ETHNIC BREAK-DOWN OF CHUKWUS TEAM VS GARBON

[JACKAL]

I always say, regardless of Solowe's intentions (and I have no reason to suspect them), this is useful stuff.

If we are not developing talent in a whole swath of the country i.e. the north, that should be fixed ASAP. Is there some wicked goalie up in Sokoto we're missing because the scouts don't go up there.

You gotta use all your assets, and this makes me feel, we might not be using all ours.

WAKA (& SOLOWE):
Northern teams are involved (and therein scouted) in EVERY Nigerian national competition -- premier league (8 clubs), professional league (8 clubs), amateur league (several clubs), Shell Cup (secondary schools), National Sports Festival and Academicals (when it is contested). So there is apparently NO structural or institutional discrimination against talent of Northern origin.

Nevertheless, I think that there might well be a rational relationship between the reasons (cultural, professional, personal or otherwise) for the paucity of Nigerian players of Northern origin plying their wares abroad and the paucity of international-class players of Northen origin at the senior level, in a talent-rich Nigeria.

Gotti,

I totally disagree with you on the issue of discrimination against Northern players. You are forgetting that most of the coaches & administrators are southerners and the major decison making centers in our sports system is based in the south, so the chances of them overlooking northern players in scouting effort is more than likely. Aslo up untill a few years ago the players were only camped in lagos and most national team games were played and are stilled played in the south. So while the "playing field" may look level, it really is not.

It took an adventurous westrhoff to find the Amokachis and Babagidas of the world, and I am certain there is a lot more of them where those 2 came from.

Its amazing that a Northern coach like Abdulahi can find north talent good enough to almost win the u-17 WC while his southern couterpats only find token Northern players for their teams

[JACKAL]

Hey Solowe,
Ifeanyi Udeze is from Enugu State While Obinna Nwaneri is from Umuahia, Abia state!

My bad, my bad !!

[JACKAL]

Is this the resurgence of the yoruba ballers or was it a case of our handlers not looking past their backyards? The same needs to be done in the Northern part of the country.


Buran Uba! (Sorry Abu)

Balo,

That is exactly my point.

There are a lot more Amokachis, babagidas and Garba lawals out there that are being overlooked or underdeveloped. If they dont get the same nuturing, support and positive reinforcement the southern players get, they are always going to be mediocre.

We dont really have a good scouting or football development programe anyway so its easy for a lot of players to fall thru the cracks

[JACKAL]

So all the gra gra noise wey north dey make for Nigeria, they could only produce one old used up player!!!

Mudi E,

That is basically the question I am asking. The people in the North love football as much as southerners, so why arnt we seeing a lot more Northern kid getting a chance to play at that level.

We are just shooting our selves in the foot if we dont examine the issue and figure out ways to correct the anomaly

[JACKAL]

Solowe never disappoints.

Omo nla,

You know I cant dissapoint the masses .

[JACKAL]

Solowe

Now wey you don post I know say game don dey. But man, after all these years you still no sabi pass Niger Delta!!!...Urhobo, Edo, Ishan, Kalabari, Ibibio all those ones no dey your vocab????

Anyway how you see my formation for the Game

--------------------Annang---------------

-------------Igbo---Yoruba---Igbo------

------Igbirra-----Idoma---Igbo---Yoruba------Nupe-----

--------------Edo-----AjeButter/import----------

Area daddy,

Ok, I like you formation with one question, which edo boy are we putting up front...the summasulting one or the fair weather one ??...or maybe it doenst matter...

[Oba]

Solowe, Celestine Babayaro is a Christain from the North. He is from Kaduna State.

[Gotti]

Its amazing that a Northern coach like Abdulahi can find north talent good enough to almost win the u-17 WC while his southern couterpats only find token Northern players for their teams

Actually, the more relevant question is why the young prospects from the North have generally failed to make the transition that many of their Southern counterparts have made? The regional origin of Nigerian national coaches have nothing to do with why the likes of Aliyu-Dati, Haruna Babangida, Ibrahim Babangida, Rabiu Baita, Abubakar Balarabe, Hashimu Garba, Abubakar Musa, Suleiman Mohammed (who even failed trials in South Africa) has not made the successful transition to the senior level -- both at club and intenational levels.

And btw, Westerhoff did NOT "find" Tijani Babangida.

[Gotti]

Gotti,

I totally disagree with you on the issue of discrimination against Northern players. You are forgetting that most of the coaches & administrators are southerners and the major decison making centers in our sports system is based in the south, so the chances of them overlooking northern players in scouting effort is more than likely. Aslo up untill a few years ago the players were only camped in lagos and most national team games were played and are stilled played in the south. So while the "playing field" may look level, it really is not.

With all due respect, where the players are/were camped has little or no nexus to national team invitation. Right from the earliest inception of organized football in Nigeria, Northern teams have regularly played many games in the South. And the inception of the league in 1973 (32 years ago) meant that the best Northern-based teams played SEVERAL times in SEVERAL Southern cities every year!

[Gadfly]

Solowe,

Allah Godiya! Your write-up has giving me an impetus to dust up the one or so page interview I did with Coaches Ben Duamlong, Zakare Baraje and Amokachi of Nasarawa United on this very subject. Hopefully, I will get it done along with pictures this weekend.

[mcal]

First, let me say I am very proud of all you for your mature responces to this post.

The days of overreaction to such posts are over...Thank god!

We have all come a loooog way baby..

North no get ballers, because they get the govt. They no need the money and fun

[mcal]

So all the gra gra noise wey north dey make for Nigeria, they could only produce one old used up player!!!

Mudi E,

That is basically the question I am asking. The people in the North love football as much as southerners, so why arnt we seeing a lot more Northern kid getting a chance to play at that level.

We are just shooting our selves in the foot if we dont examine the issue and figure out ways to correct the anomaly

No interest

[Gboye77]

Is this topic important?

[wawa]

Solowe, Celestine Babayaro is a Christain from the North. He is from Kaduna State.

I said that the last time Solowe put up the tribal stuff and was told Cele is Ibo. The post was something to the fact that it is well known he is Ibo but a rather long story. May be someone should tell us.

[Tolu]

Hey Solowe,
Ifeanyi Udeze is from Enugu State While Obinna Nwaneri is from Umuahia, Abia state!

For a "yoruba" dude, you sure are very good at telling Igbo names from Benin names. This isn't the first time...or the last!

By the way are you still in chillaxing in Tunisia you bloody fraud?

Shut Da **** up ****! Ya papa is fraud

[theYemster]

Hey Solowe,
Ifeanyi Udeze is from Enugu State While Obinna Nwaneri is from Umuahia, Abia state!

For a "yoruba" dude, you sure are very good at telling Igbo names from Benin names. This isn't the first time...or the last!

By the way are you still in chillaxing in Tunisia you bloody fraud?

Shut Da **** up ****! Ya papa is fraud

Temper, temper you sham...my my the truth is bitter.

You're still a fraud.

[Chima]

Solowe...I'm still waiting for the list of Northern players that you feel should have made the squad.

[waka-man]

Solowe...I'm still waiting for the list of Northern players that you feel should have made the squad.

YOu miss his point then.
His point is that the talent is not developed from a young age. He is not saying that the current selectors are not picking someone who should be picked.
Fact is the north is not developing talent at the same rate as the south, and to ignore that is dead stupid.
We'd do the same in any other endevour - if we felt for instance, that Abia State was falling behind in WAEC results, we'd ask why and expect concrete action to correct that.
Pointing it out is not tribalistic; ignoring it is.

[Gotti]

Solowe...I'm still waiting for the list of Northern players that you feel should have made the squad.

YOu miss his point then.
His point is that the talent is not developed from a young age. He is not saying that the current selectors are not picking someone who should be picked.
Fact is the north is not developing talent at the same rate as the south, and to ignore that is dead stupid.
We'd do the same in any other endevour - if we felt for instance, that Abia State was falling behind in WAEC results, we'd ask why and expect concrete action to correct that.
Pointing it out is not tribalistic; ignoring it is.

WAKA:
I respectfully disagree with your summation...

Solowe's point is quite clearly appears to be that there are international-class players up North that are being ignored by the purported Southern establishment that allegedly runs Nigerian football. He therefore talks about "scouting" (and not development) and buttresses same with his well-worn Musa Abdullahi example, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Abdullahi's U-23 Olympic squad had a miniscule amount of Northerners.

[Chima]

Solowe...I'm still waiting for the list of Northern players that you feel should have made the squad.

YOu miss his point then.
His point is that the talent is not developed from a young age. He is not saying that the current selectors are not picking someone who should be picked.
Fact is the north is not developing talent at the same rate as the south, and to ignore that is dead stupid.
We'd do the same in any other endevour - if we felt for instance, that Abia State was falling behind in WAEC results, we'd ask why and expect concrete action to correct that.
Pointing it out is not tribalistic; ignoring it is.

WAKA:
I respectfully disagree with your summation...

Solowe's point is quite clearly appears to be that there are international-class players up North that are being ignored by the purported Southern establishment that allegedly runs Nigerian football. He therefore talks about "scouting" (and not development) and buttresses same with his well-worn Musa Abdullahi example, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Abdullahi's U-23 Olympic squad had a miniscule amount of Northerners.

Chief Gotti....you have spoken my mind exactly.

Solowe, I still dey wait ya list of Northern players who were left out.

[waka-man]

Solowe...I'm still waiting for the list of Northern players that you feel should have made the squad.

YOu miss his point then.
His point is that the talent is not developed from a young age. He is not saying that the current selectors are not picking someone who should be picked.
Fact is the north is not developing talent at the same rate as the south, and to ignore that is dead stupid.
We'd do the same in any other endevour - if we felt for instance, that Abia State was falling behind in WAEC results, we'd ask why and expect concrete action to correct that.
Pointing it out is not tribalistic; ignoring it is.

WAKA:
I respectfully disagree with your summation...

Solowe's point is quite clearly appears to be that there are international-class players up North that are being ignored by the purported Southern establishment that allegedly runs Nigerian football. He therefore talks about "scouting" (and not development) and buttresses same with his well-worn Musa Abdullahi example, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Abdullahi's U-23 Olympic squad had a miniscule amount of Northerners.

Chief Gotti....you have spoken my mind exactly.

Solowe, I still dey wait ya list of Northern players who were left out.

The central argument, as Solowe points out Balo is this:

There are a lot more Amokachis, babagidas and Garba lawals out there that are being overlooked or underdeveloped. If they dont get the same nuturing, support and positive reinforcement the southern players get, they are always going to be mediocre. .

He says a load of other things and loses his way to make the point, but this is, for me, the central argument. We are not developing/finding/using whatever talent exists up north. I for one find it difficult to believe that if there was a uniform developmental infastructure, a region representing 45% of the population would only produce 5% of the resources.

[naija4ever]

While I am a huge fan of Garba Lawal and have always been a staunch advocate of his inclusion on our national teams, I would venture to say almost everyone agrees that Garba is a spent force and is at the twilight of his career. However, the NFA and our coaches will continue to invite him because they have no other Northern players to fill that ethnic quota.

His inclusion at this stage of his career proves what I have been criticizing about Nigeria’s team selections and our need to ethnically balance our teams at all cost. This shows that we are either deliberately excluding players from the north or doing a very poor job discovering them.

For those who are so inclined, here is the ethnic breakdown of Chukwus team Vs Gabon


IGBO
Austin Ejide (Etoile du Sahel/TUN) ..should not be on the team anymore
Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow/RUS)..We will see what all the noise is about
Celestine Babayaro (Newcastle/ENG)...we should be done with cele by now
Christian Obodo (Fiorentina/ITA)...Yujams wife
Ifeanyi Ekwueme (Aris Salonika/GR)...Chukwus love child
Nwankwo Kanu (West Bromwich Albion/ENG)....Common on !! ??
John Utaka (RC Lens/FRA)

YORUBA
Taye Taiwo (Olympique Marseille/FRA).. So much hype...he better perform
Seyi Olofinjana (Wolverhampton Wanderers/ENG)
Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev/UKR) We sill see what he is made of
Obafemi Martins (Inter/ENG)

NIGER DELTA
Vincent Enyeama (no club)
Joseph Yobo (Everton/ENG)

Ifeanyi Udeze (PAOK Salonika/GRE)

Obinna Nwaneri (Esperance/TUN)

..should be a started over Enakahire
Joseph Enakarhire (Sporting Lisbon/POR)..should not be on the team
Wilson Oruma (Sochaux/FRA)..we should be done with him by now
Austin Okocha (Bolton Wanderers/ENG)
Julius Aghahowa (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR)
Osaze Odemwingie (Lille/FRA),
Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Portsmouth/ENG)...fair weather player..he should score in this one.

NORTHERNGarba Lawal (Santa Clara/POR)

The most annoying, wasteful and useless thread so far that can only be started by an ethnic retard. If u dont even know from the names of the Obinna and Ifeanyi that they igbos, why bother myself with attention seeking johnny miss road. Some are hailing ur idiocy and u r satisfied with it? AM sorry for u dude . This is my last response to this thread, so whatever ur repsonse would be, dont expect me to reply.
If u are that enlightened u will know that by now all these ethnic nonsense are outdated, if SE wins trophy the whole world knows its naija that won it not, igbo, yoruba, hausa or niger delta, so whats ur point?

[bakana]

waka-man I agree with you and your take but not with the twist Solowe is giving it. Yes there are ballers in the north that with the right developmental progammes will make it to the very top. eg in athletics while the south dominates sprints the middle and long distance is dominated by northerners with the right programmes in place that natural stamina is already an in built asset of a good 2-way midfielder.