring a coach/manager for the Super Eagles.
This is a heavy responsibility as the role delivery competence and effectiveness of whoever NFF choose as Super Eagles coach is of great concern to the nation.
This is the road junction football management in Nigeria has arrived.
Which way NFF?
Who should be Super Eagles coach?
This road junction is a recurring decimal which has become more frequent in the last few years. Sacking coaches in-between critical cycle moments of the football season can breed organisational and system instability for the team, but here we are and a decision has to be made as to whom the cap fits as Super Eagles coach/manager.
The Super Eagles of today and in the nearest future remain diasporian in composition. All the players play in the best European Leagues. It is inevitably so due to the visible low production of quality and suitable players for the team by the local League.
Who therefore is best suited to coach/manage a diasporan Super Eagles?
The attributes the Super Eagles coach should possess are multivariate. Fundamentally such a person must be socialised into the symbolic values of football in Nigeria as a nation and assimilate the values and vision of the nation for the Super Eagles of Nigeria i.e. to be amongst the top teams in Africa and the global community.
Furthermore, the coach Super Eagles deserve must be someone who possesses technical knowledge of the game, played at top level possibly beyond Africa and in the best leagues in the world.
1. The coach/manager of the Super Eagles must be educated and certified by competent coaching and management institutions as a FIFA-graded coach.
2. Someone who has been involved in club football management beyond the African continent, possibly as a coach. In fact, such a person could also have won the Africa Cup for Cup winners and the Africa Club Championship Cup as a coach.
3. Someone who because of his professional competence and proven capacity earns the respect of a diasporan Super Eagles or a mixture of local and foreign-based players.
4. Someone who has capacity to re-engineer the Super Eagles to enable the players reach the depth of their strength and game competence to deliver quality game outcomes for Nigeria while on national duty.
5. Someone with capacity to deploy research skills and scientific knowledge in modifying positively Super Eagles performance and in the management of the team.
From the foregoing and other considerations, it is obvious that the NFF have an awesome task in their hands as they move to appoint a new helmsman for the Super Eagles.
No sentiments really in this exercise. All eyes are on you and it is expected that you will not fail the nation.
Perhaps the points raised here could be useful in this endeavour
By PROF EMMANUEL OJEME
EMAIL:successojeme@yahoo.com
