By Tony Ubani

Benjamin Franklin it was who said that ‘’Money has never made man happy, nor will it.

There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants”. And yet, man still longs and fights for money. Many have died and relinquished all they toiled, for another person to inherit. The Bible even cautioned that ‘what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his soul”.

But the heart of men is as hard as stone. Money has replaced the unquenchable thirst of water. ‘’The more you drink, the more you thirst”.

BRAZIL, Curitiba : (From top L) Nigeria’s team midfielder John Obi Mikel, forward Emmanuel Emenike, defender Kenneth Omeruo, defender Godfrey Oboabona and defender Efe Ambrose (from bottom L) forward Victor Moses, goalkeeper and captain Vincent Enyeama, forward Ahmed Musa, midfielder Ogenyi Onazi, midfielder Ramon Azeez and defender Juwon Oshaniwa pose during a Group F football match between Iran and Nigeria at the Baixada Arena in Curitiba at the 2014 FIFA World Cup on June 16, 2014. AFP PHOTO

The story of the Super Eagles in their historic outing at the on-going World Cup in Brazil would not be complete without money. Because they say that money is the root of all evil. And so, the Super Eagles, a team that was so blessed to make more history after reaching the round of 16 in a World Cup after 16 years of doing so, crashed out when they would have gone a step further to the quarter finals.

Nigeria has never gotten to the quarter finals since they made their debut in USA ’94. And the opportunity beckoned on the players but like Clemens Westerhof said after their exit in USA ’94, ‘’we came so close but yet so far”. For a team that struggled against Iran in their barren draw and rose from the cloud of criticisms to beat Bosnia 1-0 and lost 3-2 to Argentina and benefit to play in the second round, one expected that the Eagles would have done more to raise their game than to stay awake and exhaust their energy fighting for money.

Many Nigerians would also ask why the NFF did not want to pay the players their  due entitlements?  Lack of trust on the officials, no doubt, added fuel to the fire of the players. Players would not like to be told that their rewards were in heaven as teachers are usually told. The truth remains that FIFA does not pay World Cup grants to federations until three months after the World Cup.

It is from these grans that federations pay appearance fees. The Eagles camp had been embroiled by division, tension, internal dissent even before they kicked the first ball against Iran. They protested their accommodation at Victoria Hotels in Campinas and muted the idea of holding NFF to the jugular if their appearance fees were not paid. The assurances of Senate President, David Mark could not assuage their hunger for money, and as usual, denials trailed the expose by Journalists.

The Nigeria Football Federation also shot themselves on the foot when they paid the players $5,000 each for losing 3-2 to Argentina. The paper agreement had been for the players to get $10,000 for a win, $5,000 for a draw and nothing for losing.

When they paid $5,000 for losing, they gave the impression that they had so much and fell into the traps of the players who demanded for their appearance fee. But, NFF, claimed that they paid the money to motivate them for playing so well against Argentina. What a lame excuse! And that brings the issue of good administrators of those who run our football to the front burner.

The Maigari administration, no doubt, has achieved more than others before it, but it panders so much to public opinion. The fear of what the people would say and the fear of what top Government officials would do, has reduced them to almost nothing.

However, one can only blame the players up to a point because once sports administrators lose credibility and their word is no longer their bond you open up all sorts of blackmail, subterfuge and confusion – a recipe for under performance  and image somersaults.

The fight over pecuniary emoluments, though, did not start or end with African teams. France, the Netherlands and England have at times been splintered through infighting, and in 1974 West Germany nearly staged a boycott ahead of its own World Cup over a payment dispute.

Togo, Ghana, Cameroun and Nigeria have taken their demands to embarrassing heights, thereby making the African teams more guilty than others before them.

But do we blame the Super Eagles players? Like Voltaire said; ‘’When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion”.