I want to start this open letter to the Minister of Sports and Youth Development in Nigeria, Barrister Solomon Dalung, by acknowledging that this is, indeed, a very busy period for him. I
really hope he would find time to go through this letter, what with so much on his plate concerning preparations for the Rio Olympics and the turbulence in the football sector, particularly.
My principal focus is on the recent failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (Gabon 2017) and the, expectedly, strong reactions of a people with deep passion for
football. I have read reports of a press conference addressed by the NFF president, Amaju Pinnick, and another one by your good self, and a number of sports programs on diverse channels. The underlying mood in the country is a universal sense of disappointment at the second successive failure of the country to reach the Afcon finals.
I have followed, with interest, your clear intention to change the way our sport is administered, and it has been an insightful five months since you came into office. I have noted your apparent impartiality and readiness to listen to all shades of opinion before taking decision, a clear evidence of leadership. That is in part why I find the need to write this open letter to you sir, to draw attention to the need for a critical and dispassionate appraisal of the state of our football.
It is often said that every crisis is an opportunity; an opportunity to reform, re-engage or reestablish fundamental principles.
The kind of fundamental principles that saw Germany rise from the ashes of consecutive 1st round exits at the UEFA European championships, between 2000 and 2004, to a World Cup
triumph in 2014. Nigeria’s consecutive failures to qualify for Afcon, immediately following a championship winning performance in 2013 aptly mirrors the German experience, dating back to a UEFA championship winning performance in 1996.
It also mirrors the challenges faced by the Amaju Pinnick administration, especially the forced circumstance of having to inherit and manage a set of ad hoc and quick-fix policies, to address
what are clearly fundamental systemic problems with our football. And much like Germany back then, the challenge for Nigeria and the Pinnick administration is to lay down fundamental structural changes in the management of Nigerian football, interestingly with the same insightful approach which you have demonstrated over the past five months.
While I may not be a fan of Pinnick, I find, from a look at his career in administration since he was Chairman of Delta State Football Association, and later Executive Chairman, Delta State
Sports Commission, that there are elements therein, that clearly recommends itself to the kind of long term vision that our football currently craves.
More than ever before, it is clear that there is no short cut to success; we have to start planning better for the future. It is along these lines that the NFF’s first vice president, Seyi Akinwunmi
recently opened a window on their plans for the future by revealing the U-13 and U-15 programs being sponsored by the ZENITH Bank, and which are on –going.
Like Germany and France, half a decade ago, Nigeria is similarly faced with a dearth of top quality talents coming through the ranks. But unlike both countries, the kind of long term thinking embodied in the NFF’s investment in youth football has led to back to back FIFA U-17 World Cup triumphs. It has also led to the growing emergence of a new generation of top quality, young Nigerian talent, from Kelechi Iheanacho, Isaac Success, Taiwo Awoniyi to the
prodigious Victor Isimhien. At the U-23 level, Nigeria has not only qualified for the Olympics football tournament, but has in the process unearthed a vibrant group of young local talents, some of whom, like Oghenekaro Etebo who has already progressed to the Super Eagles.
The seeds of a Nigerian football renaissance are being sown by the Pinnick administration, in spite of current setbacks and the challenge of developing football in a climate of economic downturn. While some of the blames being laid on the NFF Board’s doorsteps including a high turnover of coaches in the Super Eagles, is understandable, the reality is that the fundamental systemic problems facing Nigerian football have not only existed for a long time, but have been glossed over by successive NFF administrations.
It is clear for instance that Nigeria is lacking in a cadre of high quality and professional local coaches, a problem that successive NFF administrations have routinely failed to address. While
young Nigerian coaches from Keshi, to Siasia and recently Oliseh must be commended for their contributions, it is increasingly clear that the structures that would allow such young coaches to
succeed, as did Klinsman with Germany for instance, or currently Wilmots with Belgium, have never existed or its lack been addressed.
It is thus highly commendable that on arriving at the NFF, Pinnick organized a capacity-building program for coaches, administrators and referees to Europe. Having said these, the revolution of the global game requires a cosmopolitan vision that recognizes competence and ability over a narrow focus on nationalism. That is why our own Mike Emenalo can be a Director of Football at a world renowned English team. The game of football has since gone beyond the foreign vs local coach dichotomy. The question should therefore not be whether Nigeria should hire a foreign coach, but who is best placed to build on the emerging foundations of a Nigerian football revival.
This is the very same vision behind Amaju Pinnick’s commendable approach to recruiting diaspora Nigerians to the Super Eagles, an initiative which has led to the recent debut of young Alex Iwobi in the Super Eagles.
Crucially, the issue of adequate funding of football in Nigeria remains, a point often glossed over by a skewed focus on personalities rather than issues. The reality is that the Government
remains the major financier of sports. I have spoken to a friend in Ghana who told me that the Ghanaian government provides the sum of $2 million to the GFA for any competitive match of the Black Stars. In this year’s budget of Federal Republic of Nigeria, the sum of N1.2 billion (about $4 million) is allocated to football. I am yet to get the figure for the entire Ministry of Sports and Youth Development. To what extent can we be competitive in global football with a budget of $4 million in a year, where our rivals are budgeting $2 million per competitive match?
But beyond the issue of adequacy of funds, how timely does government come up with the funds, especially recognizing the unique needs of football, which does not often lend itself to the bureaucratic processes or the timelines inherent in the budgetary process?
At the beginning of his tenure, Pinnick organized a forum at which he parleyed with Corporate Nigeria and unfurled his vision. He has since, despite severe economic downturn, been able to get ZENITH Bank, Emzor Pharmaceuticals and a few others on board, and retained the bulk of the partners he met on ground. A new sponsorship agreement has been negotiated with American sportswear company NIKE. But these are isolated initiatives where what is needed is the support of a whole of government approach, to back up the efforts of Amaju Pinnick.
But let’s be clear, significant challenges remain for this NFF administration and some crucial mistakes have been made, not least of all, the need to have done better in carrying Sunday Oliseh along, against the background of systemic problems faced by the organization, or in streamlining the relationship between the coach and the technical committee.
While the focus on developing the U-13 and U-15 teams may have been successful in winning the U-17 World Cup, it has had insufficient impact on the broader Nigerian domestic game, as a
similar program has had for Germany, Switzerland, Chile and France. More importantly, there is a need for an overhaul of the Technical Department to enable it greater coordination of programs and harmonization of training methodology to avoid a situation where academies exist merely to facilitate the sale of players abroad.
Clearly there are enough lessons to be learnt all round. However the young shoots of a Nigerian football renaissance are clearly visible. This is the opportunity I see, and urge you to vigorously embrace in concert with Mr Pinnick to move Nigerian football forward.
Honourable Minister, I thank you most sincerely for the time spent out of your very busy schedule to go through this letter.
Sincerely,
Tony Onugu
Mr. Onugu writes from Dover, Delaware in the United States and is the author of the blog, Perspectives on African Futbol. http://africanfutbol.blogspot.com/
