Samson could not have been luckier with the draw.  I like it. I am referring, of course, to the draw of the men’s football event of the 2008 Olympics. I have followed with interest the reactions of many Nigerians in several media since the draw was made this past week in China.

At the same time I am worried. The thought of Clemens Westerhof and his theorem about the psychology of Nigerian players has been nagging at me. I am one that is usually never worried over things like this, but I must confess that I am worried. I recall what Clemens told me some 14 years ago what he found out about the Nigerian football player. His postulation was that when you provide everything for the Nigerian player, when things are well laid out, when the atmosphere is calm and things are easy for a Nigerian team, the players let you down and fumble. It is not in the Nigerian’s make-up for life to be organized and easy. The Nigerian is used to the hard, chaotic, rough and tumble of life. Realising this Westerhof said that devised an ‘antidote’ to the initial losses his team suffered in the hands of undeserving teams. He would deliberately stir up trouble, raise an issue that would touch the raw nerves of some of the players, throw some confusion amidst the team, in short, do something, anything, to heat up the system a little bit. He would then sit back and watch the team boil to near melting point. At the last moment, when hell is about to let loose, he would call for a truce, dangle an irresistible carrot (an incentive), smile from the corner of his mouth, and enjoy the most unexpected drama unfold – that of a seemingly disorganized group of enraged players explode into a fit of absolute brilliance! Unfortunately, the ‘strategy’ worked for many years and produced the most turbulent but most successful era in the history of Nigerian football.

Being a part of Westerhof’s technical team, Jo Bonfrere learnt well from his master and not only inherited but also benefited from some of the debris of Westerhof’s stratagem? On the eve of the Atlanta Olympics there were so much crisis and infighting in the team that they lost the last friendly match against ordinary Togo by a scandalous three goals margin. No Nigerian national team has been that humiliated on home soil. In Atlanta the crisis continued with disagreements over match bonuses, refund of flight tickets, withheld allowances, and so on. Then arrived time for the matches, a truce was called, carrots were once again dangled with a whole Minister carrying the allowances of players in his suit-case and directly paying them from match to match. Nigerians that had written the team off for dead witnessed an unbelievable transformation. Night after unforgettable night the world was treated to some of the best football any Nigerian team had ever played. The Olympic team played as if under the influence of some magical spell. As a testimony of their exploits the names of those players are, today, permanently etched in gold letters on a wall outside the main Olympic Stadium in the city of Atlanta. The Westerhof theorem had worked again!

Think of Samson Siasia’s team to the World Youth Championship in Holland in 2005! Recall the uproar that attended the team’s camping in Nigeria, the controversies over Siasia’s unorthodox method of raising funds to take care of the team, the poor camp sites, and so on and so forth. The players embarked on that campaign not to defend Nigeria but to honour their coach who stood up for them, fought for them and earned their respect. They were angry, so they played like men possessed!

Compare this with what happened early this year on the eve of the African Cup of Nations in Ghana. Nigerians had followed their national team in high hopes of a great outing, after all some had described Nigeria’s preparations for the championship as the best ever – a new famous Technical Adviser, a new team of international media and personal aides and assistants, a peaceful, crisis-free camp set in idyllic Spain, and so on. In short, everything was provided the team. The players even reported to camp on time, their allowances and bonuses were negotiated without a whisper of protest, and travel expenses were reimbursed promptly. The setting was perfect for any team but Nigeria! Operating under normal ‘temperature and pressure’ as my Physics teacher would say was anathema to success of Nigerian teams if the Westerhof theorem was to sustain. The Nations Cup provided the laboratory platform for testing the Westerhof’s theory one more time.  When it started Nigerians watched in total disbelief and horror as their high expectations gave way to an absolutely shocking and abysmal display. The world was in perplexity as to how a team that had everything going for it, including some of the most celebrated talents in the continent could disintegrate and record the worst results in 36 years of the country’s participation in the African championship.

So, back to the present. I have been worried this past week. In the wake of the draws of the Olympics football event Nigerians are again prematurely singing the tune of success. Not since the eve of the catastrophic 2002 Japan/Korea World Cup have I witnessed the present level of optimism before a major championship. I have only read one rather muted comment of caution from anyone of substance in Nigerian football. Every other reaction has been an almost arrogant assumption that the country’s Olympic team, christened Dream Team IV, shall bring back the Gold medal of the football event.  Even the head coach, my friend, Samson Siasia, has sounded very upbeat about it all. I can understand why people feel this way. Most of the players in the team graduated from the last under-20 team that got to the finals of the 2005 World Youth championship in Holland. They have matured some more like wine since then. The man who led them to that great feat then still leads the present team and he too has grown in stature and experience. The team will be further strengthened with more experienced players from the Super Eagles team. Everything, including the draw of a relatively easy group, is looking good.
Now my worry sets in – the discomforting calm and order around the team being assembled by Siasia. It is so much unlike the period before Holland 2005 when the team went to the championship in crisis and returned victorious. That’s what worries me. Clemens Westerhof’s theory that Nigerian players only excel in an atmosphere of chaos and crisis haunts my thoughts!
Can someone please throw a spanner into this smoothly operating machine? Can we put some Mentholatum up the players arses (as George Hassan used to do in those days before a match) and make them angry before the team departs for China?  It is crazy but that’s how we have triumphed in the past. Will that essential ‘spanner’ be the brewing controversy over Mikel Obi and his place in the team? What a crazy thought!