The Failure of Nigeria to Develop Football

In my considered opinion, Nigeria has failed to develop football. Much like in the economic sector, it is possible to grow without developing.

Thus, it is possible to win the U-17 trophy repeatedly, but without substantively developing your talent.

How is this possible you ask; after all we have won the U-17 trophy defeating teams like Brazil, Germany, Italy, etc. What is more, several of our U-17 players have been signed by top clubs over the years!

I will answer the question this way:

At its most fundamental level, the U-17 tournament is about the primacy of individual talent. Even discounting the issue of use of overaged players, a look at the background of the individual Nigerian players would reveal certain inherent advantages, which their upbringing as footballers would confer on them over their European counterparts.

Learning football in a largely informal setting, in my opinion gives our players greater maturity from increased play time and therefore a head start, in their ability to thrive in a competitive environment. Especially in a competitive environment, defined more by individual talent, than the collective unit- tactics and organization.

But even at that, advances in training in youth academies in Europe and South America, is increasingly nullifying this gap.

This is why at the slightly higher level of the U-20 tournament, Nigeria has not done as well.

Why is this?

Because Nigeria has failed to develop football- her footballers.

Does that mean we haven't developed any players? No we have, especially in years past.

However the situation has been deteriorating from several decades back. Today, while there are supposedly structures (such as academies or NFF's youth development teams), many of these lack the knowledge to properly develop young players. This is evident from the quality of players coming through such as the last U-17 team.

As many of the readers of this blog know, I am a Liverpool FC fan. But apart from watching the first team, and the likes of Mane, Salah, Van Dijk and Bobby Firmino, I am also an avid follower of the team's academy.

Which brings me to the young player, Curtis Jones. First time I saw him play, his talent was obvious. But also visible was how rough he was around the edges.

But I have seen many a Nigerian young player whose talent would drown Jones at his absolute best!

Going back to the likes of Segun Olukanmi, Dipriye Teibowei, Fred Dumbi, Benjamin "Avenger" Uzoka, etc....

Here's Jones in his own words:

“I grew up the way a lot of Scousers do, just being a street kid, not having the best facilities, and making the most out of everything you can.
“Growing up [in Toxteth] made me the player I am today—confident, brave, knowing where I need to get to.”

Commenting on Jones, Liverpool FC coach Jurgen Klopp had this to say:

“[He is] good at dribbling and stuff like that,” he explained, “but now we need to make sure he finds the right moment to pass the ball.”

Assistant Coach, Pep Lijnders would provider a more in-depth analysis:

“You can have a lot of passion but if there’s no structure then you have no chance.
“You need organization, tactical discipline and the right distances…that’s the father and mother of football.” Link

At critical levels in the upbringing and development of the average Nigerian player, dominated by Nigerian coaches and officials, Nigeria has failed, and continues to fail to develop footballers.

It is true that at many of these critical levels, resources are often scant, and as the approaches to develop young players continue to advance, countries like Nigeria will lag even further behind.

However at its most basic level, take away all the new and fancy technologies and techno-speak, the development of a young player comes down to the quality of knowledge and guidance available to the player, and the ability of a well-informed coach to impart this to him.

The ambition of every young Nigerian footballer is to play professionally in Europe. This is understandable and is largely driven by economics.

But young Nigerian footballers should not have to go abroad to be able to maximize their talent. And even if they cannot earn the equivalent of the riches in European football, at the very minimum, they should be able to play football domestically, at something close to the maximum of their technical abilities; with an understanding of team organization, tactical discipline and spacing, something which even the most successful Nigerian U-17 teams were lacking in....

It comes as no surprise that fewer and fewer of our U-17 players are being signed by European clubs. This trend will only accelerate!

And even among those young players who secure contracts in Europe, the patience by teams and managers to invest time and effort in their development can sometimes wear thin, as we saw with Kelechi Iheanacho at Manchester City.

Increasingly, we will have to rely on diaspora Nigerians for the Super Eagles, in spite of the vociferous and pointless clamor for use of home based players. Irrespective of nationality, any Super Eagles coach who wishes to succeed will have no alternative...

Time and again, the debate over the Super Eagles coach will swing back and forth between use of local or foreign coaches.

Totally lost in this pointless debate is the fact that at every facet of the development path of a young footballer in Nigeria is a local coach or official.

The inability of these coaches and officials to develop football in Nigeria is a critical issue that Amaju Pinnick must begin to address, with the same passion as he pursues diaspora Nigerians for the Super Eagles.

On a technical level, there is value in first properly developing young Nigerian players at home than in Europe, further down in the player's developmental timeline. 

First, developing young Nigerian players domestically ensures proper grounding in the culture of Nigerian football.

Second, not many teams or managers have the patience, the inclination or the understanding of each player to implement development in the best interests of the player.

The result is that far too many of our best talents are being lost to football. Oliver Ndigwe, Kingsley Ogbodo, Rabui Ibrahim, Chidera Eze, Kelechi Nwakali....