When coach Samson Siasia was sacked by the NFA for losing at home (Abuja) to the Syli Stars of Guinea in 2011 in the African Cup of Nations qualification game which ended the hope of the nation of seeing their team participate at the tournament in Equitorial Guinea and Gabon, very few would have envisaged the coach being recalled to lead the national team .
Siasia was then the peoples choice to handle the Eagles after the abysmal outing of the team led by Swedish and now present Icelandish national team manager Lars Lagerback at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where they lost two games to Argentina and Greece and drawing one against South Korea. Siasia had done well in age grade tournaments as his U-20 side reached the finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands before losing 2-1 to a Lionel Messi inspired Argentina. Also Siasia was credited for the blossoming careers of his players such John Obi Mikel, Taye Taiwo and Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke who got international exposure and recognition after featuring under the former Super Eagles and Nantes Winger. To add to that Siasia wasn't one to rest on his laurels as he again led the U-23 side to the finals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics where they team lost in the finals to a Lionel Messi and Angel Di Mari inspired Argentina.
Even though Siasia had lost two finals in three years, he was already a hero in Nigeria as he became the poster boy for the local coaches clamouring to be given a chance to prove their worth with the national team. Siassia then missed a glorious chance permanently write his name in the hearts of 180 million Nigerians who are only united by football and sports, when he failed to qualify the national team for the AFCON (first time in 26 years that the team failed to qualify, although they team did not participate in the 1996 and 1998 tournaments in South Africa and Congo due to political tensions between South Africa and Nigeria and suspension by CAF for the 1998 tournament).
Siasia on his part, had relaunched his career after that loss, once again guiding the U-23 side to qualify for the 2018 Olympics in Rio de Jenerio in Brazil. The appointment of Siasia though on interim basis speaks well for the national team even after the ruins of Sunday Oliseh and last days of Stephen Kechi who both did not do much to improve the team, though Keshi won the AFCON and took the team to the second round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
It is confusing how the NFA cries about being broke and are yet to pay Oliseh and Keshi yet are planning on hiring a foreign coach for the team who eould cost ten times that of local coach . This is not to say that the national team has been better off in the hands of the foreign coaches as only Clems Westerhoff and Bonfre Jo can be termed as being successful as the rest have failed to deliver. The case of Berti Vogts will be of a better experience as he rarely visited the country and only spent a few days with the players before crashing embarrassingly to a 10 man Ghana Black Stars in the second round of the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana.
Nigeria needs a coach who is patriotich about the country . A coach who can make sacrifices and who can watch the local league and academies to spot the next talent. We have to build from the stratch in order to continue to dominate African football as our best days are presently behind us. Siasia should be supported and encouraged , with coaching courses and lessons sponsorsed for him in order to enlighten and broaden his knowledge of the game. This is time to stop patronising machinaries all in the name of coaches. Siasia should be allowed to continue to coach the team irrespective of the result of the crucial game against the Pharoahs of Egypt (AFCON qualification match). We have to be proud of one of us and stop portraying the ever inferior mentality we inherited from the white man.
It us now or never for the NFA to put things in order as failure to do that means posterity won't be nice to them.
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