Each time Nigerians talk about Super Eagles coaches doing away with Europe-based players and bank on those featuring in the Nigerian professional league, I always tell myself it is more of emotional discourse than the reality on ground.Ever since Stephen Keshi assembled the home-based players in Abuja, he has been doing a lot to make the boys believe in themselves. The height of the ginger talk suggested he could field them against Rwanda for the February 29 match in Kigali. But, I shall wait to see that happen. If a complete squad of the Eagles could only manage a 1-1 draw on the road to Germany 2006, I wonder how well an all NPL team can do in Kigali.My own view of this debate on home-based and Europe-based players is that we must avoid drawing a line between both sets of players and focus on choosing the very best, irrespective of where they are based. Chibuzor Okoronkwo has just gone out to England for trials, but he was part of the Eagles team while still with Heartland, at least. He hadnt worn an Aston Villa jersey before Samson Siasia called him in.Those who argue that Segun Odegbami, Christian Chukwu and their colleagues played for the national team straight from the domestic league are so quick to forget that the only Nigerians playing professionally in Europe then were the few born abroad. The league never dragged for 365 days in their time; neither did they cry out for unpaid salaries or sign-on fees.The question to ask is how many good players are still left in the Nigerian league' They play in the system until they make the headlines and the next thing is that they board a flight to Europe in search of just any team. Ordinarily it is the clubs that should come for our players, but desperation has turned it in the wrong direction such that players now travel out without any invitation, no agent, and no cash in their pockets.All those who advocate a quota system for the national team are not being fair. Can any of the coaches who speak publicly about using certain number of home-based players for every competition use such quota systems if they are given the chance to coach the Eagles' Is there any private employer in business that considers quota system in employing his staff' In our businesses we go for the best people, irrespective tribe or looks, because we are in pursuit of profit and excellence. So why dont we allow our national team to be for the best Nigerian players whether at home or abroad.The exercise going on in Abuja now with the home-based players has been done in the past with little or nothing coming from it. The truth is that most of the outstanding players travel abroad the moment they made headlines. For me our coaches should do like their European counterparts and watch the Nigerian league closely and invite the players they feel are good enough for the national team. A coach can make up his over time and confidently call up a player when the real Eagles are in town. The division of the players into two camps, such as the home-based Eagles and Super Eagles, whenever there is a competition, is psychologically defeating.And this does not peculiar to football. I am very familiar with the setting of the Nigerian basketball team. I remember that in 2009 the national team was in Libya for the African Nations Cup and left out a guard called Usman Abubakar. I criticised the decision because I was convinced that the player would have made the team, if he was in the same camp with the foreign-based players who made the team instead of the segregation system. I was described as being too critical. But two days after the team returned from Libya, where they finished in the fifth position, the assistant coach called the media and apologised for leaving out Abu. A month later the national play-offs for the league was held in Lagos and the same player was named the MVP. The president of the federation publicly apologised to the player for leaving him out.I plead that we remove this home-based tag and make every player sure of himself. Anybody that looks promising should get the feel of the ball when the real Eagles gather. They cannot confidently compete when they come into the system through what looks like profiling system.
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