A few days after the Super Eagles once again did their usual thing by shamefully failing to qualify for next years Africa Cup of Nations, the Super Falcons, our female national team, went down that same inglorious path as their hopes of attending next years London Olympics were dimmed by Cameroon. In fact, I still recall that one of the first decisions Goodluck Jonathan took upon becoming president last year was the two-year ban he imposed on the Super Eagles. They had crashed out of the World Cup hosted by South Africa in the first round. Later, the President rescinded that decision. But add to these the Amos Adamu FIFA saga and you have a wonderful story of a nation for which football has become a perpetual source of vexation. For me, however, these strings of failure serve as poignant signposts to the deep psychosis that has eaten into our value system and sits comfortably in our collective consciousness.Indeed, you need not be a football analyst to know that the problems of the national teams will not fizzle out by the mere sacking of their coaches because the source of the problem lies far, far, afield; away from the game itself. In fact, if coaches were the problem of Nigerian football, we would have long since reached its nirvana as we have had not less than 11 coaches in the past 11 years. Yes, the answers lie elsewhere, one of which begs the kind of agonising question: Where has patriotism gone' Surely, it is common knowledge today that very few Nigerians commit themselves to working selflessly for the country. It is a national trait that we would not ordinarily go out of our way or consciously make sacrifices in the overall national interest. Rather, we must always find a way, most times devious, to exploit the motherland, not minding the wounds this inflicts on her very wellbeing.Sadly, this warped mentality is the result of our having been spoilt, pampered into becoming obsessed with the huge resources our country has been earning from crude oil over the decades. So, we erroneously conceive Nigeria as one huge mountain of inexhaustible resources to be despoiled at will and without qualms. As a result, we are locked in a bitter, blind and perpetual struggle to grab as much as we can for the benefit of the self and immediate community. In this concrete jungle, you need not work very hard to make a mark in the society. No. In this sweltering menagerie, all you need to excel is to be foxy, world wise; here, we call it being smart. You will locate the roots of that amorphous phrase that we relish so profoundlynational cakeembedded in this mind-set.Consequently, one of the direct fallout of the above is the noxious culture of nepotism that has become very much engrained in our psyche. For instance, if you want to write the exam to enter a university, you pay someone else to do it for you and as an undergraduate you solely rely on expo or pay lecturers to enable you to pass exams. You do these confidently because you know that you will never find yourself one day in a situation where you must defend that degree. This is because, when it comes to securing a job, you have no problems because there is always a godfather to stand for you or give you a note. And once you are ensconced in that position, you become untouchable because you are well protected by certain entrenched forces.It is this culture of sacrificing merit for mediocrity that has killed in us that intrinsic instinct and drive to go the extra mile in order to attain excellence. Today, no Nigerian would look for a job or appointment, seek admission, bid for a contract, without help from a highly-placed person that will stand for him. No one believes anymore that their personal achievements and capabilities should earn them anything or take them anywhere in the Nigerian system. So, we would not work hard in order to excel in whatever we do since patronage and nepotism have become the order of the day. That is why students fail WASC, UME, NECO and other exams with such alarming rate; people elected into public office wallow in sloth and make kleptomania their stock in trade; scientists and other intellectuals dread research; and our footballers have become famously notorious for losing matches. In fact, our weakness in football was exposed because we could not manipulate international tournaments the way we have done our local league. I dare say that, had the people in the Glass House found the secret to controlling international matches between our Eagles and our other national teams, definitely things would have turned out quite differently today. Chiefly on the strength of that, Nigeria would have been one of the most successful footballing nations on earth!True, the typical Nigerian would resort to superstition, magic and other forces (both dark and good) whenever he comes face to face with the little challenges of life. This is because we patently employ religiosity as a cover-up for our inadequacies and sloth and, in the process, use it as a means of cutting corners.You see this culture well represented in Nigerias plethora of sub-standard home videos which have captured the imagination of Nigerias large school of illiterates. The vogue is to run to the ubiquitous babalawo or Christian or Muslim prophet whenever confronted with the most elemental troubles of daily existence rather than make even the least conscious efforts to surmount them.For instance, the student would rather spend the whole night praying so that they can pass an exam instead of doing the most reasonable thing under the circumstancestudy hard. The other day I heard a player of the Sunshine Stars FC of Akure boasting on radio that, by the grace of God, they would surely win their CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final match against Club Africaine of Tunisia during the return cracker in Tunis, on October 29. They had earlier lost at home and their claim to victory was chiefly anchored on a miracle from God! Of course, they lost that Tunis match. What else did you expect'Clearly, they had abandoned their simple responsibility of training hard and were wishing God to play the match for them against a more prepared and well-determined opponent. Most unfortunately, it is with such levity and ambivalence that we handle some of our most critical national issues; we simply fold our hands, bemoan our lot, sit back, pray and wish the problem away. That is why we are daily being haplessly sucked into this quicksand of stagnation where our national life is so perniciously governed by monumental paradoxes. Pray, had Christ only stopped at prayers and not willfully ventured, most conscientiously and painfully (ending up in that supreme sacrifice He made on the cross), where would this religion that we sanctimoniously bandy around be today' Doubtless, we must learn from that lesson that is so clearly spelt out for us in the solemn conclusion of oneditorial. Hear it: No serious nation develops with such predisposition to important matters.Gyang is the Personal Assistant to the Plateau State Governor. He can be reached at Gyel25@yahoo.com
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