By Kassim Ajegbua
As much as one tries to find succour in the fullness of the socio-political maladies in the country, one gets trapped in the vainglory thoughts of non-performance in all sectors of our economy.

Someone told me that when the pressure of blame was too much on Siasia, he jokingly told someone that he should be left alone; after all, he is not the only one that is not performing, meaning that his employers are also not performing and the biggest Oga is also under-performing.

Whether that is true or not, it is disheartening to know that Nigeria is out of the Nations Cup fiesta slated for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Saturday, 8th October, 2011 brought into our consciousness another round of sordid literature scripted in very profane jargons and delivered to our doorpost like a tale from the blues. The message was simple: Nigeria is out of Nation’s Cup. Simple. Pungent. Damning but factual.

After the Nigeria versus Guinea match on that fateful day, I listened to several versions of commentaries from those football lovers who had thronged to the main bowl of the Abuja Stadium to watch the match. Like deflated balloons, the thoughts about Nigeria not going into the final stages of the competition emptied into the main-bowl itself.

It was a free-for-all fight, such hoopla, with tongues and cheeks making the loudest of noises, asking for the head of the Super Eagles Coach Samson Siasia. I watched all the theatrics of those who were protesting his removal and those who were careful not to pronounce anything to the contrary until they hear from the big boss.

In all of these, the failure of the Super Eagles to impress us before our very eyes is reflective of what President Jonathan said a couple of weeks ago that the system has collapsed. The falcon cannot hear the falconer, the centre can no longer hold. And things are falling apart or have fallen apart.

I was not surprised at all that the result ended that way because you cannot build something on mediocrity and expect to reap superlatives. Samson Siasia to me is not a football coach that should be adored simply because he led our allegedly over-aged players to certain feats in the youths’ football.

He does not possess the intellectual acumen and the thought-process of a sound coach. He will be able to manage a school football team as a games master or at best manage a football academy where younger talents are being groomed in the artistry of football. I cannot possibly rationalize what the criteria for his appointment were in the first place.

Is it because he played football at the senior level that warranted his qualification or because he ran a two-weeks coaching course in the United States? What exactly is his pedigree? Coaching is a serious discipline that requires more than just a passing glance.

For God sake, it is a vocation that requires the best thinkers and tacticians in terms of presence of mind and not mere guess work or trial by luck. As much as I try to understand the workings of the Nigeria Football Federation, I can but basically fathom out that the only qualification to have made Samson Siasia a Super Eagles Coach in this millennium is the unassailable fact that he hails from Bayelsa State.

Anything outside that is just excess luggage. It is only in Nigeria that we promote mediocrity to the level of ego-worship. We celebrate individuals on the basis of where they come from and not what they have to offer. How many coaching courses has Siasia attended all his life? What were his performances in terms of grades and certification? Which of the coaching schools did he receive his training?

Samson Siasia has failed us when it mattered most. Barely a year ago, the Home Eagles was defeated before our very eyes at Abeokuta township stadium by our next-door neighbour Togo; such a shock. Where is the proverbial home advantage? Before our very eyes, Guinea came running down our boys at Abuja Stadium as if we are minions in the game of football.

Our ranking has dropped considerably to an unenviable position of 42nd in the last rating. Where is the new Super Eagles toutedly being groomed by Siasia? Are they the same set of players that we saw at the Abuja Stadium or others that we are yet to see? I cannot see any new player doing anything extra-ordinary.

Rather than continue in this unfashionable image management for Samson Siasia, his image makers and sponsors should simply tell him to resign honourably and save us all the troubles of wasting our breaths on this matter. Even if we must groom an indigenous coach, it cannot possibly be in the mindset of a Siasia that does not have a background that is profound enough to facilitate his job.

Why do you pay a coach a whooping N5million naira monthly salary, more than that of a President of the country? It is even worse when we understand that the beneficiary of this present jumbo pay is someone who cannot boast of having attained a degree or its equivalent. What manner of a country are we?

Listening to that loud-mouthed Osaze Odewingwe alluding their collective failure to Pastor T.B Joshua’s prediction is as faithless as the man who is making that assertion. What has a man’s prediction got to do with the game of football? It is like coupon players; they can run predictions in the way and manner that best suits them.

It does not in any way stop the flow of football. Was it Pastor T.B Joshua that tied Osaze’s legs from playing the ball into an empty net during the match? It is very uncharitable to bring in T.B Joshua’s name in a failure that was avoidable? Why did Siasia ignore a more experienced Vincent Enyeama for a clueless Aiyenugba in a match that would decide our fate to proceed or not?

What manner of discipline was he trying to impose? Was Siasia a disciplined player during his days? Why did it dawn on him suddenly that he can get what he never cultivated?

From Laggerback to Siasia, it has been just a racket that was contrived by a few individuals taking the rest of us for a ride. When Coach Amodu Shuabu took charge of the Super Eagles, we never thought that Nation’s Cup qualification was an issue because he qualified us without a whimper.

When he did same for World Cup in what appeared like an unassailable feat, sponsored Nigerian fans reportedly called for his head. Having left without a single thank you, those business buccaneers in the Glass House settled for Coach Laggerback and politicians took charge of the technical crew of the game.

With whooping sum being paid to a man who could only manage a draw, Nigerians kept ominous silence after our exit from the Mundial. Laggerback took the next available flight back to his country without reportedly submitting a handing over note to his employers.

All the wastages, all the spending, and all the mago mago ended with deliberate silence. The NFF had no courage to call Amodu Shuabu and say we are sorry for what we have done to you. We were wrong in our estimation. Only last Saturday, fans were calling for Amodu Shuaibu. How time vindicates people?

Next comes Siasia with that magisterial posture like a coaching don. We have been oscillating from one dead end to another, trying to patch up his inadequacies. Confronted with a deeper concept and competence, Siasia exposed his immaturity in the coaching job.

The changes or substitutions he made on Saturday 8th October, could only come from an amateurish Coach. What on earth was Mikel Obi still doing when we all saw him gasping for breath in that encounter? And hear what Yobo had to offer as his own excuse; they never thought that a 2-1 victory was enough for their qualification. Haba! Does that mean there was no match plan? So much for mediocrity!

The failure of the Super Eagles is a metaphor for our collective failure as a nation, where institutional decay has become our second nature, where clannish loyalty has taken the place of national loyalty. It is a country where people are easily circumspect of speaking out when it matters most because they wouldn’t want to ruffle feathers.

Why should we expect superlative results from a process that was faulty in the first place? There is system failure, so declares the President, but has it gone so bad that we cannot seek amends? There is no maintenance culture in this clime. The pitch where the Super Eagles played is literarily begging for attention.

The facilities at the National Stadium are begging for maintenance, same way that our national infrastructures are begging for attention in the hands of those who lead us. We are a country that thrives in self contradiction. We want the best result from a process that was not properly groomed. Our motivation for hard work here is money.

You hear all kinds of stimulating catch phrases: “Eagles are being promised cash reward”, “Eagles to receive XYZ bonus if they win”. There is no patriotism, no commitment, just grab and move on. With the painful exit of the Super Eagles, we should hide our heads in shame whilst we begin a new process of repositioning the round leather game. To achieve this, certainly, this racket must stop. Siasia must resign.