By

Okey- Lawrence Ezindu 

There is an arguable fact making rounds that the Nigerian football in recent times has been a subject of scorn both within the country, African continent and world at large, and the main factors are not far fetched. 

A country so blessed in human resources and other meaningful things, so much that it could live as a continent on its own is languishing in poverty, lack of vision and what could be termed the worst country leadership on planet earth. This has transcended all sectors of the country. And it seems like the country is in a vicious circle.

Recently the football federation helm adamantly appointed the french-Malian Coach Eric Sekou Chelle as the new coach of the senior national team, (The Super Eagles) to the shock and anger of the majority of the football fans around the country and beyond, it is yet to be seen what the Malian Frenchman will offer as the lead coach of the very notorious footballing nation.

However the focus in this article is on another important arm of football that looks all but dead in Nigeria, and that is the refereeing sector.

It seems that the Nigeria football federation can't find a solution to the poor level of refereeing witnessed week in week out in both the first tier league (NPFL) and the  NNL.

In the African Continental football engagements, you'd scarcely see a Nigerian referee selected to officiate grade A or B games, both in the Club competitions and Country competitions at various levels. And the reason for this fall from grace is not far fetched. The Nigerian referees are allegedly the most corrupt and brave openly perverse in their alleged corruption.

I have witnessed from.last season, terrible refereeing incidents, and few of them made it to the public notice while others were swept under the carpet and cleaned by those who have political powers but reside among football stakeholders. This is one of the reasons the league image is in tatters, and cannot command any honor even in West Africa where Nigeria is supposed to be the leading light.

Just last weekend, I witnessed part of this impunity in the game involving Sokoto United which they played away against their opponents Barrau FC in Kano.

It seems to me that most Nigerian referees have already determined what the outcome of the match should be before entering the football pitch to officiate a game. Because, in many cases, no matter what the team they do not want to win the game does, they will find a way to frustrate the team especially when the team is playing away from home.  These breeds are corrupt and encourage cheating.

Perhaps without my knowledge, there may be some who are actually gaining from these glaring wrongs, for the organizations concerned  to turn a blind eye and keep mute in the face these glaring atrocities, this is disheartening.

Football cannot develop in any way if corrupt among refereeing is not nipped and cleaned. This is a given.

I would wish that someone would rise up and act, because if we don't do it now, the future generations will abhor our memories and  spit on our graves for not standing up for rights and justice.

A stitch in time, saves nine.

God help us.