Ex-international defender, Abiodun Obafemi has opted for a sweeping stance in his quest for the revival of Nigeria’s football fortunes, with a charge on all stakeholders to play effective roles.
Rather than limit the task to officials of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) alone, the former player, who starred in Germany and France at the height of his career, tasked journalists, players and corporate bodies to take the bull by the horn.
While citing a directive by Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) that each club must have a squad in the youth cadre, Obafemi warned about age cheats and stressed that more has to be done for resurgence of the country’s lost glory.
He pointed out that the absence of Nigeria’s men’s team at the ongoing football event of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France is a true reflection of the sordid state to which the round leather game has fallen in the country.
Abiodun Obafemi added during an exclusive interview with sports247.ng that more pressure should be put on the NFF and stressed, “We must task them with a timeline to get it right.
“It’s really baffling that the Olympics’ men’s football is going on, and Nigeria is not represented.
“I’ve lost interest in watching the Olympics because I don’t want to watch other countries play when we are not there … though four of them are still representing Africa.
“This is how bad it has become, and I’m not speaking alone. The majority of Nigerians feel the same way I am feeling now. It’s disturbing, honestly.
“This is not too good for Nigeria. We know our position in Africa. Without any doubt, we are supposed to be the number one footballing country in Africa.
“We used to be on top. But now, other countries, like Senegal, have taken over. Look at Guinea, Mali, and other African teams there at the Olympics … this is not good for us. I am highly disturbed.”
He then went on to reel out people from all walks of life who should be involved in the task of turning things around in all areas of Nigerian football, including putting an end to falsification of players’ ages.
“I don’t know what our journalists are doing. They seem to be too lenient with the officials.
“We need to get it right, and we don’t have to wait until there’s a competition round the corner before we organise something.
“We need a regular under-age competition that will produce the very best young players in this country to represent us.
“I’m happy that there’s now a programme of under-17, under-20 and under-23 teams of NPFL clubs, but the problem is age cheating.
“This issue of age padding, we need to get rid of it. The idea of playing old men as young guys should also be discarded,” Obafemi concluded.
He posited that he usually stutters when asked to speak on the current dwindling state of Nigerian football, but reckoned that things will get better only when all stakeholders of the game come to a round table, put heads together, speak as one and work in unity of purpose.
