October, 9 2021.
By Wale Ajayi
From Jos to Kaduna, Makurdi to Bauchi, Lagos to Ilorin, Kogi to Abuja and beyond, men left their homes as early as 6am on Saturday morning brandishing fat pots filled with well prepared concortions. Some dressed in white wrappers holding dead cocks while a few others were seen inside thick forests beheading live cows.
These sacrifices come with a price and to these men, they are ready for whatever the consequence may be. They all have different grievances but these innocent players will suffer and struggle not knowing that there is an unknown enemy plotting their downfall.
Among these enemies are those who desperately seek the failure of the board. They wake up every morning praying for Amaju and his board members to fail, they have gone to courts and lost, they have gone to anti graft agencies and lost, they have sent arrows and missed targets and now, they have just one last chance to get the job done.
They went into wild celebration immediately the Super Eagles lost to CAR in Lagos. From north to south, east to west, phone calls littered the airwaves. They knew that the job is not done yet. A defeat in Douala will help to complicate Nigeria's chances of going to the 2022 world cup in Qatar no wonder, attention is now fully focused on that match
Between Thursday and Saturday, over 300 black chickens have suddenly gone missing in busy streets across Nigeria. Native doctors and Spiritual leaders are smiling to the banks with Ghana must-go bags as men put finishing touches to the Super Eagles imminent fall.
Among these men are some local coaches who see the sack of Gernot Rohr as a potential opening for one or two of them to relaunch their fading careers. There are also some football administrators who see this as their only chance to effectively end the reign of Amaju Pinnick and his executive committee.
So the die is now cast. Men have positioned themselves perfectly for negative prayers, they have used black chalks to draw the lines where Nigeria players must not get to in Douala.
Unfortunately for the NFF, in their magnanimity, they took along 3 enemies in the Air Peace chattered flight from Lagos to Douala and on arrival, two of them called this reporter to speak their minds.
They are not in Cameroon to support the Eagles, rather they are there to motivate the opposition. They say they are tired of sitting on the sidelines while a selected few eat our National wealth. In anger they screamed, "All we are saying, Eagles must fall"!
What about the Supporters club? They too are divided. For the match in Cape Verde, only two groups traveled while two others rue their absence in frustration.
There is bad blood, bile and hatred hovering around Nigeria football. Those praying for the Super Eagles to fail are almost thesame with those wishing them victory. The atmosphere of love and oneness that ones lived among stakeholders has now been polluted as friends have turned sworn enemies. Even those who smile in the open now plan evil in the dark.
From Canada, this writer Adewale Ajayi can only wish the Super Eagles well but even him, cannot wait to see Gernot Rokr leave. It is a tale of many sides.
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