Getting Sports Spot On -By Kene Obiezu

Life is a lot like sports. The dynamics of life, the many wheels that turn over in grinding out life as it is somehow subscribe to the idea of sports as an endeavor that has a lot to teach people  about life in general.

Nigeria has always been a country in love with its sports. All over the country, present at different levels is an abundant evidence of a country in love with sports.

Disastrously, on March 28 2022, Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup billed for Qatar later in the year. The failure came after an insipid display at the Moshood Abiola national stadium in Abuja could only grind out a draw against Ghana. In the wake of the setback, many Nigerians were of the opinion that it was a good thing that a country facing so many challenges, some of them existential, did not have any distraction no matter how healthy.

The debacle against Ghana was especially a difficult one to take as the Super Eagles of Nigeria bungled an attempt to redeem themselves after a catastrophic outing at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. In December 2021, Gernot Rohr, the German coach who had not done badly in leading Nigeria to the last World Cup in Russia, was fired and swiftly replaced by Mr. Augustine Eguavoen. The decision certainly came back to came back to haunt Nigeria and Mr. Eguavoen was himself fired after Nigeria failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Now, another appointment has been made for the Super Eagles of Nigeria even as another decision of the Federal Government has brought basketball in the country to its knees.

 On Sunday May 15, 2022, the Nigeria Football Federation formally announced the appointment of Mr. Jose Paseiro as the new Head Coach of the Super Eagles, the country`s senior national men`s football team.

 The 62-year-old Portuguese played as a striker in his days before going on to acquire extensive coaching experience during coaching stints across four different continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America where Mr. Paseiro took in jobs with clubs as well as national teams. Mr. Jose Paseiro comes with an impressive coaching pedigree and the hope is that he can translate that into a long period of dominance for Nigeria  on the African scene  as well as on the world stage.

 On May 12, 2022, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced its decision to withdraw Nigeria from all international basketball competitions for a period of two years in order to find time to cleanse the basketball industry and  save the local  game from completely crumbling.

The decision was said to be in line with the desire of the Federal Government to concentrate efforts on revamping the sport from the grassroots and reviving the domestic leagues which have become moribund. The decision was apparently not unconnected with the leadership crisis that has lingered in the Nigeria Basketball Federation(NBBF) for over six years.

There is no doubt that sports in Nigeria and especially the administration of sports in Nigeria continue to leave much to be desired as square pegs continue to be forced into round holes. The bane of sports in Nigeria has always been leadership which has always bred incompetence.

A lot of pain remains from Nigeria`s failure to qualify for the World Cup coming up later in the year in Qatar. Nigerians feel they should be there and with the abundance of resources available to the country, absence from the competition can never be sufficiently justified. To forestall future heartbreaks, Nigeria has to do a lot of work.

Nigeria also has a lot to do to fix its basketball as well as other sports where the country retain a lot of potential to go on and dominate globally. There is no quick fix to this as it appears to be an institutional problem more than anything else. But work has to start from somewhere.

Kene Obiezu,

keneobiezu@gmail.com