The
Impact of Nigerianism:
Why Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s football team had an impressive world cup
outing.
-
Oliver Mbamara
Less than a month after a dismal
performance by the Nigerian National team (Super Eagles) at the 2010 world
cup tournament in South Africa, another Nigerian team (Falconets) has
excelled superlatively by reaching the finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s
World Cup tournament. How come the best performance by a Nigerian national
team in years comes less than a month after Nigeria was almost banned from
participating in the tournament? The answer is simply a revelation of
Nigerianism – a word I have coined to describe the prevailing historical
characteristics that influence leadership decision-making and performance
in a typical Nigerian project and environment.
The journey to the finals for this Nigerian side was not an easy one as
they had to beat the USA the defending champions at the quarter finals and
also Columbia, the South American Champions, at the semi-finals. The
impressive run of Nigeria in the tournament was a thing of pride and many
Africans and Nigerians have reason to celebrate once again. Even more
significant is the fact that the girls were coached by a Nigerian – Ndem
Egan. Once again it has been demonstrated that Nigeria is a country with
so many talented people and given the right leadership, management and
opportunity they will always excel. Many are now calling for the girls to
be kept together and nurtured into a better stronger national team in the
future, but looking at the history of football administration in Nigeria,
will this happen? What facet of Nigerianism will prevail?
No doubt, these girls played with more discipline and approached the
game with more passion contrary to the lackluster approach and performance
by the Super Eagles at the last World cup tournament in South Africa.
Nevertheless, truth be told – the Nigerian U-20 team made it that far
because there was less politics in the affairs and management of the team
which allowed good sense of management to prevail.
It is important to note that after the dismal performance of the National
senior men’s team in South Africa, the Nigerian Presidency had taken an
unusual stand against the poor performance of the team and the
mismanagement of funds by some officials of the Nigerian Football
Federation which directly or indirectly led to the officials being sacked,
suspended, or investigated by the EFCC. The investigation is still ongoing
and with that hanging in the air, the officials that handled the
appearance of the Nigerian team in Germany had reasons to be diligent. The
natural result is what we have - efficiency in management and a
consequential impressive product or outcome.
The coaching crew that took the Nigerian falconets to Germany was made up
of indigenous staffs with Nigerian blood and passion running in them. The
coach’s decisions were not blinded or influenced by the millions of
dollars he would get from contract money and negotiations. His position
and the duties expected of him and his staffs have not become a
distraction from the teams focus. There is no doubt that the entourage and
number of officials attached to the team that went to Germany was by far
less than the number that traveled to South Africa in the name of “members
of the official team.” With little or no external pressure from the
“bosses’ at the Nigerian Football federation the Germany 2010 crew made
genuine calls that benefited the team. Playing to the gallery was reduced
as players were chosen strictly based on the talents of the players not on
what an administrator or federation boss wanted, not on Federal character
quotient, not on dichotomy, not on favoritism, not on tribalism, not on
fear of reprisal from those officials with vested interest in the funds
and resources allocated to manage the team.
In the eighties and nineties before World youth football (soccer) became
popular and before many countries even started raising teams for youth
soccer championships, Nigeria was already winning laurels including the
first ever Under 17 world cup in 1985 held in China when Nigeria beat
Germany 2-0 in the finals. Some of us remember the miracle of Daman, when
a bunch of disciplined and dedicated Nigerian players under Caoch Tunde
Disu rose to the occasion to beat former USSR after being 0-4 down with
about 15 minutes to the end of the game. Those were the days of such
stars as Skipper Nduka Ugbade, Phillip Osondu, Victor Ikpeba, Kanu Nwankwo,
Mutiu Adepoju, and many others who played their hearts out on the field
partly because they played for country not for self and partly because
they looked up to a disciplined management and had an orientation of
commitment to victory. Is it accidental that these victories begin to
disappear as we move towards the senior teams where government officials
become more involved in the teams’ management? The simple answer is no
while the pertinent question becomes - what facet of Nigerianism comes
into play?
The Nigerian U-20 world cup team in Germany 2010 had an impressive outing
because the officials were either less involved or those involved had a
more genuine sense of duty driven by an honest desire to win rather than a
desire to satisfy other ulterior objectives – simple. At any point when
such sense of duty becomes overtaken by the conception that the team could
be a source or channel for embezzlement and an avenue for settling scores
and favoritism, the impediments to success would be in play again and the
result would be the lack luster performance seen in the affairs and
management of not only the state and national teams but in other state and
national affairs and agencies.
In the meantime, let us celebrate and congratulate the Nigerian U-20
Women’s World Cup team for making us proud and for reminding us of the
impact that Nigerianism could have on our affairs as a nation and as a
people.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:Oliver O.
Mbamara, Esq., is a filmmaker, writer, poet, and playwright. He is also a
judge with New York State, OAH. For
more on Oliver Mbamara, please visit www.OliverMbamara.com
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