Bringing the Super Eagles back to life should be a major part of our rebranding plans

Ayo Akinfe

Over the last week, a lot has been happening in Nigerian football. For starters, Fifa published its April rankings in which Nigeria dropped six places to 30^th and the latest word from Aso Rock is that President Umaru Yar’Adua has waded into the South Africa 2010 crisis, promising to increase the players’ bonuses.

If I can start with the Fifa rankings table, it cannot come as a surprise to anyone that we are sinking faster than the titanic. As a result of our recent woeful performances, we just keep sliding down the table. Forget about the fact that we were ranked fifth in the world in April 1994, over the last few months, we have been sliding down the table as if there is some gravitational pull sucking at the Eagles.

We are currently ranked second in Africa behind Cameroon but with Ghana, Ivory Coast and Egypt only two, 38 and 39 points behind us respectively, things could get significantly worse very soon. Quite rightly, Fifa is showing us a mirror and revealing how we have become a shadow of our former selves on the green grass.

Whether we want to accept it or not, our football has fallen into a rot whereby we are just an average mid table team. Once upon a time, we were among the good and the great, regarded as a member of the global elite but those days have long gone.

Between 1994 and 1998, our Super Eagles were revered, respected and tipped to become world champions one day. Not only did we win matches but we did so in style, playing with panache, verve, swagger and finesse. Back then we were a delight to watch.

During World Cups, commentators frequently reported that whenever Nigeria played, you were guaranteed an entertaining game of football. Today, no one even talks about us any more. Even within the African continent, no team is filled with dread when they are about to face Nigeria.

Once upon a time, opponents just froze when they got on the same pitch as Nigeria and conceded the game to us even before kick off. At the moment, even the likes of Mozambique do not accept that we have a right to beat them. They do not even concede that we are better than them.

One good thing to come out of all of this over the past week is that we have at least recognised the problem. How much we are doing about it is another matter but at least Mr President has waded into the crisis and the sports committee off the House of Representatives summoned the head coach Amodu Shaibu and the top brass of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to explain what went wrong in Maputo.

Among the solutions being proffered are increasing player bonuses, providing the technical crew with more help, giving the NFF a greater say in team operations, etc. I for one am doubtful if any of these can solve our problem. For me, our headache can be summarised in two words – poor coaching.

For those of us for whom football is more than just a game, we can tell a championship winning team or one that will win silverware within five minutes of watching it. Anyone who saw Chelsea’s recent demolition of Liverpool in the European Champions League would appreciate what I am saying.

Until we are prepared to confront the real problem, everything else constitutes no more than window dressing and cosmeticism. In these of days rebranding, I would have thought that getting away from the image of a country that is notorious for applying Band Aid solutions to its problems would be one of Professor Dora Akunyili’s major priorities.

Facing our demons and finding a way to banish them has got to be a major task as we seek to move away from this image of a country in a permanent state of transition, weighed down by a combination of corruption, incompetence, nepotism, mismanagement and ignorance. Also very importantly, I think Professor Akunyili has to make it clear that Nigeria being present at South Africa 2010 is a major part of this rebranding package.

For starters, football is more than just a sport in Nigeria. It is the cement that holds the whole country together. When the Super Eagles are playing, the whole country unites in a way that nothing else can bring us together. In 2010 when Africa hosts the World Cup for the first time ever and maybe the only time in our lifetime, we simply have to be there to showcase the new Nigeria Professor Akunyili is trying to propagate.

Our Eagles need to be on show, exhibiting the best of African football and once more put Nigeria on the world map. Knowing that a country exists is a prelude to examining its potential and investing in it. I cannot think of a better way to showcase the new Nigeria to everyone than by winning the 2010 World Cup.

Unlike industrialised countries, football carries so much social weight in nations such as ours that it has to be treated as a national priority. Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup helped end Ivory Coast’s civil war and it also aided the disarmament process in Angola. I just hope Professor Akunyili realises how much mileage she will get out of a successful Super Eagles.

Given that coaching is the major problem in my opinion, getting a world class coach to handle the team has got to be top priority. Whatever it costs, I believe it will be a worthwhile investment in our future. South Africa 2010 offers us an advertising window we simply cannot afford to toy with.

Ayo Akinfe

aakinfe@aol.com

Robot  # 1 | 09.04.2009 21:38

Unlike industrialised countries, football carries so much social weight in nations such as ours that it has to be treated as a national priority. Qualifying for the 2006 World Cup helped end Ivory Coast’s civil war and it also aided the disarmament process in Angola. I just hope Professor Akunyili realises how much mileage she will get out of a successful Super Eagles....Read the full article.

Gbolly  # 2 | 09.04.2009 23:27

I am yet to read your essay in totality. But l must say that re-branding Nigeria must focus on basic infrastructures & human welfare before past-time items like soccer. People are hungry (no starving). Please forget soccer!.

Dapxin  # 3 | 09.04.2009 23:53

any talk, of reviving soccer, as you titled here, presupposes that reBranding is an accepted and supported propposition. I am sorry reBranding remains a joke if we run only on 700MW. By the way, football isnt that hard to revive(not rebrand) in Nigeria. Fire everyone in the Ministry of Sports, dissolve the NFA, and constitute a group of people, and give them specifics targets to achieve, and make them accountable. These problems are so darn easy to diagnose.....but not with klepto dead boodies running around...

mathelize  # 4 | 10.04.2009 08:05

I didn't read the article because of the title, as others have said, food, water, electricity, jobs and security first, rebranding will work itself out.

Anioma777  # 5 | 10.04.2009 11:17

I share your passion for football and especially our "Beloved Super Eagles". After God, football I think comes a close second for most Nigerians. But I belive in being realistic. Even if Nigeria does not make it to South Africa 2010 which I doubt will happen, I will rather have a little more steady power supply,more love for one another and encouragement to help indigenous business men and women create opportunities for unemployed Nigerians. It seems to me you have the warped mindset of most Nigerian leaders about where their priorities should be focused at. The first thing they need to do is sack all NFF top brass and have people like Segun Odegbami,John Fashonu and other ex footballers with good administrative skills and enthusiasm to take the reigns. Again its one one game we drew we still have 5 games. If a person hears their mother or father has been taken to the hospital he does not start with looking at burial costs. Lets get behind Amodu and the team to see them make WC2010.

ikoyiesho1  # 6 | 10.04.2009 16:20

Ayo u've dissapointed your fans, how can re-branding of soccer change the lives of ordinary hungry NIgerians....As Dapin said, what are we re-branding when we run on 700 mega watts.. it is a shame..

Ayo Akinfe  # 7 | 11.04.2009 08:27

Unfortunately, it appears that some of you are of the opinion that someone womewhere has a magic wand that can be waved and solve the plethora of Nigeria's socio-economic problems. Let me make it clear to you all that our biggest problem is a lack of investment in our infrastructure such as transport, healthcare, education, power, water, housing, etc. With a meagre GDP of $200bn and export earnings of only $60bn, our government simply cannot afford to do it. We need massive investment from international financiers and unless we can woo them, we are going nowehere. Do you know that foreign direct investment in Nigeria is less than remittances from the diaspora? If we want to get people spending in Nigeria, we simply have to pitch and showcase the country to the rest of the world. Football is one of the few tools we have to do this. Our Super Eagles are one of the few weapons we have to sell Nigeria to the world. I put it to you that if Nigeria were to win the 2010 World Cup, we would see unprecedented investment in our infrastructure.

Segun Sam  # 8 | 11.04.2009 16:52

Ayo, surely it does not take a magic wand to fix Nigeria's infrastructure problems! A little more transparency and accountability might ensure that more contracts for road building & modernising power stations are completed efficiently and in a satisfactory manner. I seem to remember that NEPA had plenty of investment over the years that simply vanished! Nigeria is considered to be a high risk country for investment. The only private investors who are interested in putting money into high risk areas and countries are those who want to make a quick killing and want to take advantage of any corrupt tendencies. Why would any sensible investor expose themselves long term in a country where you have to pay kickbacks at every stage of the process?

Ayo Akinfe  # 9 | 12.04.2009 02:10

Segun Sam, please tell how much Nepa invested in power over the last 10 years. It is a falacy to believe that Nigeria has sufficient funds to develop her infrastructure. Recent figures have indicated that we need to spend about $10bn in power alone. How on earth can we do that when our export earnings only total $60bn at the best of times? Nigerians simply do not want to accept that the country is poor! There are countries that are just as corrupt as us like Ukraine, Pakistan, India, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, etc that have attracted substantial sums of foreign investment because of the aggresive drive by their governments. If we are waiting for Nigeria to "be sorted out" before we woo investors, we will be here until kingdom come. Investment is based on sentiment. I put it to you that a World Cup win will make a few investors turn a blind eye to those huge security risks.

Dapxin  # 10 | 12.04.2009 02:26

@above Investment is based on sentiment That's quite true. elementarily. But I just don't know how to put it to you, that the sort of governmental gangsters laid all over are not more than capable of summaring super-eagles problems to the need to hire Arsene Wenger.... To be anywhere near the point at which your theories, imo gains traction, we've got to be managed our "poor" resources as is. Howdo you say we are poor when Tafa alone goes home with 17B $$$$ behind his pillow? The point: Our standard of corruption is bigger / complex-er and deeper than perhaps the world's know....

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