WHEN, in the middle of last year, President Goodluck Jonathan decided to suspend the country’s football teams from all international competitions for two years, local and international football adherents were bemused, not just because of doubts as to whether the drastic measure was what was necessary to restore Nigeria’s lost glory in the sport, but also because of the consequences such action was likely to engender.  At the time he took the action, Jonathan, just like most football lovers in the country, was heartbroken over the woeful performance of the Super Eagles in the last World Cup in South Africa, where they failed to win a game and got knocked out in the first round. The idea of a self-imposed two years football exile was, therefore, to enable the country to re-organise its football.

Apart from the self-suspension from international football activities, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) was to have been dissolved. Jonathan similarly toyed with the idea of auditing the accounts of the country’s World Cup Organising Committee with a view to holding guilty officials accountable for any misappropriation. Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, who was the head of the special Presidential Task Force on the World Cup campaign, had recalled that there were all sorts of problems during the campaign and the Task Force felt that it was time to sit and look inward. NFF apologised to Nigerians but Jonathan was adamant about the suspension until pressure grew from FIFA over perceived political interference with football administration, which, for the world soccer governing body, is strictly forbidden.

Jonathan reversed the ban apparently because of NFF’s pledge to disband Super Eagles and its assurances on building a new team, as well as an evolving an enduring football development programme. The Presidency had also cited appeals from well-meaning Nigerians, including former leaders, as influential in Jonathan’s decision to review his position on the matter.  In spite of these though, what must have been uppermost in Jonathan’s mind was the risk to national teams, the nation’s club sides and even soccer officials who all faced indefinite ban from all international football competitions and meetings.

But in view of the ignominious ouster of Nigeria from the 2012 Nations Cup, for the first time since 1986, the question will necessarily arise whether it would not have been better to damn FIFA and see out the self-imposed football exile and re-energise the nation’s football. Who knows whether it would not have turned out to be the desired elixir to purge the nation’s football of its current woes? In all football categories, Nigerians have proved incapable of competing with their peers in a game in which they were masters a few years ago. The nation’s declining fortunes in football is simply unfathomable and will require drastic initiative to stem the trend.

It is unfortunate that the 1994 Super Eagles and Clemence Westerhof, their manager, have remained the reference points of how football should be in Nigeria. What made the 1996 Dream Team so successful and their success could no longer be replicated by succeeding trams? What was it that was done in those eras that cannot be done now to restore Nigeria’s football to its pride of place in Africa and the world?

There is nothing more distressful than little African nations, with less than a fraction of what Nigeria possesses in material resources and talents, throwing their paper weights on our way and stopping us from qualifying for major football tournaments.

What is happening in football is symptomatic of the general decay in the country. Corruption has eaten deep into all fabrics of the society and has made it impossible for us to do the right thing. Rather than seek football glory, football administrators appear to be more concerned about their personal economic wellbeing. Infighting is raging in the house of football as dramatis personae position themselves for opportunities for personal aggrandizement.  More importantly, there seems to be a glut of average players with no outstanding talents available for the national teams. This calls to questions the ability of football managers to seek out gifted players for the national teams. Unless all these change, no real progress can be expected. Jonathan’s idea of a two-year break may yet prove the best way forward.

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