Football which happens to be a strong religion that binds Nigeria together regardless of their ethnicity or language seem to be gradually losing its weight amongst football lovers at large.
It’s bizarre to imagine that two of the nation’s sports administrators in Solomon Dalung and Amaju Pinnick are still wagging tongues on who takes over the responsibility of the Super Eagles ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers where the team was grouped alongside Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia.
Dalung who happens to be the sports minister has rejected plans by the Nigeria Football Federation led by President, Pinnick on the need to appoint a foreign coach that would take over from interim Super Eagles coach, Salisu Yusuf permanently.
Both parties seem to have contradicting opinion on the choice of a foreign coach considering the fact that the nation’s financial situation won’t create a perfect platform for their appointment.
While the NFF insists a foreign coach is necessary, they also believe it will help revive the standard of football in the senior national team, something which has been far ‘dead’ after the team’s inability to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick has defended his decision to go for a foreigner as the new Super Eagles coach, insisting that no local coach can give us the desired results.
“I cannot put our World Cup hopes on a local coach. We need a world class coach who can reshape our football.”
It’s also a known fact that Pinnick has always been a fan of a foreign coach and could be noticed when late Stephen Keshi failed to qualify the team for the 2015 Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and the move for an expatriate was fired up by him.
Besides, on whose desk does the power to decide on the appointment of a foreign coach falls? Is it Dalung or Pinnick?
Moreover, while Super Eagles opponents are already fashioning plans on how they will subdue Nigeria, the two important leaders in the country are still busy fighting on who takes the shot for a foreign coach appointment.
With five foreign coaches initially shortlisted for the job of the Super Eagles, the football house seem to have settled with Paul Le Guen, former coach of Olympique Lyonnaise who led the French club to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles.
Le Guen who was sacked as the Women National Football Team coach in November 2015 has also tutored State Rennaise, Paris Saint-Germain, Glasgow Rangers and the Cameroon national team, Indomitable Lions.
