Five Myths About The Local Players in the NPFL

Recently, an explosive debate has gone on about whether players in Nigeria's local league are good enough to make the national team squad. The debate has generated so many opinion that the Federation has publicly indicated that it plans to include in the national team coach's contract a requirement to intensely scout the local league. The fact remains, however, that many Nigerians have developed several unpleasant myths about the local league. Here are some of the often repeated myths about players in the the elite league in Nigeria. We examine each of them below.

1. These are poorly skilled players unworthy of playing for the Super Eagles.

This myth has existed since the mid-1990s when the Super Eagles dominated Africa with a team that was made almost entirely by foreign-based players. In fact, at the time, the team starters were all based outside the country. Although the national team continues to constitute players drawn from outside the country, two squads built during qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup and the one that won the 2013 AFCON included multiple players who were playing for local clubs and some others who were initially invited to the national team while playing for local teams. Thus, the myth is easily punctured. The difference is simply the willingness of the national manager to trust local talent. Clearly, a team of local talents mixed with foreign players is good enough to dominate in Africa. They did so qualifying for the 2002 World Cup and then winning the AFCON of 2013. These two accomplishments came after the national manager, Johaness Bonfrere, told Nigerians in 2000 that no local players could be good enough for the national team. When he was eventually replaced in the 2002 qualifiers amidst poor performance with a squad that was based on all-foreign players, his replacement Amodu immediately placed three local talents in the playing squad and won all subsequent games.

2. Players in the local league are all old.

This myth has gained currency as many of Nigeria's young players left for foreign clubs via the academy route. Thus, the logic is younger players find it easier to go foreign and, thus, they leave via the academies. Why waste time playing for Nigeria's elite clubs? But that assumes that all humans are rational. Humans are not machines and thus they are not predictable and this is amply demonstrated in the local league. Some of the young players have indeed chosen to join the elite league before heading out to Europe. The NPFL provides incentives for clubs to use players from youth teams and some have done so and yielded results.  Enyimba's Ikouwem Udoh and Godwin Odey from MFM in Lagos were recent players that joined the local elite league from youth teams and still went on to join clubs in Europe. There are other examples. Thus, it is not accurate to claim the players are all old.

3. Players in the local league are poorly coached.

This is a widespread myth. Yet, how is it that these supposedly poorly-coached players including the likes of Godwin Odey and Chima Akas leave their Nigerian clubs and immediately suit up as starters at European clubs? Note that European clubs have academies that have been grooming players for years and yet these 'poorly coached' players come in and take over. Moreover, several of these players are under the tutelage of certified coaches while in Nigeria. The fact that Nigerian clubs may not have the training resources and facilities of European clubs does not mean that players are always poorly coached.

4. Players in the local league cannot make it in Europe.

We have already given the examples of Odey and Akas in answering the previous question. While it is true that players coming from the local league often have to use the route of Scandinavian leagues or North African leagues on their way to bigger leagues in Europe is not an aberration. Many players from Europe follow a similar route. Going directly to the Top 5 leagues in Europe is not a piece of cake. Numerous academy players groomed by clubs in those leagues fail to make it at the Top 5 level and moving elsewhere is not exactly an unusual pathway to success. Moreover, making it in the Scandinavian countries is certainly making it in Europe except the map has changed.

5. Players in the local league are so bad that Nigerian fans are not interested in watching their matches.

This is used frequently to explain why Nigerian fans have gravitated to television in order to watch foreign clubs while Nigerian stadia are empty. But is the football really that bad? To be sure, it is not exactly Top 5 football and that should be expected given that players in the Top 5 leagues are more likely to be among the best in the world attracted by huge wages paid in those leagues. Nevertheless, that does not mean that the Nigerian league is unexciting. The empty stadia in most places is most likely due to poor publicity for those games and the fact that media attention is not exactly focused on the league. When the media focus attention like in the Enugu Rangers' run up to the 2016 Championship, the fans turned up in droves. This year they have turned up to fill the stadium in Jos and in Katsina and in other places. In Kano, they always show up. So much for the reasons why fans are absent.