The lucky kids called Super Eagles

I have been left thinking since the Super Eagles B team crashed out of the Africa Nations Championship rounding off Sunday in Rwanda. I don’t really know if I am being not too fair to the Eagles in my thoughts but I have to put them down here so we can do the assessment

together.

So much has been said about why and how they lost out of the competition and I have become quite interested in the reasons given for their ouster. But in the first place I have never seen CHAN as a very major competition. I see it as mainly a developmental tournament; a competition meant to expose players and prepare them for the national team. At that, I don’t really care whether we win the trophy or not. At least some of our players were well exposed to the international community such that we saw a player like ChisomChikatara and quite a number of others. I believe the competition is angled more to give players exposure at the continental level and build up their confidence to compete effectively in the main team. And that is why I imagine that countries like Nigeria and Ivory Coast, who have virtually all their national team players abroad, will surely benefit from this competition even more than countries like Tunisia and Egypt who run quality leagues and have many of their players based at home. And so for me, winning or not winning the trophy does not count.

I believe those trying to measure the quality of SundayOliseh as a coach or gauge how well the Nigeria Football Federation is doing cannot do so with a tournament like this. This is more or less developmental and for that reason I don’t want to bother myself with the debate on how well Oliseh or the NFF has fared.

What has caught my emotion is the issue of finances and how it affects players especially the Eagles. I am very much aware that players ought to be paid their dues. I abhor any system that cheats people and deny them their legitimate earnings and so I cannot watch and see the Eagles and their coaches being owed for any reason. And that is why I was quite astonished when I read a statement attributed to the NFF Technical Committee Chairman, Chris Green, lambasting Eagles coach Oliseh for daring to speak about the money owed him and the players. Green’s argument was that he ought not to complain since some other national coaches participated in major tournaments without being paid and they have been silent about it. But the fact that Emmanuel Amunike decided not to complain does not mean that every other person owed should be silent. That argument is untenable.

There’s nothing as troubling for a man as not getting his wages when he has so many dependants. Anybody who has waited for months to get his salary will understand what it means to be denied what is due you. It is painful when officials react publicly like this when they are actually not on the right path. I believe too that the Super Eagles crew have been very professional thus far because they had not complained since last year until this period. The NFF officials have explained the new accounting system in the country has created a bottleneck for them in handling funds and that is what they should also explain to their employees and hope that they will understand.

But in all these I am touched by the whole fuse about salaries owed; touched about bonuses and allowances yet to be settled and I am also touched by the way sports ministers and government officials react when the Eagles are owed. I have never been told why government officials would throng around the Eagles and NFF officials but never seen around volleyballers or basketballers. The only reason that readily comes to my mind is the fact that the football system hardly lacks dollars compared to the others sports.

The Eagles are lucky that when they lose a game under tight financial conditions many people are quick to sympathise with them but nobody understands how basketballers and judokas face worse conditions. That’s why I say these footballers are so lucky. When I see the way Nigerians react when the Eagles are owed their allowances I marvel because they hardly say anything when basketballers are playing African Basketball Championship final with $500 bonus awaiting them for a win after basically getting only $100 per day battling their way from the group stages through the knockout stages. The basketballers that won the African cup last year may not have received up to $3000 all through their campaign but that’s what footballers can get with just one game. So I guess you may now understand why I say the footballers are really blessed.

It is a common feature in other sports for federations to renege on their signed promises to players and get away with such lies but such is hardly done in football as the whole nation would ensure they get their money. And that is why I advise footballers that when they lose games they should be confident enough to admit that it was not a good day on the pitch rather blame everything on money. Nigerian basketballers practically play empty-handed yet they perform fairly well.