Nigeria beyond doubt is a football loving country. Hardly will a football enthusiast, passionate career driven footballer or a recreational loving footballer be found missing on the breadth and length of a football loving nation like Nigeria.
No wonder Nigeria holds her pride in football among other sports. Football has fetch laurels and honour to the country in different cadre of football competition in the world. Nigeria has won Gold in the Olympics; a feat achieved in Atlanta 1996, this, undoubtedly made the country a cynosure of eyes globally in football. Other caps to the feather include winning three African Nation cups.
The dominance of Nigeria in football is not only credited to the male contribution but also the female football team has contributed immensely to the glory and pride that the country holds esteem in football.
But what seem to be pride is fading! Why? The question begs for answer.
A lot of charade had made it difficult to understand where the foundation has cracked or is cracking.
Developmental Football
The structure of the development of football in Nigeria is wobbling and shrinking owing to lack of quality leadership. This is obvious when a clear path on how the game that unites everyone can be built cannot be defined or spelt out clearly. It is unfortunate that hands at the helm of affairs cannot spell out a five years plan for those at the grass root to grow out of obscurity to the scene where their talents will be appreciated.
Every grassroots player is at the mercy of a dilapidated football structure which has exposed them to different belief and mindset about their career choice of being a footballer. The formula has always been ‘self made player’ with little or without proper football infrastructure and travel abroad at all cost to eke a living through dint of hard work in their pursuit to become a better in their choice of football career.
Why is going abroad a major hope of any teeming young footballer? The answer is Proper Structure and Infrastructure.
Struggling Football Academy
Nigeria is inundated with a lot football academy and clubs at the grass roots level who offers training for teeming young one of different age group. Few football academy run a comprehensive training with modern facilitates while some are still living on the Stone Age to achieve their aims and objectives.
Both the academy and football clubs at grass root level are the means to an end to get the legs that will restore our nations pride and bring accolades and fame just like what Victor Oshimen is doing on the continent. Some of these praised young talented ones doing well in their various clubs rode on the wings of a proper structure to become better.
Individuals Contribution
It is believed that some individual are contributing their quota to the development of football in Nigeria. A man which football runs in his family is Mr. Anthony Aribo- the father of Super Eagles player Joe Aribo has been doing donations to a particular club that play in the Nigeria’s third division league Nation-Wide League One (NLO) outfit Zenith Emperor Football Club (ZEFC) in Lagos.
It was reported in one of edition of Nigerian daily sports newspaper named ‘Sporting Life’ that the chubby dark-skinned man became the patron of the club. Recently, it was revealed that the club was gifted with training materials like beeps, cones, and balls.
Not only the club has benefitted from the charitable donation to grass root football, rookie footballers on the streets have milked from the benevolence. Some secondary school students are believed to be on scholarship.
Upon this gesture to grass root, we as an advocate for development in sports at the grass root level seize this opportunity to throw encomium to the Aribos’ and call on more to add their quota to the growth of grass root.
And we encourage the body responsible for the growth of grass root sports in Nigeria to up their game and salvage the grass root sports from rotten. Also, we want to see our domestic basketball league come back to live.