IT was interesting talking to Stephen Keshi in a long telephone chat five days after Tunisia held Nigeria to a 2-2 draw in Abuja.

It’s all part of the game. I remember the names they called Ibrahim Galadima when Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. I remember the humiliation he went through. I also remember how Christian Chukwu was still on his way back to Enugu when he was disengaged without a letter till date. Angola had come to Kano to earn a draw and that ended our dream to the World Cup from a group that appeared to be a piece of cake to all eyes.

We’ll be there. The players and coaches are more concerned than everybody. We are all involved in this. We know what the expectations are. We know the responsibility that we are saddled with.

“Hey! Fashola has been here,” screamed Chibeze. “Yes, he has visited here,” Ifeanyi, his elder brother concurred. Chibeze is 9 and Ifeanyi 11. Chisom who is just eight surprised me most. “Fashola is going everywhere,” he added. Their chatting excited.

Gimba recorded Yar’Adua first failure in sports. Failure number two; up till date, nobody has uttered a word to the footballers who won silver and the five girls who won bronze – the 4×100m relay team lead by Damola Osayome and Blessing Okagbore who won our first medal from the Long Jump, interestingly the same event that gave us our first ever gold in Atlanta through Chioma Ajunwa.

Just as millions wallow in penury, we hear of billions been stolen, we hear of scandals – Siemens, Halliburton, failed banks etc. For the common man it is “when I turn here, the rain falls on me, I turn there, the sun shines on me … I can only go beyond and forget,” as the poet mourned a grave situation, so hopeless that only death could end his own sorrow too.

Nigeria Football authorities did not make adequate arrangement for crowd control. It was a shame that fans invaded the pitch the moment the referee blew the final whistle.

I would rather campaign for our own than personally promoting them unless such promotions are intended to make our people learn. But it must, therefore be in proper perspective. I may not impress many who chant foreign clubs, fight for them, engage in all sorts of showmanship but have no link with these clubs. Many of them are just noise makers and not real fans of the clubs they claim to adore.

Fans will never forget the skills displayed by the Brazilian teams to the Espana ‘82 and Mexico ‘86 World Cups. But they all lost to faster European sides. So, why are we trying to copy what the masters of the game have dropped?

By Onochie Anibeze
It’s been interesting trying to analyse the reactions of Nigerians after the goalless draw with Tunisia on June 20.