As reactions continue to trail the latest unceremonious exit of Nigeria’s cadet national team, the Golden Eaglets, from the West African Football Union (WAFU)-B U17 Championship, a veteran coach has put all the blame at the feet of the country’s administrators.
Sports247 reports that this ominous and sweeping verdict came from a former coach with the Nigerian Grassroots Football Federation (NGFF), Chijioke Gabriel Osuagwu, who also made top marks with Abia Warriors of Umuahia and Heartland of Owerri.
Osuagwu alleged in a chat with Sports247 that top shots of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) did not give the Eaglets proper orientation and support to ensure they excel at the ongoing sub-regional championship in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The firebrand tactician, who was also earlier head coach at Flaming Flamingos, Stationery Stores and AS Racines of Lagos, further opined that NFF’s moguls should not put any blame on the Eaglets’ current coach, Eboboritse Uwejamomere.
“The right orientation has never been given the Golden Eaglets by people at the helm of affairs. That’s why it’s a very big disappointment and very touching that our Eaglets, who have five times ruled the world, can no longer stand on their feet in West Africa.
“They cannot even qualify from WAFU, talk less think about playing at the U17 Nations Cup or the World Cup. Unfortunately, people will now apportion all blame on the coach … but I will not do that,” Osuagwu stressed.
He went on to insinuate that Coach Uwejamomere faced a lot of intimidation and interference from top shots of the NFF, which apparently confused the highly exposed gaffer, who holds a couple of certificates that he earned in Europe.
“As a coach, I will not put blame on any coach. As far as I am concerned, this coach was only doing the desire of the NFF’s technical committee and the technical director. Their pressure had to be on him. So, let’s blame them, not the coach.
“I don’t care where they bring the coach from – Bariga, Ketu or Ajegunle – I don’t care which state he comes from. The big questions we should start asking is: ‘What is the package they had for the coach and how did they package the team?’
“Once we get answers to those questions, we will clearly understand what went wrong. Then we must start thinking about how the team can do better in the future,” Osuagwu submitted.
