Football in Nigeria has nosedived in recent times due to some numerous factors, and how true is that assertions or summation will be critically discussed.
The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has improved in the last two years and one continue to wonder why players still seek to move to their perceived Mecca to further their playing careers.
We can now beat our chests and be proud of the brand known as the NPFL but there are still some aspects and perception that we need to change if we are to get there.
There are many people who are of the opinion that Nigerian football, especially the local game has suffered because of the uncontrolled exodus of players to other countries or maybe under the simple reason, “We are playing abroad”.
Gabriel Reuben
Players are always eager to join the bandwagon, and therefore ignoring the threats such moves have on their careers.
Whether it is a move to obscurity, the players just want to be known as foreign based lads.
Ask any footballer what his one wish is and the answer will almost always be “my dream is to get a good contract to play abroad” and they therefore jump at any opportunity ignoring the dangers ahead.
This huge interest in travelling abroad makes one wonder if players travel abroad to improve upon their careers or they are simply lured away by the beckoning green bucks, just like most people would travel abroad in search of greener pastures.
Most players would always tell you that they are keen to play in a foreign league because they want to enhance their careers and, ultimately, be of benefit to the national team. The facts and figures clearly show that neither they nor the nation end up benefiting.
READ ALSO: Why poverty rate in Kwara state is high
There is an endless list of players who had budding careers at home and could have been home superstars, yet their stints abroad rather cut their careers off prematurely.
Some references are Yakubu Alfa, Sherif Isa, King Osanga, Ishaya Jatau, Emem Eduok, Ganiyu Oseni, Stone Evbouman, Reuben Gabriel and so on who have all travelled to oblivion.
These were players who had hit the limelight either as outstanding players or top scorers and a year or two more at home could have perhaps made them even better players, yet they chose to try their luck elsewhere and were only left disappointed.
Their talent dissipated and their desire to become the next big African star anywhere but their homeland simply fizzled out. They are neither able to make the big bucks they had dreamt of nor did they realise their dream of playing for the national team.
Oseni
Unfortunately, like most Nigerian would want to risk everything to seek greener pastures outside home, the players do not learn from the hassle and struggles of their predecessors and are always eager to also travel to try their luck.
Former Kano Pillars’ captain Gabriel Reuben was a star to watch when he was playing for the Sai Masugida, and his performance caught the interest of erstwhile Super Eagles’ coach Late Stephen Keshi who gave him the chance to play for the national team, but instead of Reuben to have waited for a better offer, he rushed to Kilmarnock in Scotland, and after a while, the club parted ways with him. Up till now, Reuben is no where to be found although there are reports that he is curently in Israel looking for a team.
It is still difficult to indicate exactly what accounts for their failure to continue with their careers as it is often presumed that they were recruited for their performances or the quality they possessed, which attracted those foreign clubs.
Often, players recruited from one club to another tend to excel but in the case of most Nigerian players, they never find their feet.
This is blamed on the rude cultural shock, the failure of the player to adapt to the style of the team or not meeting the gaffer’s expectation.
Some of them are made to endure torturing, psychological experiences including being left out of the team completely, not even considered good enough for the reserve side. Those who are lucky to be loaned out and sometimes re loaned to lower division sides still struggle to get the chance to kick the ball.
Out of frustration, some of them give up and turn to other ventures from being security officers to other menial jobs in order to survive in a foreign land where each one is for himself.
So why would budding stars not take a cue and stay at home, mature before making a move to a foreign land? Why would they want to trade off their careers, something they profess they love for the unknown?
More so when the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) has come as an answer for a chance to play in the national team? At least with the competition set aside for local stars, players good enough get to feature for their national team.
A cursory look at the situation hit home the reality harder. Players who underrate their own potential are ready to trade their long-term careers for the cash and clubs would also want to cash in on the situation and will thus do very little to dissuade them from going away.
READ ALSO: Saraki will be vindicated says APC top man
Ask a player how much he earns and perhaps, out of embarrassment, would just tell you: “it’s not good at all”. But he will never tell you just how much.
Pose that same question to the club owners and administrators and they will also tell you: “It’s not the best, but we’re trying.”
The actual salaries paid by clubs in Nigeria to their players is one kept secret. At least it is one of the issues that neither the clubs nor players would want to publicly talk about.
Thus one is often left to make wild guesses about the kind of financial agreements that are contained in club-player contracts.
After several attempts to find out the actual figures the revelation was shocking: The lowest paid player earns as low as #70,000 a month while the highest paid is lucky to receive #900,000. This is the take-home pay. No social security, no insurances and when they are lucky, they every now and then get winning bonuses to cushion them.
Clubs in Congo DR, Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Algeria have the capacity to pay a player more than $15,000 per month. That is the attraction needed to lure away an average Nigerian player.
You even find Nigerian players in leagues like Zambia, Kenya, Azerbaijan, Mauritius, Vietnam, Malta, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nepal, Mozambique, Iraq, Palestine and so on all in the quest for a professional career.
What is the essence of these decisions by the actors of the game? Is the quality here not good enough? Don’t we offer super welfare packages to make the players stay and make our league better?
Since the LMC came on board as the body steering the Nigeria’s top flight, players’ mutiny have reduced to minimal as the body have done what has never been done before in the history of Nigeria football and it would be recalled how the LMC took the NPFL stars to a tour in Spain in which three games were played against Athletic Madrid, Malaga and Valencia.
Although the NPFL all stars lost the three games, but the exposure they got cannot be over emphasised and getting a contract to play for any of these Spanish teams cannot be compared to where Nigerian players rush to and enslaved themselves.
The post Nigerian players rush for greener pastures abroad appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read Naij.com 24/7.
from Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read Naij.com 24/7 http://ift.tt/2cQKZRu
via IFTTT
