Forget foreign coach,give it to Siasia

The last time I checked, it was so pathetic and humiliating to realise that Nigeria that once occupied the fifth position in the global football ranking, is currently headed toward the 100th position. It sounds absurd thereby making it hard to believe by anyone who truly thinks good of this country. This unequivocally implies that there’s something fishy and opaque taking place somewhere, probably behind the scene that requires to be addressed by the authorities.
It’s no longer news that Nigeria’s football national team; Super Eagles will not be it to Gabon in 2017 for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). It’s pertinent and perhaps painful to note that this very unexpected knock-out would mark the second consecutive time (back-to-back) the acclaimed giant of Africa would be absent at the aforesaid championship. And if care is not taken, Nigeria is likely to be missing in the forthcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Few weeks ago, Samson Siasia, the former Nigerian International striker who’s presently a practicing coach, was contracted to qualify the Super Eagles for the Nations Cup following the resignation of Sunday Oliseh barely three weeks to the match against the Pharaohs of Egypt. Just like Siasia was tasked during the first time to handle the team, in November 2010, unfortunately his 2011’s fate repeated in 2016.
It’s gratifying to acknowledge that Coach Siasia is currently the main coach of the Nigeria’s U-23 team otherwise known as the Flying Eagles, and within a short while the team had obviously toured places. Now Nigeria can boast of a formidable, reliable and classy U-23 team. We need to urgently note that this very accomplishment was not magical.
Similarly, Siasia is not just a coach; he’s as well a manager. It takes only a manager to form a team, whilst it takes a coach to build the team. And, you would agree that formation of a football team remains the most paramount step.
One of the basic qualities of a good manager is discipline. I believe that Siasia is a core disciplinarian. He knows how to show a player the way out if the player violates the rules. We are all not unaware of what transpired when the Super Eagles were camping in Kaduna ahead of the AFCON qualifier against Egypt; some of the players couldn’t make it to the match owing to indiscipline.
Furthermore, Siasia understands how to make amends. The moment he was contracted as an interim coach for the Eagles, he went to the immediate past goalie and former skipper of the team, Vincent Enyema to reconcile him with the team, though it proved abortive. It would be recalled that Enyeama left the team as a result of the misunderstanding between him and Oliseh.
In the same vein, Siasia having understood that the Nigerian midfielder, Mikel Obi was aggrieved, he thought it wise to transfer the Captaincy from Ahmed Musa to him, which was a commendable step. He knew as a good manager that, he would not boast of a reliable team if he failed to settle such scores. And in a spirit of sportsmanship, Musa amicably relinquished the post to Mikel.
For crying out loud, why would Siasia be blamed for not qualifying Eagles for the AFCON 2017? Even, to my utmost surprise, the team he tactically managed to build within a very short period performed impressively. Anyone who watched those matches must testify that the Eagles played far better than Pharaohs.
I have come to realise that, not just the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) but Nigeria in general, is accustomed to the Fire Brigade approach. This is why within a very short period, the NFF engaged three different Nigerian coaches. Come to think of it, if really we’re to apportion blames, who truly is to blame for all these crises rocking not only the country’s football but sports generally?
It’s of course no longer news that non-payment of coaches’ salaries and allowances or payment in arrears has become the norm. Even though that an element of politics is found in every facet of human endeavour, we must note that institutional politics has no meeting point with sports.. You can’t be treating your employees like slaves and expect them to remain calm. Besides, if we couldn’t pay the local coaches, how do we intend to pay the foreign ones we’re clamouring for?  It’s even preposterous that such plan is occurring when Nigeria is concerned with how to promote her locally made products.
It would be recalled that it took the erstwhile Super Eagles’ foreign coach, Clement Westerhof five years to build the dynamic and outstanding 1994 Super Eagles team. No doubt, Nigerians need a rethink.

Comr Fred Doc Nwaozor isExecutive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career Development – Owerri.