Many suggestions are still being thrown around left, right and centre, bandied by all and sundry, in frenetic attempts to explain what made our dear Super Eagles lose 3-0 to ‘tiny’ Guinea-Bissau this past Tuesday.
The most piercing suggestion is that our players did not play with their hearts and they were lackadaisical in their approach to the game. There has also been condemnation of tactics and strategies employed by the coach, Eric Sekou Chlle, who many critics still think is not good enough for our team.
A small number of fans and analysts is also talking about the poor surface of the pitch on which the game was decided, which might have played a role in dampening the morale and psychology of the Nigerian ‘aje butter’ players – in contrast with the hard core physical attributes of their hosts.
I agree thay all the above factors combined to create loopholes in the Nigerian squad and led one way or the other to the Super Eagles’ slump on that ill-fated date in history.
However, one salient aspect of many debilitating factors that spelt doom for our team but has been overlooked is the huge number of political appointees who were in Bissau for that match.
For me, that was a huge misnomer, with insidious ripple effects that must not be swept under the carpet, otherwise it could be repeated in future and a bigger calamity would follow.
Now is the time to take note that – aside from poor attitude of our players, lax tactical inputs from the coach and a pitch that shouldn’t have been approved for international matches – we also had too many ‘cooks’ in our camp.
The anecdote from time immemorial has been that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth,’ because each of them will add different ingredients, put in their various spoons at the same time and raise conflicting suggestions about thickness, taste, spices, colour, style, condiments, variety and what have you. At the end of the day, they might end up getting an uneatable final product or even upturn the pot altogether.
A similitude of that proverbial scene came to true life in these days of jet age wisdom and modern advances, as Nigeria’s administrators threw caution to the wind, chose to invade the Super Eagles’ camp like a maddening crowd and, rather than oversee a successful outing in Bissau, they rocked the boat, turned our camp into Babel and eventually overturned our ‘pot of soup.’
Anyone who wants to take me up on this and opt to wave it aside like dust on the windscreen should go back to a press release from the communications department of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) less than 24 hours before Tuesday’s ill-fated game, when startling information emerged that top shots and their special advisers (each with their own personal assistants as well) were in town for the match.
The press release stated in part: “At the Super Eagles’ official training session inside the 24 September Stadium in Bissau on Monday evening, a number of Nigerian soldiers (among the Nigerian troops deployed in that country) led by Lieutenant-Colonel Afam Junior Chidi, were present, and met with Acting General Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme and other officials.
“Photo shows Dr Ikpeme (middle), Lt-Col. Chidi (seventh from left); Musa Amadu Esq (SSA to Chairman NSC, sixth from right), Mallam Salihu Abubakar (Chief of Staff to Chairman NSC, fifth from left), Dr Ademola Olajire (Ag. DGS NFF, sixth from left); Coach Augustine Eguavoen (NFF Technical Director, fifth from right); Mr. Ebidowei Oweifie (SA to DG NSC, fourth from left) and other officials and soldiers.”
Right from the word go, this huge dose of detailed information raised four major concerns for me, because I easily remembered how ‘too many cooks spoil the broth.’ I sensed that the presence of that crowd on the eve of the game was a warning signal for something uncanny that would happen on match day.
1. The presence of military men at the training ground was bound to create distractions and raise speculations about security issues around the team.
2. The avalanche of officials and administrators present was sure to have an attendant flood of suggestions, ideas, pleas and inquiries flowing in torrents to the crew and players.
3. There would also be the sensitive issue of estacodes and emoluments on the cards for all members of the delegation, at a point when the NFF was struggling to settle camp allowances of the players.
4. The players were bound to feel cheated that their own comfort was being downplayed by tag along top shots while the real ‘actors’ got secondary attention.
I raised my worries to a colleague in the pen trade (name withheld) and he calmly snickered, “Maybe that’s why the boys lost the match, so that there would not be any winning bonus for all those office men in flowing gowns to share as a booty earned with their presence during the game.”
Indeed, had the Eagles won that match, all of those officials would have claimed credit and responsibility for the victory. So, since the team lost the game scandalously, we also have to hold that packed entourage of eager administrators responsible for the ignominious setback.
In the same vein, we have to look critically and wholesomely into reports making the rounds that four of our players refused to play that game – because they were scared of picking injuries on the bad pitch.
Maybe we should feel the worries expressed by Ola Aina due to his recent long lay off after copping an injury on national team duty during the World Cup qualifiers and George Ilenikhena also felt some pain after scoring against Madagascar last Friday.
Palpable reasons for them both to fear stepping unto the bumpy surface of 24 September Stadium in Bissau; but one wonders why Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman also tried to avoid the game, to the extent that the latter had to be begged before agreeing to don the nation’s jersey.
As much as we would scold the lads for their seeming lack of zeal towards the national team and apparent low level of patriotism, we must not forget to ask key questions about the presence or absence of trappings like health support, medical subsidies, insurance coverage and other welfare benefits that would make the players ready to ‘die for their nation.’
In the absence of such emoluments, plus long delays in the payments of players’ bonuses and camp allowances, we might be right to predict that more of the gloomy Tuesday seen in Bissau will come for the Super Eagles – especially when an overbloated delegation of administrators is seen hanging noisily around the team’s camp.
