Football administrators in Nigeria have been called to task over the possibility of using the country’s array of abundant talents to boost the nation’s economy.
With the Nigerian economy plummeting each day and inflation biting hard, football technocrats have been called to task on the need to ensure the right selection of talents in the national teams.
It is reckoned that selecting the best array of talents for the youth national teams in particular would lead to the influx of better marketing potentials and endorsements that can boost the nation’s gross development potentials.
This is the verdict of the managing partner of BYT Academicals FC, Mr Omobolanle Oshoba, who opined that the country’s pool of football talents should be properly harnessed and used in uplifting Nigeria’s GDP.
While basing his submission on the recent shoddy performance of the under-20 national team, Flying Eagles at the African Games in Ghana, Oshoba inferred that the right players are not selected to represent the nation.
He added that the preparations process for the national teams should be improved and a proper approach to selection of players should be introduced.
He also called for a sincere approach to building Nigerian teams based on merit and focus, in order to make them represent what he called the true image of youth football in the country.
Oshoba, whose team campaign in the third-tier Nationwide League One (NLO), posited: “What we saw in Ghana was not a true reflection of Nigeria’s youth football.
“Nigeria has a population of 200 million people, 65% of who are under the age of 35, and football is our number one sport.
“However, I don’t think they had enough preparation to pick the best players, and that has been the biggest problem the national teams always have.
“They have problems in terms of preparation time and challenges of picking the right talents.
“The first solution is sincerity of purpose. Why are we going into these tournaments? Is it to develop these talents or to win?
“The second issue is for us to select the right players. We have to think of only the best for our country, because Nigeria is far bigger than every one of us.
“The right talents can contribute to the GDP of the Nigerian economy.”
Oshoba concluded with a view that youth clubs and teams in the lower divisions of the Nigerian league should be used in building the age-grade national teams, instead of the current focus on sides in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
