 |
| Samson Siasia |
By Nelson
Ekujumi
The furor generated
by the Super Eagles ouster from the 2012 AFCON has refused to abate as expected
and the latest being the recommendation by the Technical Committee of the NFF
for the Super Eagles Coach Samson Siasia to either be sacked or his contract
reviewed is a welcome development. First and foremost, I want to congratulate
the committee for coming up with this patriotic decision which I believe is in
the long term interest of our football.
When yours sincerely
advocated in an earlier write up that Samson Siasia should not be sacked based
on this disappointment alone because we are all culpable but rather be allowed
to remain in the long term interest of the growth of our football which we
cannot but agree requires the inculcation of local content in view of the
management of our Senior National Team, I made that suggestion based on my
understanding of the facts surrounding events before the Nations cup ouster,
but events unfolding after my comments have made me to have some reservations.
First, I must admit
the fact that the Super Eagles team that drew with Guinea was not the best we
can parade with a population of over 150 million people where talents abound at
home and in Diaspora. Also the team lacked the zeal we know with players who
appreciate the honour of wearing the national colours and lastly the bench was
technically deficient which played a large part in the national embarrassment
that we were all subjected to.
I was shocked and
disappointed once again with the technical deficiency of the Super Eagles in
the friendly match against Ghana’s Black Stars in London,
where the team was outplayed in all departments by their opponents even though
they were lucky to come out with a draw. There and then did I conclude that
this Samson unlike the one in the Bible before the shave of the seven locks of
his head is in dire need of help if we are really serious of avoiding further
embarrassment that his continued headship of the Super Eagles portend.
This was the reason
why I concurred with the recommendation of the technical committee of a review
of the contract of Siasia so that he can be an understudy to a new manager and
learn through the ropes just like I advocated before his appointment. I was
thus shocked and disappointed to read that Siasia who had displayed unbridled
arrogance while the honeymoon lasted in his job before this calamity of missing
out of the Nations Cup for the first time in 26 years and whom I thought had
eaten the humble pie by the loss would be sober at least for some time, but was
let down by his contemptuous statement that he wouldn’t work under any coach in
the Super Eagles.
Samson Siasia whom I
thought is a knowledgeable person has proven to be very ignorant of the
principle of democracy which is a system of government of the people, by the
people and for the people or in other words is known as “Vox Populi, Vox Dei”
meaning “The voice of the people is the voice of God”. It was the clamour of
the people that got him the job in the first place and the general cry now is
for him to step down because he has failed, but if some of us are advocating
retention and a lesser role for him now, it is not because the people’s
cry is misplaced after all his predecessors who performed even better than him
were shown the exit door and his should not be an exemption, rather it is based
on the fact that we are trying to give him a soft landing like they say in
politics just to add the local content to the technical bench of the National
Team for future sake.
Siasia must be told
the simple and plain truth which is that he is not technically and
psychologically equipped to handle the Senior National team of Nigeria, we can allow him to grow by learning from a
more competent expert whom I am advocating should be employed now before the
qualifiers for the 2013 Nations Cup and 2014 World Cup begin. As for those who
are still calling for his continued stay on the job despite his latest after
thoughts outbursts, we are yet to be convinced of his capability to perform the
job because his performance so far proves quite contrary and our overriding
goal should be how to save our people further heartache and our collective
sensibilities from further assault.
If Siasia is not
prepared to learn by becoming an assistant to whoever we engage, then he should
be shown the exit door and no nepotism should be allowed because right now I am
aware that some forces are trying to play the ethnic card via the Presidency to
allow him keep his job. We are fed up with our status as a failed state; after
all, we sacked Christian Chukwu, Amodu Shuaibu, Adegboye Onigbinde, Ladan
Bosso, Tunde Disu, Stephen Keshi, Alphonsus Dike, etc for failures at the
National Team levels, so why should Siasia’s case be different? Nigeria is
bigger than any individual and why we have remained an embarrassment in the
comity of civilized people is because of the fact that we are unserious. The
only thing that can stand us in good light as credible people is if our actions
are based on objectivity and sincerity, this is the only and sure way to avoid
the catastrophe that the continued management of the Super Eagles by Samson
Siasia have in store.
As for the present
confused and visionless board of the NFF, the time to go or be forced to resign
is now if we are desirous of salvaging the ruins of our football lest they
continue to commit abomination as blind men by leading the rest of us with
sight into the pit of shame and embarrassment. Enough is enough!
A word is enough for
the wise!
