Nigerian football flounders in the dark
Without question, Nigeria is one of Africa's biggest and most successful football nations.
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As three-time African champions, the first African nation to win football gold at the Olympic Games and the most successful country at the Fifa U-17 World Cup with five titles, Nigeria have trophies to back up the clai
Throw in their seven titles at the African Women championship and same number of titles in the U-20 African Youth Championship, and you get the picture of a nation that has consistently been in the top tier of African football.
But Nigeria have been on a downward spiral in the past two years and their failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations is a confirmation of decline.
The Super Eagles will sit out the finals in Gabon as they did in Equatorial Guinea last year after winning the 2013 edition in South Africa.
It was only three years ago that Stephen Keshi led the team to the Nations Cup title and he also steered them to the last-16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Nigeria's fall since then has been rapid and the tragic comedy that it has become speaks volumes about the state of the game in the country.
Football in Africa's most populous nation has been plagued by the Nigerian Football Federation's failings; a bitter leadership crisis, in-fighting over the presidency, instability in the coaching role and political and financial problems.
