And more poignantly too, this is the second time in about 16 months that the Eagles will be eliminated in the qualification series for the AFCON under the leadership of the former Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick. Nigerians would not forget in hurry that fateful day of Nov 20, 2014 when the Eagles, needing a win to guarantee their place at AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea, had to force Bafana Bafana to a 2-2 draw at the Akwa Ibom International Stadium in Uyo. The draw allowed Congo to qualify alongside the already qualified South African side, who ran to a 2-0 lead before a fightback by Eagles rescued them a point but not enough to guarantee them a spot in the AFCON finals. This came shortly barely two months after Amaju Pinnick and his fellow board members were elected into the top-ranking Executive Committee of the NFF and at the height of intense fighting for the soul of Nigerian football by various factions and the spill-over effect of the acrimonious feud between then Eagles coach Stephen Keshi and the immediate past President of the NFF, Aminu Maigari, who had lost confidence and trust in Keshi to continue tinkering the Eagles, after poor management of the Eagles in the last World Cup. For a country with no short supply of a pool of exciting talents to choose from at home and overseas, Eagles had no business missing out on a place at Equatorial Guinea 2015. Even before the match against South Africa, it was clear that Keshi had lost the plot and was heading downhill in his coaching depth, a good reason for Pinnick and his fellow members to do away with him. With pressure coming from unseen hands within the Presidency, the board attempted to paper the already-inflamed cracks, and the result was that the reigning African champions failed to qualify for the AFCON party in Equatorial Guinea. And 16 months on from the infamous and ugly incident which turned over 170 million Nigerians into mere spectators of AFCON 2015, the same mistake on recruitment of coaches has left a bitter taste on the tongues of fans at home. The role of the NFF in Nigeria’s two-time failed AFCON bids cannot be overemphasised. It was Pinnick that allowed Keshi to handle the final game against South Africa, after first sacking him, and replaced with Shuaibu Amodu, before doing a volte face by reinstating the former after reported pressure from a top-ranking government official. Even as hard as they tried to paint the picture, the pussy-footing did not help Nigeria, leaving many to call to question the integrity and professionalism of those calling the shots at the Glass House. A former Chairman of the NFA, Kojo Williams could not have been far from the truth when he said in a past interview that Pinnick’s board was not prompt in taking crucial decisions no matter whose ox is gored And it seems Williams must be a clairvoyant as events after 16 months have shown, with another Nations Cup qualification capitulation, orchestrated by NFF, with its unwise appointment of Sunday Oliseh as Eagles coach on July15, 2015, Before the Eagles job, Oliseh’s other coaching stint was at Royal Cercle Sportif Verviétois, a third division Belgian side, which he managed in the 2008-2009 season, with no recorded feat. Were he that good, Oliseh would have climbed the coaching ladder in Belgium or elsewhere in Europe. Despite his often-touted possession of an Euro Pro A License, the highest coaching qualification in the world, Oliseh has not been able to translate paper qualifications to practical performance. It was the NFF that made him the super-star in the eyes of Nigerians, touting him as the Pep Guardiola of Africa, according to the words of Pinnick during Oliseh’s unveiling in Abuja. But the experiment with the supposed Pep Guardiola of Africa did not take long to turn sour as Eagles laboured to beat Chad 2-0 and drew goalless against Tanzania as the qualification series for AFCON 2016 started. Sensing that he was not going to get results against Egypt, who topped the table, Oliseh stepped into a twitter rant, calling it quit, less than a month to the games against the seven-time African champions. Like a house on fire, NFF pressed the panic mode, drafting in Samson Siasia, who from the two games against Egypt did a fairly job but fell short of the target of securing AFCON qualification ticket for Nigeria. The blame for Nigeria’s double AFCON failure rests squarely on the shoulders of the NFF, who may be doing well in marketing the game but doing less on technical matters concerning the Super Eagles. Forget the successes recorded by the Eaglets and CHAN Eagles, the real deal are the Super Eagles, who despite having what seems a rich pool of exciting talents like Alex Iwobi, Moses Simon, Odion Ighalo, Carl Ikeme, Oghenekaro Etebo and Victor Moses to select from,have strangely been inhibited by poor coaching that saw them fail to beat Tanzania and Tuesday paid the price.Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/afcon-2017-failure-nff-got-wrong/
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