JOSHUA J. OMOJUWA laments the difficulties of even getting our football out of the valley
This week has been one of our worst in many years, starting on Sunday when the Super Eagles were finally delivered from their miserable FIFA World Cup journey. Then there was Kebbi, Kwara and a host of other tragedies; terrorism, banditry, accidents. It’s been a bloody week. Nigeria has been fighting terrorism for about a decade and a half now. In that time, it’s done almost everything when it comes to engaging terror militarily and on other fronts. What Nigeria hasn’t done enough of is provide opportunities for its teeming young population to be engaged, not just in work but in fun. This has cost us on multiple fronts; disastrous showings at major sporting events, inability to qualify for even the ones we once dominated, not to mention the pool of young people who now form the army for those whose means of livelihood is to mete out terror.
The options are just so limited and even platforms that once thrived, like school sports, have become a thing of the past. The Super Eagles not qualifying for the World Cup after one of its poorest runs ever, four wins in regulation time out of 12 games, and the upsurge in insecurity may appear to be two different news stories but they are aligned in the lack of development plan for sports in the country.
The Nigerian youth doesn’t feel they’ve got options here. Those who can are leaving, those who can’t are doing everything they can to, those without hope take to crime in different forms whilst the privileged and hopeful stay building here. Almost every country has to deal with one form or the other of these categories of young people, but we’ve got enough of them to make a country; those who have given up hope and are taking up arms against the state, in different forms.
There are ramifications for a country missing out on the World Cup beyond the players. Multidimensional outcomes, but the biggest loser, without a doubt, is the player whose career is defined by their absence at the World Cup. In that sense, one cannot cry more than the bereaved. Everyday people are either back at their desk or on their way to work or in search of same. Life must go on. The bigger costs extend beyond these Super Eagles players. Think of the young people who are far from playing for the national team. Grassroots players and their ability to access opportunities abroad becomes even more limited. The football economy squeezes a little harder, for everyone involved, players, journalists, photographers, marketers, brands, entrepreneurs.
On the whole, the Morocco mini-tournament was a false dawn. We have been abysmal at this series since the very beginning. That we drew seven out of 12 games in regulation time tells its own story. Even with a lifeline, we could only produce two draws, 1-1 each time. We drew more than fresh okra in these series. Our viscosity would have made okra draw back in shock. We just never flowed. We did our best not to qualify.
Missing out on one is bad enough, on two, back to back compounds all the negative effects. Those at the helm of Nigerian football over the last decade have not moved the needle a tad forward. The Super Eagles may be the greatest reflection of that but a look at all the national teams, U/17, U/20, U/23 reflects the depth of our fall. The Super Falcons are enjoying their head start over the rest of Africa, their results don’t reflect the state of our football, it is despite it. In that period, Morocco has shown us that prayers isn’t what is required to do great in sports development. It is intentionality, design and commitment to sporting excellence. If God be for everyone, calling on God to moderate your mediocrity or lack of preparation amounts to asking God to cheat for you.
Never has Nigeria built a team solely dependent on one player. Morocco are showing us that, to every action, there are multiple order reactions. Matter of fact, that it was in that country we were hosted to lose the ticket we never deserved to win is a reflection of the great work the country’s football system has been putting in place for years now. Whether or not they win AFCON, the legacy is telling and obvious enough, on and off the field. They are already winning. And whilst in Achraf Hakimi they now have the African Player of the Year, they haven’t a built team that is dependent on one player like ours depends almost solely on Victor Osimhen.
We led ourselves here. The players did play the games and were responsible for the result they got. That said, they are also victims of a system that was designed to only hope on their talents rather than a design that’d have thrived even amidst limited talent. Some 48 teams are going to the next World Cup, any country that does not qualify cannot blame it on luck. You had to be really poor to the point of being a disaster to miss out on a World Cup where almost every other country will appear. This is where we are now, rock bottom.
What are we going to do about it? That we are here isn’t even as big a mess as the fact that nothing will change. For a sport that is such a great contributor to the GDP elsewhere, it is such a shame we have no clue how to even help it thrive at the lowest of levels, let alone build layers of opportunities and excellence on top of it. We started Lagos Liga to address the shortage of opportunities for Nigerian footballers. But it’s a drop in the ocean. Between the Nigerian ruling class and its corporate elites, they must either work out a way to expand opportunities for our young people or continue to negotiate the outcomes of terror for another decade and half. Enough has to be enough.
Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach/BGX Publishing
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