Agyemang-Badu Shocked By Nigeria’s AFCON Failure As Utomi, Ezeife Blast Eagles

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu

Well, Super Eagles have managed to garner a growing band of people and pundits who are rather taken aback that they would not see the reigning African champion defend the crown come January 2015.

Ghana midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu says he is surprised by Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Super Eagles were held to a 2-2 draw at home by South Africa to miss a chance to defend their African title.

Nigeria finished third in their qualifying group and didn’t garner enough points to make next year’s finals as the best third-placed team in the entire qualifiers.

Badu, who was stand-in captain when Ghana beat Togo 3-1 on Wednesday to qualify, admits the absence of the African powerhouse could a take a bit of shine off the tournament to be staged by Equatorial Guinea.

“I am surprised by Nigeria [inability to qualify] because they are the reigning champions,” he told Africanfootabll.com.

“When you go to such tournaments without Nigeria and great players like Uche, Obi Mikel and Onazi, it is a bit of a bother. But who knows? Africa football has evolved and you would never know what is next. I am sad for them but they should still move on.”

Professor Pat Utomi

Meanwhile the founder of the Centre for Value in Leadership, Prof. Pat Utomi, has said it is a shame that Nigeria failed to qualify for the Africa Cup Nations, attributing it to failure in the nation’s leadership.

He said, “Can you imagine Germany not going to the European championship? That would mean a loss of a sense of self. I know Nigerians would be dazed by the bad exit. It is an accumulation of the fact that we have not been doing the needful in our administration. Every aspect of our national life is reduced to corruption and quarrel.

“We cannot even get our FA right. What we hear is FIFA is about to ban us, or they are about to unban us.

“This is another symptom of the failure of leadership in the country. Everything has been reduced to money and power.”

A former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, said Nigeria’s inability to qualify was frustrating and suggested that the players, not just the coach, should be re-examined.

He said, “For me it is very frustrating. I saw the match live. I cannot tell you I know what is responsible for what happened but the South Africans played their hearts out. They played very well. I cannot say our people did not play well also.”