Nigeria's AFCON Victory

I was one of the many Nigerians who did not give the Super Eagles any chances at the recently concluded 29thAfrican Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa, for many reasons – I did not think the Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, was a good coach (my favourites were Samson Siasia and particularly Sunday Oliseh, whose analysis showed better technical depth); I wasn’t impressed with the team’s preparation for the competition; I believed that, consistent with his antecedents in Mali and Togo where he had previously worked as national football coach, Keshi had a penchant for having disputes with the better players in his teams (Emmanuel Adebayo in Togo and I believe Seidu Keita in Mali) over ethics issues, a syndrome which was being repeated with Osaze Odemwingie, Obafemi Martins and Taye Taiwo who were controversially excluded from the team, while Sola Ameobi curiously withdrew. I, however, liked the fact that Keshi included home-based players in the team.When the competition started, I watched the Eagles first match on TV and saw the Burkinabe equalise our single goal advantage in a display that saw Keshi act more like a spectator than a coach! He could not fashion a tactical approach to defend the goal advantage for just ten to fifteen minutes, which reinforced my view about Keshi’s technical competences, or lack thereof. After the draw with Zambia, I came to the conclusion, like most Nigerians, that the team was going nowhere! I happened to be in South Africa during the third group match with Ethiopia, on separate business, and watched the first half in my hotel room and the second in the restaurant. Again, it took the grace of God and two moments of Victor Moses’ brilliance and confidence for us to win with two penalty goals. Up to that point, I considered very few players – Moses, Mikel Obi, Emmanuel Emenike, and goalkeeper and real rather than notional team captain, Vincent Enyeama – as worthy of their place in the team. So when Nigeria qualified to meet the all-star Cote d’Ivoire side with Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Yaya Toure, Cheik Tiote, Gervinho and Kolo Toure, amongst others, I did not consider the prospect of Nigeria’s victory a realistic one. And I was not alone. The global media and not a few Nigerians, and as we have heard, even the Nigerian Football Federation, presumed it was time for Keshi and his boys to pack their bags. However, my current favourite Nigerian player, Mikel Obi, gave me hope when he proclaimed his readiness for a midfield “war” with Yaya Toure, which he duly proceeded to win on match day. Indeed, in my view, and as enlightened commentators on Supersports expected, Mikel turned out to be the best player in the competition. The authoritative and compelling manner of Nigeria’s 2-1 win over Cote d’Ivoire meant all bets were off, and from no-hoppers, Nigeria had become the cup favourites! We then proceeded to a similarly dominant victory over Mail and the cup beckoned as we met Burkina Faso for a second time, but this time in the final. At this point, it was difficult to conceive of Nigeria losing in the final to the Burkinabe, which is exactly what happened as star discovery, Sunday Mba’s goal made the difference and Nigeria were African champions for a third time. Whatever I thought of Keshi’s abilities (and I have not necessarily changed my assessment), you can’t argue with success. At least for the time being, Keshi has earned the right to boast! One member of the team who can’t say the same is notional Captain Joseph Yobo. He was clearly out of his depths and was supposed to have been omitted from playing, but for some curious reason, Keshi persisted in bringing Yobo on ten minutes to the end of every game. Yet Yobo was so uncharitable that he wouldn’t allow the other players hold the championship cup once it was won. A more charitable “captain” would have readily shared the moment with his colleagues, particularly Enyeama, Mikel, Moses, Mba, Emenike, Efe Ambrose and Kenneth Omeruo. Yobo at that moment behaved like a typical Nigerian politician! Nigeria, however, should not let this victory becloud our judgment. The key issues militating against sustainable success of Nigeria’s sports, and specifically football, remain – age cheating should be eliminated from our sports; we should find a model for turning over the financing and management of sports to the private sector and invest in our local leagues, not just as a means of boosting participation in sports, but as an economic strategy to increase employment and reduce poverty; and, concurrently, we must weed corrupt and incompetent administrators out of the federations and bring in those with genuine interest in sports to replace them. The current system in which football clubs are owned by state governments is not sustainable and welds official corruption too closely into our sports. Of course, our current rent-seeking administrators will say there is no alternative to government funding of sports. Don’t listen to them – so said their colleagues in NITEL and NEPA!