Super Eagles now all comers affair

By way of definition, devaluation means the reduction or underestimation of something that is useful or very important. Whenever we begin to toy with what we once adored, it means we no longer attach so much importance to it. Therefore, the list of 54 players released by the Super Eagles coach, Eric Chelle, has exposed the extent to which our darling national team, the Super Eagles, is underrated or underestimated by those who should protect the brand.

When the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) made public the provisional list of players the coach has invited to camp for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) this month in Morocco, what immediately caught the attention of most Nigerians was first, the over-bloated list, and the inclusion of some names that are unknown to most Nigerian football fans.

Apart from already known star players like Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, William Troost-Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina, Zaidu Sanusi, Frank Onyeka, Samuel Chukuweze, Moses Simon and Raphael Onyedika, the coach extended invitations to players who have consistently failed to justify their inclusion in the team. Players like Victor Boniface, Nathan Tella, Tolu Arokadare, Chigozie Awaziem and goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, have shown time without number that they are not Super Eagles materials; still they made the 54-man list.

Furthermore, if playing for the Super Eagles was still a serious business, nothing would have made the coach to recall players like Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Sadiq Umar and Ola Aina, who are either struggling with form in their clubs or recuperating from injuries. Of course, they had proven their mettle but are presently without good form and shouldn’t have a space in a team that is ambitious.

Anyway, some of these players can be tolerated because at one time or another, they played for the Super Eagles and that made Nigerians to have a fair idea of what they are capable of doing. Although most of them didn’t live up to expectations, at least their names are now well known. For instance, nobody would ask who Francis Uzoho and Victor Boniface are. Uzoho will forever be remembered as the goalkeeper whose mistake denied the Super Eagles the 2022 World Cup ticket, while Boniface remains the striker who played 13 matches for Nigeria without scoring a goal.

Even as Chelle can be pardoned for extending invitation to some of these players, his decision to include players like Tochukwu Nnadi, Usman Mohammed, Peter Agba, Ryan Alebiosu, Rafiu Durosimmi, Chukuwubukem Ikwemesi, Philip Otelle, Salim Fago, Emmanuel Michael and Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is not only reckless but condemnable.

Of course, some of us remember how a player like Usman Mohammed once announced himself to the world when he scored an extraordinary goal for the Super Eagles against the then reigning Europa League champions, Atletico Madrid in the GotvMax Cup match on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo. He scored the equaliser in a spectacular manner, but after that historic moment, what has he achieved? Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, a product of the famous Beyond Limit Academy, is a potential star, but his invitation at this time is simply for marketing purposes.

When discussing oceans, we don’t mention rivers, so I won’t dwell much on the five home-based players –  goalkeeper, Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos), Adekunle Adeleke (Abia warriors), Abdulrasheed Shehu (Niger Tornadoes), Ekeson Okorie (Nasarawa United) and Chisom Orji (Warri Wolves) who made the list.

But it must be mentioned that while including the names of these home-based players, Coach Chelle and his accomplices acted as if the rest of us did not know anything about the NPFL. Despite the abundant flaws, some of us still follow the league and can confirm that there are players who are far better than the ones the coach has included in his provisional list.

For instance, it was shocking to some Nigerians that Okorie was chosen ahead of his teammate, Anas Yusuf, the reigning highest goal-scorer in the NPFL. In the current season, he has already scored six goals to put himself among the leading goal-scorers, yet, he was overlooked again for a teammate who is unknown to many followers of the league.

Well, Yusuf’s exclusion didn’t come to many of us as a surprise because we still remember how Chelle grudgingly included him in the CHAN squad that failed woefully in Morocco. The case of Tornadoes’ Shehu is better because so far, he has proved to be one of the emerging stars in the NPFL, but the invitation of Orji, who has scored only one goal for Warri Wolves in the ongoing season, is laughable.

The truth is that most of these players have been invited for selfish reasons. For those who are playing in foreign clubs already, the invitation is to enhance their profiles for better contracts in the future. Even as it is certain that most of them would be dropped before December 21, these players are going back to their clubs with “national team” experience. For the home-based players, their videos in the camp of the Super Eagles would be used by their agents to get them clubs abroad.

This is what the Super Eagles have been reduced to by those who have consistently put personal interest over and above national success. Gradually, the camp of the former African champions is becoming a place for anyone who is called a football player. If it is not used as a rehabilitation centre, the Super Eagles camp is treated as a marketing platform.

Well, one is not saying that those boys shouldn’t be given invitations to play for Nigeria. The problem is with the timing. With serious competition around the corner, this is not the right time to test the new boys. This can be done when the team is playing friendly matches, Moreover, there is also the need to invite players strictly on merit. If a player like David Moses who dazzled for Slavia Praha against Atalanta and Arsenal in the Champions League is overlooked while some of these guys who are playing in obscure leagues in Europe are invited, it shows clearly that personal and selfish considerations played a key role in the selection.

The bad habit of giving low-profile players unhindered access to the Super Eagles’ camp has to stop. If allowed to persist, it would further devalue the team. Already, the fear factor that used to work for us is gone, but it is not too late to make amends.

I remember what happened in 2015 when the late Stephen Keshi invited a completely unknown player, Gabriel Okechukwu, who was playing for a non-league side, Water FC, Abuja for the Super Eagles’ 2017 AFCON qualifying match against Chad in Kaduna and controversially handed him the iconic Number 10 jersey made famous by players like Jay-Jay Okocha.

His shocking decision sparked significant backlash and was one of the issues cited by the Nigeria Football Federation when they eventually queried and sacked him shortly afterward.

So, it may be argued that devaluation of the Super Eagles didn’t start today. However, we shouldn’t fold our hands and watch helplessly, the continuous devaluation of our national pride. Those who are behind the recent careless invitation of players should be warned to desist from this wayward behaviour.

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