By Onochie Anibeze

If the Eagles heard Segun Odegbami speak about them on Monday, they would be attacking the Zambians today the way Cheetah runs after its prey.

The former football star was one of the speakers at The Platform, an annual programme organised by the Covenant Centre in Iganmu, Lagos.

Odegbami

He spoke on how the power of sports can change Nigeria. Pat Utomi, Segun Adeniyi, Okey Enelamah, Bishop Matthew Kukah and other speakers exhaled brilliance with their different topics. The humour Kukah spiced his presentation with brought refreshing difference that delighted the audience.

Odegbami spoke about how sports can be used to drive education, health, industry, tourism, investment and general business and regretted that Nigeria was not developing the sector to reap from the abundance it holds. It was a presentation that would alter the way and direction the Muhammadu Buhari attends to sports only if he had bothered to watch the programme that was televised live.

Odegbami spoke about sports as a unifying factor, as infrastructure builder and as a motivator that inspires hope and change in unimaginable ways. He spiced his presentation with history, facts, experience of his football days, stories about his tours and his sports school at Wasimi. He gave hope to the audience that something good could still emerge from Nigeria if only the right things are done.

He began with the story of the civil war that cost Nigeria two million lives.

He said:

“Many people don’t know that Rangers were an off-shoot of the Civil War. When Igbo were down after the war, the power of sports lifted them, inspired an unbelievable spirit that made them proud. Enugu Rangers was formed immediately after the war and from 1971 to 1975 Rangers won everything in football. You couldn’t talk about football in Africa without mentioning Enugu Rangers International and their leading stars like Stanley Okoronkwo, Christian Chukwu, Emmanuel Okala among others.

Suddenly, the Igbo man found some identity and not that of a man who lost a war. The spirit Enugu Rangers had was out of this world. Rangers were not just a football club but also a movement which gave tremendous hope to the Igbo and made them proud after the war. They played with guts. At a time, up to eight Rangers players were in the national team. They brought that spirit to the Eagles, and that spirit is still there today.

“It is the spirit that moves players to conquer, a fighting spirit that inspires victory even when the odds are against you. That I go die here today spirit. Clemence Westerhof (Nigeria’s most successful foreign coach) even noted that in them when he was here – that the Igbo man was industrious and hard-working, but you must pay him his dues. That is normal. It is a strong spirit that moves, and the Eagles still have it. They have sustained that spirit in the Eagles till now.”

The reference to Westerhof reminded me of something he told me one day. “I have many Igbos in my team, and I’m in trouble any time there’s money problem. But I like them because they fight for, they fight to win, but you must pay them. I like them.” We were in Spain preparing for the USA ’94 World Cup, and the issue of appearance fee came up before the friendly match against Racing Santander, Muitiu Adepoju’s clu which was in the La Liga then.

I may not totally agree that the level of spirit Odegbami described in the Eagles of the past is still there today but what he said should inspire the boys who play Zambia today. They should prove that their recent rejuvenation is not a flash in the pan and qualify for the 2018 World Cup with one match still outstanding. That would be a great thing to do. But for the inexperience of our new goal keeper, Ezenwa, the Eagles would have probably qualified in their last match in Cameroun when they led 1-0, and Cameroun levelled up with a penalty I feel Ezenwa gifted them.

He impressed in the first leg. But for that unnecessary charge on an attacker on the corner side of his goal where a one-touch strike from the Camerounian attacker would not have mattered, he would have had a clean slate and Nigeria would have been coasting to Russia. They have 90 minutes to do so today. Zambia have played a lot of mind game and raised tension for us all. I hope the Eagles will segmentalise the game (divide the duration into segments) and know when to attack and when to hold on.

A goal in the first 20 to 25 minutes will be good, and pressure football could guarantee that. If we don’t score early, we have to hold the game and reduce the attack for our team would have lost some steam after 25 minutes of incessant attacks. Holding on is the best thing to do when a team is losing energy due to pressure football.

We can hold the game for about ten minutes or 15 and attack again in the last five or ten minutes. Goals may determine change of tactics. If we score first, the opponents will naturally attack more to equalise. That is the best time to take them on the counter, and we could score again. This is a game the players and coaches should play more in their heads. Zambia need a win to have a chance of qualifying. Therefore, the pressure ought to be on them the more.

The normal thing our coach could do in such a situation is to be conservative and allow them to throw in everything in the early minutes, and then take them on the counter as their rear could have openings. But my fear with this approach is that any slip that could lead to Eagles conceding a goal may unsettle them and make them jittery and lose confidence. Whichever way, I wish the Eagles well. We have the team to beat Zambia. Let them win and prove Odegbami right. Back to The Platform.

It would gladden my heart if Okechukwu Enelamah, the minister of Trade, Industry, and Investment could play the video of Odegbami’s presentation to President Buhari. The President could see sports as business that can transform Nigeria. Odegbami cited the Arena in Amsterdam, the home of Ajax. They play their home games there, but Odegbami told the audience the businesses around the Arena are such that football is now the least event in the area.

The infrastructure countries hosting games like the World Cup or the Olympic Games are compelled to develop transform such countries. Roads, Airports, Rail lines. There’s also promotion of tourism and other things. South Africa has hosted the Rugby World Cup, the FIFA World Cup and now gunning to host the Olympics. Odegbami’s presentation could inspire any visionary leader to think sports.

Buhari’s government has shown no interest in sports development just like the recent past governments. It is not enough organising seminars or workshops like some of them did without funding sports development. They all mouthed taking sports to the grassroots or the schools without doing anything.

And for those beckoning on the corporate world to invest in sports, the prospects will be higher if government lays the foundation and makes sports attractive to them. For now, sports is NOT one of Buhari’s priorities as Odegbami reminded all. He recalled that sports was not one of the 21 priorities the Buhari administration listed that they would tackle squarely on resumption of office.

Many writers and commentators have made points similar to those made by Odegbami. But Odegbami had a refreshing touch, and it tickled me that a minister who has the ears of the Presidency was on The Platform too. I throw the ball to Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah to preach sports to President Buhari.