For a very long time, I had stopped watching matches involving the Super Eagles of Nigeria for the simple reason that the team always displayed uninspiring performance. More often than not, they would labour to retrieve the ball from an opponent only to pass it on either to a well-marked teammate or to return it to another opponent. On the other hand, it was with delight that I watched every match involving the Super Falcons that would always either win a match or where they lose, put up a superlative performance that would console their admirers. It was a friend who had watched the opening match of the Super Eagles at the 35th African Cup of Nations in Morocco that influenced me back to watch the transformed Nigerian team.
I enjoyed all the matches except the semi-final against Morocco the host team. However, I had some misgivings before the match because all through the competition I had a feeling that the match officials were too intimidated to censure the rough tackles of the home team. Although the performance of the Super Eagles was a far departure from all their other excellent matches, I am convinced that the team should be commended notwithstanding their inability to bring home the Cup as we all patriotically anticipated. They at least brought back the glory of Nigerian soccer making our nation to be respected across the continent.
When enumerating the several reasons why our team lost its steam along the line, not many appear to recognize the huge superiority of motivation over compensation. Nigeria’s investment in football is comparatively feeble. The nation hardly has any viable relevant sports infrastructure. No stadium in Nigeria is maintained; instead, we regularly shift from one to the newest just before any competition. The implication of poor infrastructural development goes beyond inadequate training venues to as high as absence of sports consciousness across the nation. In other climes, sports is as encouraged as education. Players, coaches and officials are not the only participants, the ordinary citizens are mandated to serve as active supporters of the national teams.
During the match between Nigeria and Morocco, the stadium was filled to capacity by supporters of the home team because worthy ambassadors were about to perform on behalf of all. Every citizen had therefore been mobilized into believing that he had a role in the anticipated victory of the home team. On the side of the Nigerian team, no one knows how many people tried in vain to get tickets to enter the stadium. There was no evidence that anyone was aided to attend and cheer the Super Eagles. This has been reportedly so since after the Brazil 2014 World Cup where the supporters club broke into 6 splinter groups yet to be reunited till today. It is true that some teams do win away-matches but it is simplistic to imagine that a team can do without the presence of supporters’ clubs at its match venues.
The controversy concerning the role of the Ghanian referee, Ayi Laryea in the semi-final match is quite interesting. Although many believed he was not fair, other analysts dismissed it with the argument that a match that stretched to penalty shoot-outs could have been won by either side, more so as the referee could not have played any of the penalties. However, what the argument overlooks is the overwhelming psychological impact of partisanship. I was personally shocked that Morocco got no card despite having more than 20 fouls, while Super Eagles including those who were victims of Morocco’s aggressive play were sanctioned. Indeed, Calvin Bassey was booked by referee Ayi Laryea because a Moroccan winger pulled his shirt. Of course, Super Eagles right back Bright Osayi was not just a bad loser when he told journalists at the end of the match that “the referee made numerous unfair calls.”
Unfortunately, Nigeria is yet to know that in today’s world, football is more than a game. As Idah Peterside, a former Eagle goalkeeper explained the other day, football is now war. One may not be able to bring weapons into the field of play but teams are these days built to be aggressive. Many referees seem to fear aggressive teams which were as shown in Morocco, mostly North Africans. Nigeria is known for playing the gentleman’s game and ends end up occasionally winning the essentially irrelevant award for fair play. Even the much talked-about delayed allowances may have been partly encouraged by the subdued nature of our teams.
Self-sabotage which many analysts have always seen as Nigeria’s greatest defect also happened at the 35th AFCON. Just before the quarter finals, some players and officials of the Nigerian team were constrained to raise concerns over unpaid allowances and bonuses. There was a report that team members had threatened to boycott training and travel plans to Marrakech for the quarter finals against Algeria. BBC journalist, Shina Okeleji was quoted to have said that the players were waiting for bonuses for 4 matches against Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Mozambique. Can a winning team that has been so treated be expected to remain in high spirits all through the competition?
There is nothing new about Nigeria’s shoddy team management; it has been a culture in the country’s sports. History reminds us that about a decade ago, the female soccer national team, the Super Falcons were similarly treated. By December 2016, the Falcons had won the Women’s African Cup of Nations (AWCON) for the 8th time defeating hosts, Cameroon. Yet, the culture of delayed allowances was in vogue. In an interview, a former Nigerian Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung blamed the Nigerian Football Federation NFF for late submission of the request for the team’s funds. That was not all, even camp allowances, match bonuses for players as well as coaches’ salaries had been held back for months.
We can therefore conclusively argue that poor management has long been tearing apart many sports associations in Nigeria. During the Buhari administration, the government placed an embargo on international basketball competitions for 2 years due to lingering crisis in the Nigerian Basketball Federation. This effectively thwarted the ambition of D’ Tigress who had been 3 times Afrobasket Champions. A year later, the nation’s volleyball male team had to be disbanded due to lethargy in the running of the team. Last year, foremost sprinter, Favour Ofili had to switch allegiance from Nigeria to Turkey citing years of frustration with officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria AFN and the Nigeria Olympic Committee NOC over administrative failures that cost her 2 Olympic appearances.
The point that must be made is that match victories by Nigerian teams are hardly targeted; they usually come through luck rather than preparations and adequate planning. But each time any of our teams wins a Cup or a game, ample awards and benefits are bestowed on them which is not bad. However, those rewards are compensatory, they are not motivational. As this article contends today, motivation is superior to compensation. This is because whereas, compensation can help to motivate people for the future it does not effectively motivate for the moment. On the other hand, motivation is effectively critical and useful for all times.
One of the greatest mistakes of our football managers is the belief that money is all that motivates which is not true. The thrust of the legendary works of Robert Manslow, the American psychologist who propounded the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ is that man is mostly motivated by his needs. No one is so equally motivated by what he does not need. All things remaining the same therefore, it is most unlikely that giving money to Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man will sway him away from his deep belief. It is a greater source of motivation to show respect to our Super Eagles by promptly paying them without reducing them into begging for their rights. By so doing, some of the players might even donate their bonuses to charity.
We cannot end this piece without reference to the disposition of Nigerian leaders. One of the factors militating against the development of our sports infrastructures has to do with the undue focus on politics by our leaders. The only segment of our nation that does not cry of marginalization today is the political class. They appear to have more than what they need while everyone else is in need. Indeed, many citizens did not bother to make arrangements to go and cheer the Eagles because the cost of transportation alone has become prohibitive. Balancing the lifestyle of politicians and that of other Nigerians will expose the real living challenges of the people and make our leaders appreciate the need for budgeting towards even development.
The post AFCON: Superiority of motivation over compensation, by Tonnie Iredia appeared first on Vanguard News.
