Expectedly, Nigeria’s Super Falcons are African champions for the ninth time in 11 editions of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. Winning continental honours with over 81% success indicates that the Super Falcons are the dominant forces in Africa.

But the bare statistics speak little about the increasing decline in the status of the team. The gulf that existed between the pedigree of the Super Falcons and that of the rest of the Africa is increasingly narrowing.

In essence, the rest are catching up, while the standard in Nigeria is at best stagnant if not declining. In the just concluded tournament in Ghana, the Super Falcons played 330 minutes of matches without scoring in the open play.

The statistics consist of the blank shots in the 90 minutes of the opening encounter with South Africa, and the 120 minutes played with each of Cameroon and South Africa in the final stages. It is the lottery of penalty shootout that earned the team both the World Cup ticket and the continental title.

Goals, almost in torrents, were scored against only the punching bags of Group B – Zambia and Equatorial Guinea. It should be noted that the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year will not feature such weaklings.

At the best of forms, the Super Falcons had never found their feet at the global level, even though the dominance in Africa earned the team the honour of being one of the only seven to have attended all the past seven editions of the tournament since the inaugural edition in 1991.

Yet of the seven that comprise of USA, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Norway and Sweden, the Super Falcons are the only one not has ever become one of the third-place finishers. Next year, it will be exactly 20 years since they had their best outing, a quarter-final finish at USA ’99.

Shall they continue to live in past glory? That is why a lot more have to be done. The Super Falcons appear to be the only one of Nigeria’s national teams that commands little or no attention. The only significant preparation in the form of friendly match was the one played against France earlier in the year.

Of course, the results speak volumes on the gap between our team and those of the ambassador class, the medium but rare and those still learning the hard way as the FIFA Technical Report of China 1991 espoused on the three-tiered participants.

At the global level, Nigeria still remains at the third tier, even 27 years after. It calls for urgent concern. Virtually all the squad members of the current Super Falcons are based abroad; an indication of the paucity of talents at home. In the early days of 1990s, women clubs established by spirited enthusiasts dotted virtually all parts of the country.

These days, the clubs have thinned out leaving the Rivers Angels, Bayelsa Queens, Delta Queens and Pelican Stars as some of the few existing ones and without vibrant domestic competitions to sustain, let alone multiply talents.

Except urgent steps are taken by the Nigeria Football Federation, the end of Nigeria’s dominance in this category of football is imminent. Even as we draw most of the Super Falcons’ players abroad, a time will come when there will be none to export to be refined for later-day importation into the Super Falcons.

Probably to increase the interest in women’s football, the clubs in the NPFL could be encouraged to have teams of opposite sex. Considering that women’s clubs attract no gate fees which is the barest to sustain the clubs in competitions, the ones attached to NPFL clubs can play curtain raiser matches ahead of the main menu especially if the opposing clubs are in the neighbourhood.

For instance, a fixture of Enugu Rangers and Enyimba can be preceded as a curtain raiser by the women’s teams attached to the two clubs. That way, those who ordinarily will not go out to watch women’s football will have the opportunities.

The ladies get exposed to more competitions and in crowd attended environments. The result will be multiplication of talents and the raising of women football to the next level.

It is no longer news that Plateau United are the Nigerian Professional Football League Champions. They topped the log very early in the recently concluded season and kept the top position away from the rest of the pack until the final day of the season.

Fidelis Ilechukwu, Gbenga Ogunbote and Abdul Maikaba’s charges variously huffed and puffed all season. The Jos-based team was however determined to achieve the feat last accomplished by a Plateau team through the Mighty Jets squad of old.
Fast forward to today. After losing out on a possible double in a two-legged battle against Niger Tornadoes in the Aiteo Cup, all appears to be at a standstill concerning the Jos-based side.

The team has not been honoured by the government of the state. To add to the worrisome situation, there has not been any significant preparations for either the forthcoming league season or the CAF continental competition they qualified for by virtue of winning the league title.
A bunch of players who aren’t hosted by their sponsors for winning the league title after a gruelling season in such fashion as they did are less likely to be motivated to do anything significant on the continent.

Added to this is the allegation that the League Management Company is yet to pay the club the cash prize for winning the title as at last weekend.

With the State government not currently looking the way of the champions and the delay in receiving their prize money from the league organizers, it is no surprise that the Ahlan tournament currently taking place in Kano is the very first major training session the team has been engaged in since they were knocked out of the Aiteo Cup.
Unlike other teams competing for honours on the national and continental stage like Enyimba FC, which camped in Ado Ekiti before travelling to Kano, or El Kanemi, which had been on a road trip playing teams across the country, or other teams which played in the Gold Cup, Plateau United had not had any serious tune-up game before coming to Kano for the double preseason tournaments in the Pyramid City.

To make it to Kano, a lump sum, running into a few million naira, had to be borrowed from private sources in order to fund the team’s departure for the competition.
A short while ago, the media was awash with a news article where the Plateau United General Manager, Pius Henwan was said to have announced that Plateau United were to sign 50 players ahead of their 2017/2018 football season in order to strengthen the team for its CAF Champions League, Nigeria Professional Football League and the Aiteo Cup engagements.

He went on to assert that some new players have been recruited to replace the 12 players released last season and to fortify the team before the commencement of the 2017/2018 NPFL season.
In the statement, he promised that efforts were on for the team to embark on a close camping outside the country where the team is expected to map out plans for their continental campaign.

“During the camping the team will play some quality friendly matches with some foreign clubs,” he said.
However, in a conversation with Coach Kennedy Boboye who manages the league outfit over the weekend, he is worried about the impression that news item would project to the public as up till they departed for the Ahlan tournament; there had been very little support from the sponsors as regards the team’s preparations for the forthcoming season.
He went on to say that although he is blooding a few young players as well as trialists in the team, he is yet to make any signings ahead of the new season as he has to see them for a while in training at a closed camping exercise.

He lamented that although the Kano tournament is a welcome idea and gives him an opportunity to see some of these trialists in action, he may be unable to teach his team core tactics and strategy in such an open place away from home, where there is no guarantee that his tactics may be spied upon.
All these bring the Imama Amapakabo episode of the 2016/2017 season to mind only too uncomfortably. On that occasion, not too long before he was disengaged, Imama had explained in the media, using an allegory of a worn transport vehicle that received human augmentation upon reaching the home stretch of a marathon with victory in sight.

The Super Eagles Assistant Coach, in his allegory in that period, had bemoaned the lack of mechanical overhaul and refurbishing of the old and worn automobile ahead of its return marathon trip despite the evidently poor state.
Apparently, few administrators in ‘042,’ as Enugu is fondly described, got that message.

In the middle of the frenzy, pomp, pageantry (even though the road show left more to be desired!) and razzmatazz that followed the remarkable 32-year broken jinx, little was done to beef up the team and plug obvious leakages and grease necessary bearings.

It crash-landed only too soon the following league season and while the then-defending champions flirted dangerously with relegation for way too long, the celebrated coach was excused under a hail of dust.
It was so acrimonious that Amapakabo was briefly detained supposedly under the orders of some Rangers bigwigs.

By the time the dust settled, the entire leadership of Rangers International football club were shown the door at the end of the league season with continued top flight status secured, at least for one more season.
That same foreboding is what recent revelations from the camp of Plateau United suggests. This is despite the fact that the team captain, Golbe Elisha had recently suggested that his team was ’rearing to go.’

The question then is “Rearing to go to where?” Somewhere even better than their previous achievements or somewhere better imagined than experienced?
Plateau United must be encouraged not to fail us all on the continent, just like MFM, Enyimba and Akwa United.

It isn’t just about these teams and their sponsoring state governments. It is about Nigeria and her public image.

More than the public image of Nigeria however, it is about the coefficient rankings of Nigerian club outfits by CAF that can further plummet if the Nigerian charges fail to reach the latter stages of the CAF engagements this year.

The implication is that Nigeria may have her continental slots reduced, and that would be a huge reversal of opportunities to exhibit the Nigerian potentials and talents on the continental and global scene.

Tunde Akinbinu (Dr Tee) is a practising Medical doctor as well as a registered Sports Journalist. He writes from Kano._

The die is cast, the moment of decision is nigh and in just one year or so from now, the drummer boys will gather, ready to beat the drums of war ahead of what promises to be the fiercest and toughest  NFF presidential elections ever.

It promises lots of fireworks, the daggers will be out full length and this time, no one will be spared according to a top inside source.

From the North East, to the North West and North Central, the familiarity visits have begun.  The scheming game has intensified as meetings have started stretching into the dark.

It all began on the first day of the league season, when over 23 State FA chairmen converged in Kano State.

After that match between the hosts Kano Pillars and FC Ifeanyi Ubah, which ended rather abruptly, a congregation of FA chairmen from the North, spiced up by the presence of Nigeria Referees Association president, Tade Azeez and Chairman of Association of professional footballers of Nigeria APFON, Dahiru Sadi, met with the Kano State governor and the agenda on the day was how to return football administration to the North.

The North can boast of at least 22 votes from the 44 available and for now.  Two men are the hottest delegates in town, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali and Chidi Okenwa.  As FA chairmen of Nasarawa and Enugu states and also Chairmen of the Nigeria Nationwide and National Leagues respectively,

Both are proud owners of two votes each, out of the 44 available and as we speak  both are courted by all and sundry like beautiful brides in their prime, all, in their desperate bid to sway them over to their sides in good time ahead of the elections.

…But who wants Amaju’s seat?

The incumbent, Melvin Amaju Pinnick (MAP) could become the first man in history to return for a second term in office.

Amaju describes himself as the anointed one. I am God’s anointed and the chosen one he said after dusting Mucharafou Anjorin of Benin Republic to the CAF executive committee seat.

Amaju has become very powerful in only a matter of months after emerging as a member of the exalted FIFA organising committee, CAF executive committee and now, chairman of CAF organising and media committees, two of the most respected committees in CAF.

He emerged NFF president in September 2014, and has done so well to keep his team intact and very united. He recently embarked on rigorous marketing drive to make the NFF buoyant again with the recent signing of the 2.5 billion naira Aiteo deal.

However, he still has a case at the Supreme Court to contend with as the Chris Giwa faction all turned up in court last week only to see the judge adjourn their plea to relist a case that have dragged on for over two years.

By December when the case will come up again, the World Cup ticket must have been secured and the pressure certainly will reduce on the shoulders of a man who has battled with forces far and near to get to the very pinnacle of world football politics.

He believes he has his soldiers fully behind him but daily; there are cracks in the walls as new groups have begun to emerge.

Still his strongest ally and supporter, is Chairman of the League Management Company, Shehu Dikko, a man who has refused to join forces with the opposition to fight a friend he has grown to love and accept.

The North sees Shehu as the ideal candidate to wrestle powers from Pinnick but his continued reluctance is gradually forcing them to change strategy and think of a plan B.

What is the plan B? For now, three options are available.

The first is for the North to align with a strong political warhorse from the South West who has told everyone that cares to listen that he will emerge the next NFF president.

This former NFF General Secretary is a silent planner but also a very intelligent politician. He contested against Pinnick in the September 2014 elections and has embarked on a constant pilgrimage to the North in the last two months in his bid to fraternise with the power blocks and get them support his presidential ambition.

The Option Two: A few of the Northerners are also dancing with a strong billionaire from the East who is fast emerging as one of the most powerful football administrators in Africa.

He has a club, he is building a sports village in his home town in Anambra state and he has a football club and remains one of just two private clubs owners in the NPFL.

He took over ten FA chairmen to London last year in continuation of his companies’ partnership pact with West Ham United football club.

He has kept very close ties with the real power blocks in the North and he is gradually infiltrating the rank and files among them in a bid to finally getting them to support his presidential ambition.

He is a man who goes for whatever he wants and gets it, so his influence and power as an emerging APC stalwart can never be under estimated.

Already, one very strong NFF executive committee member is being positioned to run with him as his vice president and he has vowed to drag twenty or more delegates along in this fresh adventure.

The third option is looking like the most workable even though the pilot flying this plane has continued to deny interest or acceptance. He is described by many as the ‘Jagaban’ of Nigeria football. A friend of many and enemy to none.

He smiles at every joke and offers a handshake when necessary.  He is loved by the media, worshipped by his very close associates and respected by all.

Across board, this man is gradually building an empire that will in no time catapult him to the very top of the ladder.

He tells one anytime he is asked that he has no ambition ofbecoming the NFF president and that he is more comfortable as a king maker.

Indeed he is a kingmaker because he attends every function from naming ceremony to birthdays, to graduation and marriages ceremonies. He doles out money to the rich and poor and carries all the northern FA chairmen along in this his emerging football empire.

He is a threat to anyone if only he decides to run for the NFF presidential seat.

Other Options…

There is the unseen hand from the presidency that could change everything and pick a candidate loyal to the ruling party as NFF president.

There is also the story of an emerging strong ally between some members of the present board who already smell foul play and members of the Giwa team to truncate the process before the 2018 World Cup.

We also hear that a group is compiling documents to get the EFCC to disrupt the process and put a few people behind bars few weeks to the election.

All these options are open for consideration as the 2018 NFF elections draws closer.

For now though, everyone prefers to stay quiet as if all is well as they go about their scheming and politicking in the dark.

Fans of local football in Nigeria have enjoyed themselves like never before in the manner they have trooped to match venues to see the NPFL clubs do battle twice-a-week since the new season kicked.

The fans always knew a reward was waiting for them somewhere along the line as the season cruised on. What reward, anyway, could be more befitting than seeing some of the NPFL players starring in the Super Eagles as Nigeria continued preparation towards Russia 2018 World Cup?

They got a jolt, however, when the NFF released the list of Super Eagles’ players to engage Senegal and Burkina Faso in friendly games last month. Only one NPFL player, Ikechukwu Ezenwa of FC IfeanyiUbah, was invited.

Not even the NPFL’s free-scoring MFM FC striker, Stephen Odey, was considered as a fringe invitee among the 24 listed, although Odey had scored more than ten goals as at the time.

Blue murder, the local fans cried. But they were ignored by the NFF which seemed to declare a no-going-back stand. It should have been thought that the Super Eagles’ performance against Senegal would justify the NFF’s stand on shutting out the NPFL players.

But the “star-studded” team could only get a 1-1 result against the Senegalese in a scrappy game that the Eagles’ gaffer Gernot Rohr would describe as “eye-opener”, although he was only being economical with words after he virtually threw the team open to several new Europe-based entrants whom he hoped to give playing time in order to dissuade the countries of their residence from capping them.

It was just as unfortunate that the “new discoveries” could not be tested further as the second game against Burkina Faso was cancelled over logistic reasons.

But it did not stop Rohr from dropping a bomb shell that tended to foreclose invitation of the NPFL players to the Eagles in the near future, no matter how many Stephen Odeys continue to lighten up the league.

“Our best players are in Europe,” Rohr declared according to various reports.

Not that the Franco-German offered any cogent argument, anyway. Hear him: “The Lions of Senegal that we played had no single player based in the local league.”

He must have reckoned that the leagues in Senegal and Nigeria are at par in terms of talent and organisation, in addition to the fact that none of the Europe-based players he invited was a fringe player at his club. But, was this the case?

The London camping offered an incredibly free entry into the Eagles’ team such that top ranking journalist and columnist, Mumini Alao, titled a piece that address the loose arrangement “Super Eagles of England”.

El-Kanemi coach, Issa Ladan Bosso, not a man to mince words when the issue is the development of local players, expressed dismay last week on the shut-out of the MFM’s star forward, Odey.

“No matter that Stephen wouldn’t be fielded in the London friendly games, he still deserved to be invited as I believe it would spur him to excel further in the NPFL,” Bosso stated, although he knew he was little reckoned by the Nigeria football authorities.

Perhaps, as a face-saving move, Rohr arrived in Nigeria early in the first week of this month “to monitor players in the NPFL with a view to determining their suitability for the Super Eagles ahead of the Nations Cup 2019 qualifier with South Africa in June.”

He was also reported to have met with Odey, whereupon he assured the MFM forward of an invitation to the Eagles. But everyone knows that this is a ruse. The same Rohr had earlier been quoted to have said in London during the recent friendly games that he had listed a total of 40 European-born Nigerian players to be drafted in the months ahead as he continued to build what he called a formidable Eagles’ squad.

Without doubt, the onus rests on the NFF to draw a policy that would guarantee adequate representation of NPFL players in the Eagles’ team, moving forward, while also drawing measures at ensuring strict adherence to the policy.

In the meantime, it is either that the NPFL players settle for the lot at their disposal, that is, the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) or hop overseas in order to be considered for invitation to Eagles. Whether the Europe-based Eagles have real quality to compete is another matter entirely.

With crucial matches that will shape his destiny as well as that of the Super Eagles and possibly give the shape of what to expect when the NFF elections are due next year, Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has again roared out his desire to have Vincent Enyeama back into the Super Eagles’ fold.

The social media and blogs have been agog with Rohr’s statement stating that the Super Eagles’ doors are still open to the former captain in whose home state; the Super Eagles’ nest is based.

This is not the first time the coach had expressed the wish to have Enyeama back. Even before his first outing with the team, he was quoted by FIFA’s weekly publication mid last year as wooing the Lille’s goalkeeper back to the team.

The coach’s statement has also drawn diverse opinions in the social media. While some hold the opinion that there is no goalkeeping problem in the Super Eagles to warrant the strong desire to bring Enyeama back, others believe that even if there were reasons, a player cannot be forced against his will to feature for a team.

No doubt, Enyeama, a centenarian in international appearances, had rendered meritorious services to Nigeria since his first cap, a May 5, 2002 friendly with Kenya.

It is left for him to yield to the call that he should return, even if to mentor up and coming goalkeepers in the team. Rohr, to the best of my knowledge had employed all the persuasive elements he could summon.

Last September, Rohr granted an interview with FIFA 1904, a weekly publication of the world football ruling body. He affirmed that with Enyeama’s experience, “he’d be good for the team and for Nigerian football as whole.

“Vincent has played at three World Cups and everyone wants him to reconsider…Of course, there’s always a story behind the decision.

“He didn’t agree with certain things and certain people”. Rohr did not explain those people, even though the former coach, Sunday Oliseh is certainly one of such.

Rohr said he told Enyeama to forgive and forget, like Nelson Mandela did. “Is there a better example from Africa?” Rohr asked. Seven months down the line, Enyeama is unyielding. It might appear one is beating a dead horse to continue to put pressure on him.

Besides Sunday Oliseh, who are the other people Enyeama has problems with? This is a poser begging for answers. A blog, Tomiwabablola.com, reported Rohr as saying: “I think he had a problem with the federation so he wanted someone to call him before coming.”

His last outing for Nigeria was the June 13, 2015 Afcon qualifier in Kaduna in which he criticised the choice of venue. He ran into trouble with the NFF. Could this be the root of the problem rather than the outburst Enyeama had with Sunday Oliseh before the friendly duel with DR. Congo in Belgium?

One should however understand the Rohr’s desire to have Enyeama. The Super Eagles have goalkeeping problems. Carl Ikeme is good, but he is prone to injury and had to be ruled out of some games, both for his club and Nigeria, in the past 12 months.

There seem to be no effective alternatives to him each time he was unavailable to Nigeria. There are already fears that another injury may have ruled him out of Nigeria’s next fixture in June.

With an apparent dwindling form of Super Eagles’ players in their clubs, additional goalkeeping woes may truncate qualification for both Russia 2018 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations 2019.

It will therefore be good, if Enyeama returns and back up Ikeme while helping in mentoring other goalkeepers. It will be a plus for him to play before his people and be a hero again. He should be able to mentor other goalkeepers.

He will also be a statesman not to contest the captainship of the team, if he returns.

Is it desirable for Vincent Enyeama to return to the Super Eagles? Should Vincent Enyeama return to the Super Eagles? The poll is open. Kindly cast your vote at the right hand side of this blog.

When the local media reported on April 1 that the Super Eagles’ Franco-German coach, Gernot Rohr, had not been paid his monthly salary since January this year, it sent shock waves across the world.

But while it might have surprised many on the outside, only few were surprised on the inside. After all, owing coaches’ wages is a common phenomenon, if not a legend, in Nigeria. Rohr is merely another coach to be owed.

Rather, the surprise was that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to make a clean break from the ugly past, contrary to what the federation’s president, Amaju Pinnick, promised after engaging the European gaffer last August.

The media was suffused at the time with reports that “an unknown wealthy businessman” had offered to pay Rohr’s wages, a welcome relief for the near-insolvent federation that had often struggled to pay wages of the local coaches.

Not a few had speculated that the hideous businessman was oil entrepreneur and NPFL club owner, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah. It turned out a hoax as Ubah neither confirmed nor deny his involvement. At any rate, the fact that Rohr would go three months without salary has put the NFF on the spot.

Was there really any deal struck with a businessman to pay Rohr’s salary?

It appeared the NFF had outfoxed itself in the quest to “move Nigeria football forward” and it was only a matter of time for Rohr to roar in anguish as the hidden matter was revealed.

One NFF official, who opted to be quoted as “source”, while obviously seeking relevance, confirmed the federation’s default. “Rohr has not been paid for three months,” the “source” said.

In what seemed an intractably generic situation, the source quickly added: “Rohr is not the one being owed. “There are also outstanding wages due the local coaches.”

Like a bombshell, however, the “source” declared: “The NFF is broke and there are modalities on the ground to offset salaries owed the other coaches.”

It still did not look bright for Rohr and “other coaches”. Little wonder, Pinnick cleverly sought a way out by announcing a “scheduled meeting” with Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, with a view to resolving the matter.

But the NFF may have literally signed a pact with hazy situation. Reports again flooded the media space on April 4, announcing that the federation had signed a deal with five firms that would offset all the outstanding salaries to Rohr and the local coaches.

Interestingly, the NFF did not name the firms, although yet another “source” at the federation who disclosed the “cheery news” said the NFF’s Accounts Department had been “directed” to compile list of beneficiaries to be forwarded to the hideous sponsors.

The “source” appeared sure-footed, anyway, considering the choice of words: “We initially wanted the firms to pay only the Super Eagles’ coaches but, to our relief, they willingly offered to pay all the coaches across board.”

Curiously, however, the “source” called agreement with the generous firms “proposal” that would still be forwarded to the sports minister for approval in what clearly suggested a long haul for the anxious coaches.

Yet, hardly can the NFF be blamed for Rohr’s predicament. He had been asked, upon assumption to his Eagles’ job, how he hoped to cope in the event of a default in payment of his wages.

He responded: “My priority is to work and make a mark here because I am confident that I can coach the Super Eagles to success. I have worked in Burkina Faso and Niger Republic where I was owed salary for up to eight months and I still worked.”

These words endeared Rohr to the NFF and Nigerians, no doubt, notwithstanding that he added: “But there is an agreement with the NFF with regard to payment of salary and I hope all parties will respect the agreement.”

Should Rohr invoke the last words, trouble would surface between the agreeing parties and history would be just literally at the door again, knocking furiously. It dare not be allowed to gain entry, lest the Eagles’ march forward is disrupted.

With the Nigerian League yet to get to the half way mark, MFM’s firebrand attacker, Stephen Odey, has already struck a record. His 14 goals as at match day is already a record.
No player had scored such amount of goals before the league got into the home stretch.
In some instances, 14 goals were what some players scored to emerge the top scorers for the entire season. In the days leading to the last friendly match the Super Eagles had in London last month, Odey’s name kept coming up as a domestic league player who should have been employed for the Super Eagles’ assignments.
The former school boy sensation in the GTBank Principals Cup has a big burden on his neck. He will have to prove that unlike the ‘kings’ before him, he will not be a one season sensation.
He will have to rewrite the history of the hotshots of the Nigerian league. In 27 years of the professional league in Nigeria, only one of the 27 top scorers of the season ever established himself in the Super Eagles.
The exception is Ahmed Musa, the then Kano Pillars’ striker whose 18 goals in the 2009/2010 season not only made him the top scorer, it was the first time in 20 years that the 17-goal mark established in 1990 by Ishaya Jatau (Iwuanyanwu Nationale) was surpassed.
The poser therefore is: Why do the Nigerian league top scorers fail to make impact in the national team or even replicate their forms the following seasons?
I may not have an answer. But it is necessary to look into this poser fir the development of the game in our country.
A little scrutiny of the top scorers will reveal a preponderant goal mouth scramble and penalty kick goals. It would appear once a player emerges as a potential top scorer, all penalty kick awards are ceded to him to ensure he come out top at the end of the season.
No fewer than six of Odey’s goals this season have been from the spot, giving one the impression he might go the same way of our past top scorers – one season hot shot with little impact in the national team.
He will need to prove pundits wrong. He can do this, if he is willing and if he takes into consideration what happened to those before him.
Will he be the new Super Eagles’ scoring machine like Rashidi Yekini? It will be recalled that the late Yekini last played for Nigeria on June 28, 1998 in France and last scored on January 22, 1998. Nineteen years on, his 37 goal mark is still unmatched. The closest player to the goal mark is the now national team-retired Aiyegbeni Yakubu who has 20 goals, 17 behind Yekini’s.
With the way Odey is going, most football observers are hoping he would be the next goal scoring machine for the national team as did Rashidi Yekini. But the statistics on ground do not support this.
It prompts one to wonder whether the top scorers of the Nigerian league are under any spell not to perform at higher level. Worse still, they often don’t leave up to their ratings of the previous season.
They have mostly turned out to be “one season hot-shots”. Only Abubakar Babale of Sunshine Stars emerged the 2007/2008 top scorer with 14 goals and was in contention for the top scorer award the following season.
The top scorers often had difficulties breaking into the Super Eagles’ squad. It was only in 2009 that Joseph Akpala, joint top scorer with 12 goals along with Timothy Anjembe in 2005, scored against France in a friendly match. He has since been confined to history in the Super Eagles.
Nigeria is therefore still in search of consistent lethal strikers. Take a look at all the domestic league’s top scorers, especially since the advent of professional football 27 years ago, a pathetic picture is painted.
Pace-setter, Ishaya Jatau who scored 17 goals for Iwuanyanwu Nationale in 1990, was not capped more than five times for the Super Eagles. He scored only once – the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Republic of Benin, in Cotonou on September 30, 1990.
He had earlier been called up to the national team that featured in 1989 ECOWAS Cup after he had performed well with his former club of the season, Highlanders of Jos.
His poor marksmanship at the ECOWAS Cup cost him a place in the team that later featured in the Algeria ’90 Africa Cup of Nations. He returned to the national team and scored a consolatory goal against Benin Republic in an African Nations Cup qualifier.
His many misses in the match did not impress Coach Clemens Westerhof. In 1991, he scored just six goals in the league before travelling to Cote d’Ivoire which was then the transit point for Nigerian players seeking career in Europe.
Jatau did even better than the others. Subsequent top scorers of the league from 1991 to 1999 couldn’t break into the Super Eagles.
For instance, Olumide Harris, then a young enterprising player of Shooting Stars scored 14 goals to top the chart in the 1994 season. Months later in January 1995, he was a shadow of himself in the Under 20 side, the Flying Eagles that crumbled at the African Youth Championship hosted by Nigeria.
He did not score in a championship he was tipped to be the major attraction.
In a similar vein, Eddie Dombraiye of the then Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland) was a top scorer in 1998 after hitting the net 13 times.
He was drafted to the U21 side featuring in the 1999 World Youth Championship to be the hit man. Like Olumide Harris, Dombraiye did not make much impact in the team and later travelled abroad to Poland and played for LKS Lodz.
The top scorer for the 1998 Season, Hassan Minda of Gombe United was not even capped in the national team.
In 1991, Bendel United’s Richard Ojomo scored 12 goals to emerge the league’s hot shot. He was one of the two players of the season to have scored hat trick when he put in three goals in a 5-2 home win against Ranchers Bees in a Week 22 match.
Gabriel Okolosi of Julius Berger was the other hat trick achiever. Ojomo who was already in the twilight of his career in the 1991 season did not even have a call-up into the national team.
Arthur Moses, a Ghanaian and the first foreigner to win the hot shot award of the Professional League put in 10 goals in 1992 season while featuring for Super Stores.
The following season, he scored just three goals. He later moved to Europe where he featured for different clubs in France – Toulon, Olympic Marseille and Nimes. He got a couple of call-ups into Ghana Black Stars and featured in the 1998 African Nations Cup finals in Burkina Faso.
Tony Nwigwe of Iwuanyanwu Nationale who emerged top scorer with his 13 goals in 1993 also got a couple of call-ups into the Super Eagles. He, however, could not find the net.
It was in this period that Rashidi Yekini was in his deadliest form and easily overshadowed other contending scorers in the national team. The top scorers after him – Olumide Harris (Shooting Stars), Ben Agadah (Gombe United), Peter Anyilobi (Enyimba), Paul Kpougoul (Jasper United/BCC Lions) and Emma Agbo (Iwuanyanwu Nationale), Ibenegbu Okechuku (El Kanemi), Ameh Aruwa (Kaduna United), Abubakar Ibrahim Babale (Wikki Tourists/Sunshine Stars) and Akarandut Orok (Akwa United) – did not earn places in the Super Eagles.
Ben Agadah scored 12 goals for Gombe United to emerge the top scorer in 1995. He had moved into oblivion ever since. First he moved to Cameroun and then returned to Nigeria, likewise Peter Anyilobi, the Enyimba of Aba striker whose nine goals fetched him the highest scorer award in 1996. Interestingly the nine goals were scored in the first stanza of the league before the player opted to further his career in Germany.
Other players could not catch up with him. In Germany, Anyilobi first featured for FC 08 Homburg in 1998/99 season before moving to Pirmasens. Paul Kpoughoul played for two clubs: Jasper United and BCC Lions to emerge top scorer in 1997. His total of 16 was just one behind the record set by Ishaya Jatau in 1990.
Emmanuel Agbo scored 14 goals in 1999 for Iwuanyanwu Nationale and was called up for the Under-23 team preparing for the Sydney Olympics but was not firmly established in the team.
Like other top scorers in the past, he had his eyes in Europe and later joined SW Bregenz of Austria.
The next hot shot to be in the Super Eagles was Peter Ijeh in 2002, featuring for Julius Berger in 2000; he topped the goal chart with his 14 goals. He ventured to Norway and resumed his goal scoring spree. Just one match as a substitute in the Super Eagles’ game against Jamaica in Lagos was enough to dismiss him.
Uche Okereke of Rangers who emerged top scorer with 13 goals in 2001 had just one cap, an away game against Zambia in Chingola and that ended his international career.
In 2002, Victor Ezeji of Dolphins and Ghana’s Joetex Frimpong (El Kanemi) were joint top scorers with 16 goals each. Ezeji was capped only twice for Nigeria.
First, coming as a substitute in an African Nations Cup qualifier against Angola on September 8, 2002 and another LG Cup match against Libya in Tripoli, where he scored his only international goal in a 2-1 loss to the hosts.
What then is wrong with the Nigerian league’s top scorers that they don’t live up to the standard expected of them in subsequent seasons and also in the national team? This is begging for answers!

Top scorers who failed to make impact in Super Eagles
1990-Ishaya Jatau (Iwuanyanwu Nationale), 17 goals
1991-Richard Ojomo (Bendel United), 12 goals
1992-Arthur Moses (Super Stores), 10 goals
1993-Tony Nwigwe (Iwuanyanwu Nationale), 13 goals
1994-Olumide Harris (Shooting Stars), 14 goals
1995-Ben Agadah (Gombe United), 12 goals
1996-Peter Anyiolobi (Enyimba), 9 goals
1997-Paul Kpoughoul (Jasper United/BCC Lions), 16 goals
1998-Hassan Minda (Gombe United), 14goals
1999-Emmanuel Agbo (Iwuanyanwu Nationale), 14 goals
2000-Peter Ijeh (Julius Berger), 14 goals
2001-Uche Okereke (Enugu Rangers), 13 goals
2002-Joetex Frimpong (El-Kanemi), Victor Ezeji (Dolphins), 16 goals
2003-Chibuzor Ozurumba (Iwuanyanwu), Endurance Idahor (Julius Berger) 12 goals each
2004-Kabiru Alausa (Berger), 13 goals
2005-Timothy Anjembe (Lobi Stars), Joseph Akpala (Insurance), Charles Omokaro (Sharks), 12 goals each
2006 -Ibenebu Ikechukwu (El Kanemi), 10 goals
2007 – Ameh Aruwa (Kaduna United), 10 goals
2007/2008 – Abubakar Babale (Wikki Tourist/Sunshine Stars), 14 goals
2008/2009 – Akarandut Orok (Akwa United), 17 goals
2009/2010 – Ahmed Musa (Kano Pillars), 18 goals.
2010/2011 – Jude Aneke (Kaduna United), 20 goals
2011/2012 – Sibi Gwar (Niger United), 17 goals.
2012/2013 – Victor Namo (Nasarawa United) 18 goals.
2013/2014 – Mfoh Udoh ( Enyimba) 23 goals

Appearing at seven consecutive Olympic Games stands Nigerian table tennis star, Segun Toriola, apart as one of the country’s all-time sports personalities.

Ranking as easily the best Nigerian table tennis player since 1995 has also stood him in good stead as an individual to reckon with.

His rating as an African player of note since 1995, particularly since 1998 when he became the continent’s number one player, has also placed him firmly on a remarkable platform.

Without any doubt, Toriola, 42 on September 18 last year, is one of the world’s best tennis table players of all time.

He won four African Singles titles in 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006, a Commonwealth singles title in 2002 as well as a Commonwealth doubles and singles bronze medal in 2006.

The Kwara State-born athlete, who had played in several countries abroad as a professional, also stroked to four All Africa Games singles titles in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007, in addition to doubles gold medal in 1999.

Despite the ping pong sport now consistently dominated by youngsters across the world, Toriola’s consistency has proved formidable. He climbed back unto Africa’s number one spot in 2009 after surrendering the title to Egyptian Eli Saleh Ahmed in 2008.

His lack of good footwork that dogged his triumphs of many years notwithstanding, Toriola’s excellent topspin and an unusual style of forehand play have made the difference at critical times.

Toriola, as expected, led Nigeria’s medal chase at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi but failed to deliver a medal in what could be classified as one of the country’s worst outings in international table tennis events.

The foregoing suggests a reality check for Nigeria. “It simply means that we have to go beyond grassroots development as is currently done. It is high time the discovered players were exposed to international competitions and modern facilities that we lack in Nigeria.

Otherwise we would face decline in the sport,” respected table tennis journalist, Olalekan Okusan, told me.

According to Okusan, the blame for table tennis decline in Nigeria has gone beyond the administrators’ perceived negligence.

“Even the sponsors are guilty. They often insisted that they would prefer the appearance of old players in their competitions, apparently to attract the crowd. But in the end, the essence of talent discovery would have been defeated,” Okusan said.

Toriola, who pleaded for fairness, however said the so-called oldies would gladly leave the scene for the young talents.

“Interestingly, the young lads have not given us enough competition to surrender the stage to them,” the multiple medal and award winner remarked.

Toriola has made what he calls a right claim to a national honour, sequel to his feats on the table, which has seen him become the only African athlete to feature in seven Olympic Games.

But he has looked on as the honour gets slow in coming, even as he watches frustratingly as football players and track and field athletes received honours after bringing home laurels from various competitions.

Luckily, Toriola’s legend is not lost to other countries in Africa. Recognition came from Nairobi in December last year when he was invited by the Kenya Table Tennis Association (KTTA) to guide hundreds of kids at a clinic organised to discover table tennis talents.

“My presence in Nairobi gave the young boys and girls hope and boosted their morale and the event gave me immense pride,” Toriola said of the Nairobi clinic where he brought his wealth of experience to bear on the East African country’s youngsters.

Despite the Kenyan experience which he described as memorable, however, giving up on the honour from Nigeria is not in Toriola’s calculation.

“There can be no honour that will surpass the one that I am accorded by my country. Besides, I believe the honour from my country is honour well deserved and it will come someday,” he said.

Okusan insisted that Toriola’s national recognition is a time that has come and should not be delayed further.

“Segun has distinguished himself to the effect that his journey to the top of his career was without blemish, even as he remains one of the most revered athletes around the world,” the table tennis journalist declared, stressing: “The onus is on the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports to recommend this exceptional athlete for the national honour that he eminently deserves.”

Incredibly, Toriola is not thinking retirement from active table tennis. In fact, he seeks to break his own record with an appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when he would be 45 years of age.

Currently playing and coaching in Belgium, the legend looks forward to participating in his eighth consecutive Olympics with fervour. “I am in top shape and I believe nothing can stop me if I remain in this condition,” he told me, with a boyish smile on his face.

“Segun has increasingly defied the effects of aging and I won’t be surprised to see him compete in Tokyo,” Okusan, who has followed Toriola’s entire career with keen interest, also said.

How amazing it would be, seeing a 45-year-old table tennis player competing for honours at the Tokyo 2020 and even more so that the player is Nigerian.

If football were played in the other side, the celestial beings will be rejoicing about the latest entrants, even as Nigerians mourn them.

Last Thursday, Nigerian football lost two of its prominent football personalities at two of the nations’ referral hospitals.

Paul Hamilton breathe his last at the Lagos University Hospital while Kenneth Ilodigwe, another great player, though relatively unknown, died at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu.

Ilodigwe is relatively unknown to the younger football followers as he left the country almost 40 years ago after making marks on the Nigerian fields. He was a member of the all-conquering Enugu Rangers side that ruled Nigerian football for almost 36 months without losing a match.

He was a teammate to the great Christian Chukwu and was in and out of the then Green Eagles before venturing to the US for further studies late in 1974.

Well remembered was his 66^th minute goal that broke the deadlock on the 1974 Challenge Cup final featuring Enugu Rangers and Mighty Jets. Ogidi Ibeabuchi later doubled the lead to give Enugu Rangers a deserved 2-0 win.

He disappeared from fans’ monitoring when he ventured abroad like the other greats such as Dominic Ezeani and Obed Ariri among others. Ilodigwe played for the victorious 1971 set of the East Central State Academicals alongside Patrick Ekeji in the Manuwa/Adebajo Cup.

Ilodigwe and Dominic Ezeani were always ‘imported’ from US each time Enugu Rangers had difficult fixtures in the 1975 African Cup of Champions Clubs.

Sadly, his worth was not well acknowledged even when he cried out for assistance after being diagnosed with malignant prostate cancer at the Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia in the US and needed about $65,000 for the operation.

He died the same day another great Nigerian football personality, Paul Hamilton breathe his last. May his soul rest in peace.

To the younger generation, Hamilton was probably just known as one of the coaches that handled different grades of Nigerian national teams. He was more than just that. He had an international playing career that spanned from February 23, 1963 to April 18, 1971.

For the 24 matches he played for Nigeria, he scored 11 goals. Fondly called “Wonder Boy” for his dribbling and ball juggling artistry, Hamilton was among the first set of Nigerian footballers that graced the global stage at the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games.

At club level, he started with the then rave of the moment in the East, the Onitsha Redoubtable owned by Justice Chuba Ikpeazu who later became two-time NFA chairman.

Hamilton moved to Lagos where he easily became the crowd favourite with his goal-scoring exploits. Such saw him winning the Challenge Cup twice with the then ECN in 1965 and 1970.

After his playing career, he took to coaching and became the first coach to take the Flying Eagles to medals’ zone, placing third at the 1985 World Youth Championship (now U-20 World Cup) in Soviet Union. Samson Siasia, Waidi Akanni and Andrew Uwe among others were some of his players.

He later handled the women’s side (now called Super Falcons) to qualify for the inaugural world championship in China in 1991 before Dutch man Bonfrere Jo was drafted to handle the team in China.

Before then, he was at the verge of qualifying the Super Eagles for Italia ’90 before Clemens Westerhof was engaged, two matches to the end of final group.

Hamilton thus became the only coach to have handled the women’s national team, the Super Falcons, the Super Eagles and the Flying Eagles. May his soul rest in peace.

Going by the manner he targeted and achieved his objective, it would seem that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick, has reached his peak in football administration after winning the coveted seat on the CAF’s Executive Committee.

“We will improve football administration in Africa and a new wave of change will be witnessed under our administration,” Pinnick said upon his arrival in Nigeria shortly after the CAF poll in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“We are passionate about football in Africa”, he continued.  He was not finished. Hear him again: “We are aware that expectations are high on the continent in terms of improving football all round and we will settle down quickly to take a look at the situation and draw a blue print to take our football to the next level.”

Yet, it is only the beginning! Indeed, it is a fresh start, considering the challenges that Pinnick has faced at home before now and the ones that stand in front of him in the years ahead. He would be applauded and reckoned outside Nigeria. But, at home, he has great hurdles to scale.

Youth development is one of the hurdles he must scale over if Nigeria is to stem its dwindling status in Africa and the world. Last year would be forgettable, considering that Nigeria’s youth teams failed to fly and generations of talent failed to market their skills as well as help steady the country’s growth in the sport.

Safe for the National U-23 team that won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympics and the Super Falcons who fought all odds to win the African Women Nations Cup trophy in Cameroon, football took an embarrassing back step.

The Super Eagles’ fortune continued to dip with a second consecutive AFCON finals miss, although the team brought sparks later in 2016 with a brilliant start to the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers which saw the team take a commanding position in a group that comprises current African champion Cameroon and former champions Algeria and Zambia.

Things have appeared stable for the Eagles though, as the flagship of the national teams has chalked up two friendly games lately against Senegal and Burkina Faso to set the stage ahead of the AFCON 2019 opening qualifying round opening game with South Africa in June.

Otherwise, the fund challenge that has dogged the Pinnick administration is still as intact as it can get. The NFF helmsman has yet to unfold plans for cash sourcing other than the usual hope that funds would be available when they are needed.

There was a raging debate last year with regard to pruning the various national teams to suit the meagre resources available to the NFF. To this day, the federation has not come up with its position on which of the teams remain and which other ones are scrapped.

As qualifiers begin soon for the underage competitions, confusion is bound to set in, which would ultimately affect the teams’ fortune. It seems the focus, despite everything, will remain on the Super Eagles at the expense of other teams-the Pinnick administration aiming to ensure the team’s easy passage to Russia to compensate for the two successive AFCON misses.

It remains to be seen how Pinnick would find sustainable way round the financial logjam.

Nonetheless, the Pinnick administration has performed wonderfully on the coaching training aspect and deserves commendation, thanks to the consistence of the NFF Technical Director, Bitrus Bewarang, who has drawn many coaches on the domestic scene to attend series of programmes that would benefit the country’s football in the long run.

Perhaps, what would be left after this feat by Bewarang is for the NFF to encourage improvement of football on the local scene such that it could aid the League Management Company (LMC) to attract the right sponsors that would ultimately rub off on the clubs and players.

One surest way to achieve this is to increase the quota of players in the domestic league in the Super Eagles to at least five at any given time, moving forward, to strengthen the team competitively.