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The Golden Eaglets, Nigeria’s most successful U-17 men’s national football team, delivered an unwelcome 65th Independence Day gift to the nation on Tuesday, September 30, by not securing a spot in the 2025 AFCON Championship.

The five-time world champions lost 2-1 to Ghana in the second semi-final of the WAFU-B Championship, which also functions as a qualification stage for the U-17 AFCON. The host nation, Cote d’Ivoire, had previously beaten Burkina Faso 2-1 in the first semi-final game. As a result, both the Baby Elephants and the Black Starlets will compete for WAFU-B at the continental event, where 10 teams will earn spots for the Qatar 2026 World Cup.

After the pre-Independence incident in Cote d’Ivoire, the Golden Eaglets have now missed qualification for the World Championship on two consecutive occasions, highlighting the significant drop in performance of the junior national team. Nigeria’s most recent participation in the FIFA U-17 World Cup was in 2019 in Brazil, although the team did not advance past the round of 16.

In Brazil, Coach Manu Garba guided the Eaglets to top their group but were defeated 1-3 by the Netherlands in the Round of 16. The 2021 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected numerous human activities, but the World Championship made a return in 2023 without the Golden Eaglets. Nigeria was excluded from the tournament as the Nduka Ugbade team failed to reach the semi-finals at the 2023 AFCON. They concluded their campaign at the quarter-final stage following a 1-2 loss to Burkina Faso, the same team they had defeated by the same score in the final of the WAFU B championship in Ghana. The inability to qualify for Indonesia 2023 resulted in Ugbade and other members of the technical staff being dismissed.

Following Ugbade’s dismissal, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), known for rehiring unsuccessful coaches, brought back Manu Garba to resume where he left off in 2019. The selection of the former World Cup champion faced criticism from many Nigerians who hoped for a fresh football coach to take charge of identifying future Super Eagles players.

Individuals who resisted Manu Garba’s return did so not because of any animosity towards the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), but due to their belief that as long as senior coaches are consistently favored over younger, emerging managers who have already demonstrated their capabilities with youth teams in the country, we will keep going in circles. Unfortunately, this is already taking place, as the once thriving Golden Eaglets are no longer capable of qualifying for the AFCON U-17 Championship.

Personally, I hold Coach Garba in high regard due to the outstanding contributions he has made to the country during his time as a player and now as a coach. As everyone is aware, this 59-year-old football strategist from Gombe State was a proud winner of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013 and the highly esteemed AFCON U-20 title in 2015. He is also recognized for identifying and developing future Super Eagles stars such as Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Nwakali, Isaac Success, Musa Mohammed, Musa Yahaya, among others.

Nevertheless, all things come to an end. Just as our legs get tired, so do our minds. Therefore, many believe that it’s time for Garba to gracefully step down from the spotlight, as Nigerians may soon forget the joy he once brought them. After all, it is often said that a coach’s reputation is defined by their final game. And what was Garba’s last match? It was the failure to qualify his team for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

Some may claim he remains a competent coach, but since 2013, numerous events have transpired. Either his drive for success has waned or he has deliberately handed over team selection decisions to self-serving football agents. To be honest, I was taken aback when a prominent Nigerian football agent sent an invitation on Garba’s behalf for player trials in Uyo. You heard correctly: a football agent extended the invitation for the coach. Hence, the final outcome did not astonish me.

However, shortly after the Eaglets were eliminated from the WAFU-B Championship on Tuesday, the coach, during a press conference, attributed his team’s defeat to the ‘imbalance’ in the distribution of spots among football zones in Africa. He claimed it was unjust for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to grant only two slots to WAFU-B, which, in his view, is home to the continent’s strongest and most successful youth national teams.

It is worth noting that in CAF’s distribution of spots for the U-17 AFCON, WAFU-A, which includes eight nations, is allocated three slots; WAFU-B, comprising seven countries, receives two; the North Africa Zone, with five nations, gets three slots; the Central Zone, consisting of eight countries, has two; the East Zone, made up of 10 countries, is given three slots, and the South Zone, which has 12 countries, also receives three, resulting in a total of 16 teams participating in the continental competition.

Coach Garba, therefore, is pushing for an additional spot to be granted to WAFU-B, which includes Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic, Togo, and Benin Republic. His reasoning is that under the current system, CAF is not providing the continent with proper representation at the World Cup. The struggling coach makes a valid case since Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso have the capability to shine on the global stage whenever given the chance. Unfortunately, if the present ‘unfair path’ to the AFCON U-17 remains unchanged, each year the world would miss out on witnessing some of Africa’s most promising talents, as two of the four major teams would be eliminated each year.

Although I strongly endorse Garba’s request for CAF to expand the slots for WAFU-B from two to a minimum of three, I still believe he has let the country down once more. Given Nigeria’s history as the most successful team in the world cadet championship and the abundance of talent within the country, we should not be pleading for additional slots to qualify for the AFCON. In Cote d’Ivoire, two spots were available, but the Eaglets were unable to secure one. What assurance do we have that increasing the slots will ensure we easily obtain one?

Instead of lamenting past mistakes, we should push for constructive changes with the relevant authorities. The NFF needs to appoint a young and experienced coach such as Olumide Ajibolade from Beyond Limits to take over from Manu Garba. Besides Ajibolade, there are numerous emerging coaches who could bring about positive change. Coach Garba should also realize that he is increasingly facing repeated failures, which is damaging his reputation. Hence, he should not be reluctant to pass on the responsibility to a younger colleague when required.

We need to move quickly because as we keep playing with our youth national teams, we are inevitably setting the stage for more major problems in football later on. It is indeed alarming that Nigeria is no longer producing future Super Eagles players. Rather than progressing, we are constantly moving backward.

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).