By Jacob Ajom

Last Saturday, just before the Nigeria versus Republic of Benin match, Dr Segun Odegbami hosted ex-internationals, Edema Fuludu, Vincent Enyeama and Victor Agali on his radio programme, 90 minutes with The Mathematical, aired by Eagle 7 Sports radio. The discussion was mainly on the Nigeria versus Republic of Benin match. Dr Odegbami asked what the outcomes of the day’s match and the corresponding match in Kigali would portend for Eguavoen and his backroom staff. He asked, “Should the results of these two matches go well, should the talk about a foreign coach be brought up again?”

Fuludu provided his perspective on the issue. “We have passed through that road before. We lost the chance of going to the World Cup, right here in Abuja, did the earth open and swallow us? If you want to make omelette you must first break eggs. For those who know how to drive, the principle is that a vehicle begins with gear one. You can’t jump into something that is above gear one for the vehicle to move. We, as a system, need to reorganise ourselves. We must start from somewhere. If we don’t start, we cannot learn and we can’t develop. Experience comes with a lot of hard work and a lot of input. When people come with experience over time, whatever they have got will be harnessed into the system.”

On whether Super Eagles megastars would accord local coaches the same respect they give to foreign coaches. Fuludu said, “It’s an in-house thing. It started way back, and I have always told this story. I think it was prior to Senegal ’92 AFCON, when Clemens Westerhof was manager of the team. We were in Ogun state, preparing for the tournament and Westerhof was away to Holland. We were training and the balls were bad. We needed new balls to train with. Coach Christian Chukwu, who was Westerhof’s assistant, could not get balls for over one week. When Westerhof returned, he got 30 balls in one day. It starts from the secretariat. The NFF must show equal respect for coaches, local or foreign. When the secretariat respects local coaches the players will follow suit.

For Eguavoen, our players must respect him because he is an icon of Nigerian football. If you don’t respect your own nobody will come from anywhere to respect him. The players individually must come together and agree that whoever is our leader was ordained by God because tomorrow we may find ourselves in a position of authority and would demand respect from those we lead.

“I saw Tarila Okorowanta the other day and I asked him, ‘you were a super brat who dealt with your coaches with disdain. Today you are saddled with the responsibility of a team manager at Bayelsa United. If your players disrespect you, what will you do?’ He smiled and said, ‘men, na wao, it’s good for someone to do what is right o.’ It is Karma because one day it will turn to hunt you.

“I am happy for Eguavoen and his crew, made up of Fidelis Elechukwu, who won the league with Rangers and Ogunmodede of Remo Stars who were runners up. That is the way to go. A country’s football should be judged by the quality of the league. So if you have first and second in the league, why not encourage them, why not saddle them with responsibilities? It gives people hope that when you do well, your future is bright. Like our NPFL players, those who do well in the league will know that they too stand a chance of being called up to the national team.”