Nigeria’s ouster from Qatar 2022 painful, but…

By : Friday Onothoja

The FIFA World Cup is the highest diadem which every footballing nation under the sun wants to be part of.
Of the five slots in Africa, Nigeria was tipped by bookmakers, enthusiasts and stakeholders as one of the favourites to hoist her national flag when the ‘battle’ of boots began. But it was not to be.
Painful as the memories of 29th March,2022 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja could be, we can only accept the stark reality that Nigeria will not be in Qatar 2022.

Failure, as we all know it, is an orphan. But success has many brothers, sisters, uncles, nieces and a galaxy of siblings.
Since the ouster of Nigeria from the FIFA World Cup, a barrage of criticisms, commentaries and opinions have dominated our conventional and social media space. It has been that of a mixed bag, ranging from those with good intentions, those with strings of “pull-them-down” and yet, others tainted in the world of hate speech. It is expected.

This is no time for logic. It is no time for name calling. It is no time for blame games. But it is time for stock taking, a time for reappraisal, to proffer genuine solutions to avert a reoccurrence, so that Nigeria can bounce back to global reckoning.
Calls for the sack of the NFF Executive Committee Members is missing the point. As administrators of the game, they couldn’t have ‘slapped’ the players and the technical crew after the loss.

The game of football is so unpredictable. The players, the technical crew, the backroom staff, the NFF Executive Committee Members, stakeholders and all Nigerians were downcast after the last whistle of the game. We were eclipsed by Ghana, our age-long football foe!

If we were victorious in that last match, it would have made Niigerians to absorb the shock that followed the attack on the Abuja-kaduna train, where many passengers were taken hostages, many killed, injured and others unaccounted for. Rather than condole, is it right at this point to call for the sack or resignation of the Transport Minister? Or do we call for the resignation of Mr President, for appointing ‘incompetent’ service chiefs? I think it goes beyond calls for sack.

When things go wrong, someone must definitely take responsibility. The NFF has done just that, by an open apologies tendered to Nigerians by the scribe of the Glass House, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi. Let us allow the humanity in us to accept the apology with equanimity. In every sports contest, football being one of them, it is either a win, a loss or a draw. The latter was not good enough to take us to Qatar 2022. It is a bitter pill which we have had to swallow, but it is not the end of life.

I don’t want to name some great footballing nations that didn’t qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Doing so is missing the point. We are meant to be counted among nations making podium appearances. I think we should go back to the drawing board and restrategize. The results is not all about Mr Amaju Pinnick, it is not all about the NFF Executive Committee, it is not all about a home-based coach. We were just unlucky.

Let’s commend all the players and the technical crew. I am sure they knew what went wrong on and off the pitch. It is not late to make corrections for the future. I salute the passion and resilience of the Nigerian fans. They went berserk, out of frustration. Let us be united, whether in victory or defeat. Therein lies the true spirit of sportsmanship.

Mr Friday Onothoja Football Stakeholder, writes from Lagos, Nigeria