Former Nigerian footballer Fesojaye Tajudeen has highlighted some of the issues confronting Nigerian football.
Over the course of his more than 20-year playing career, Tajudeen represented a number of clubs in the Nigerian leagues, including Plateau United and Calabar Rovers. He represented Nigeria internationally and was a part of the Flying Eagles at the 1993 African Youth Championship in Mauritius.
In an interview with Sports247.ng, Tajudeen discussed some of the challenges that Nigerian football faces, both locally and internationally.
“We’re lacking in many areas,” he said. “I must be sincere with you. For instance, look at my boys and at their age, they still have more to learn. In Africa here we don’t pay attention to techniques. And technique is the embodiment of all tactics.
“When you go into our league, you hardly see people clapping. Many people cannot even use their money to watch our league games.”
He continued: “We need to go back to the basics. First of the basics is the actual age of the majority of our players. Secondly, our coaches should not be pressured too soon. They’ll give a cock a national team job now and they want him to win a competition next year. How could that be feasible? We need to change that attitude and then we’ll have a long-term program.”
Tajudeen serves as the head coach of MKA Sport FC. Quizzed on what made him turn into coaching, he said: “I’ll say it’s inbuilt because right from my secondary school days I have been teaching. So the act of teaching has been in me.
“That’s what inspires me to go into coaching after my playing career and I love doing it. I’m aware of the challenges of coaching and I’m prepared for whatever will come my way. I take it as a passion.”
