Super Eagles and a new Nigeria
After the World Cup, the temptation was to dismiss the team as eternally unworthy of our immense emotional investment. Nigerians deservedly felt let down and threw epithets at the team: Misfits, sissies, ‘grandfathers’ and more. The consensus was that there was nothing super about the Eagles and the whole team should be disbanded. The President, […]
After the World Cup, the temptation was to dismiss the team as eternally unworthy of our immense emotional investment. Nigerians deservedly felt let down and threw epithets at the team: Misfits, sissies, ‘grandfathers’ and more. The consensus was that there was nothing super about the Eagles and the whole team should be disbanded.
The President, obviously disappointed by this woeful performance, announced that Nigeria was withdrawing from FIFA-organised football for two years. The announcement attracted mixed feelings. It was hasty, some said. Others, like me, were just happy that the torture inflicted on us by a porous team was over, at least for two years. But the President quickly reversed the decision after the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians.
I see nexus between the ding-dong that takes place in our football and the other problems that plague us in this country. For almost 50 years after independence, Nigeria is still trying to find her feet and is held back by plethora of challenges, mainly corruption, inefficiency and tribalism. While our problems are obvious to us all, we never agree on the right steps or prescription that will get us out of the conundrum. We cringe at the face of the slightest criticism, pander to populist pretensions and so never get much done.
This attitude makes me recall the hypocrisy of one of my lecturers at the University. He was always the first to point out what was wrong with our society. His observation was apt. Nigeria, according to him, was suffering from the malaise called ‘tribe and bribe’. It would then appear that Nigeria is lost in a maze and there is no way out of the development quagmire. The President, Goodluck Jonathan appears to have a good understanding of this problem and the way out of it. According to him, we can start this quest to turn things around by changing the children and the youth (instilling in them the right moral values), while we manage the adults (ensuring that the reward and punishment system is effective). Contained in this analysis, I believe, is the ingredient we need to get the country out of the woods.
Every Nigerian who has come of age is acutely aware of the leadership challenges our country has battled with for long. Many appear to have given up on the country and have no faith or confidence in the ability of the nation for a rebirth. This is a dangerous mindset, one which is fixated on the problem, and not on solutions. One my friends demonstrates the worst of this mindset. He is fond of saying that Nigeria as country can never be a success, explaining that as individuals, some Nigerians can make progress. But collectively, he argues , we are cursed to fail. And this is no joke! He makes his point with all the seriousness he could muster. And if you didn’t hear him right, he would say it again “ Nigeria as a country is bound to fail”; and for emphasis, he would recount the thousand and one things that are wrong with us.
This, indeed, is a very dangerous attitude, one which we should ensure that our children do not develop. As we all know, a pessimist does not expect things to turn out right. In fact, subconsciously, he wants things to go badly so that he could say, “ I told you.” If our children should inculcate such a dangerous attitude, then we are truly doomed and should kiss the future goodbye.
But things do not need to degenerate to that level. This is where the current campaign by the Minister of Information and Communications plays a crucial role in this quest to build a new crop of patriotic and upright Nigerians. The rebranding campaign aims to achieve attitudinal change through value reorientation. It hopes to do this by telling our own stories ourselves, and by promoting worthy role models. Although some cynics, vitriolic in the assessment, have dismissed this campaign as a time waster and money guzzler, no one has provided worthy alternative for the ministry. Many of the arguments against the rebranding campaign would not stand rigorous analytical test – like the one that states that the money appropriated for campaign should have been used to provide roads and infrastructure. Pray, how does an image campaign by government stop it from carrying out its other constitutional duties such as the provision of infrastructure?
The objective is to build positive-minded children, who as adults, would not be inclined take the easy ride with the know-all-but-do-nothing critics. The same thing could apply to our football. We can catch the next Okochas young through football academies and instil in them the confidence, discipline and talent to take the world. It is only then that we can prefix the word Eagles with Super.
Ogunro is a media aide to the Hon. Minister of Information and Communications