Are we still going to have Biafran team representing us these time around as Coach Keshi invites 25 players for world cup qualifier? Just take a look at the current Nigeria under 17 team, this team is a true representation of Nigeria and they are living up to our expectations. But when you are giving the opportunity to serve this nation, you just have to put sentiments and tribalism aside. You have to see it as an opportunity to further unite this nation. We have six regions in this country, the football in all these regions are developing at roughly equally rate. But when you are put at the helms of affair and you say that the only set of people you trust and have ability in their capacity to deliver are the people who come from your region, only the people who speak the local language as you, it means under such people Nigeria can't unite and progress. The same thing happened in Aviation during last employment exercise under Oduah where over 80% positions were given to applicants from the South East which happened to be where the aviation minister come from. The fact that over 80% that were given jobs from South East really qualified didn't mean that applicants from other regions were not equally qualified. And you and I know that they didn't write any test or did any interview. Keshi lifted African Cup of Nation with his Biafran team didn't mean his action and selection process were acceptable to me. There are equally good players in other regions but why focusing on his region alone is what I don't understand. Why not South South or North Central, why his region? Jonathan could easily run his government with competent people from his region alone, but because this is Nigeria and talents and competent people abound everywhere, a true Nigerian must have wider selection base. I'm not proud of him as a true Nigerian.

i'm not frm south east but all that matters is people that will giv us result. this same biafran team as u put it, gave us nations cup and also are trying to take us to brazil.

Op What is ur problem, d players he called up are they not nigerians, or u want d 250 ethnic groups to have 1 player each in d national team for u to be happy including d fulanis dat can't play football

Igiebor, echiejile, moses, musa, enyeama, ideye, ameobi, oboabona, ejide, ruben,kwambe, and Onazi are to the best of my knowledge not from south east.

Compare 94 squad

Peter Rufai
2 DF Augustine Eguavoen
3 DF Benedict Iroha
4 DF Stephen Keshi
5 DF Uche Okechukwu
6 DF Chidi Nwanu
7 FW Finidi George
8 MD Oliha Thompson
9 FW Rashidi Yekini
10 MD Augustine Okocha
11 FW Emmanuel Amunike
12 MD Samson Siasia
13 DF Emeka Ezeugo
14 FW Daniel Amokachi
15 MD Sunday Oliseh
16 GK Alloysius Agu
17 FW Victor Ikpeba
18 FW Efan Ekoku
19 DF Michael Emenalo
20 FW Uche Okafor
21 MD Mutiu Adepoju
22 GK Wilfred Agbonavbare (SPA)

I can boldly say that there are more igbos in the 94 squad than we have now. I dont care if we have all 11 players from S.E. My major concern is result. Any team that is capable of doing us proud should be presented. The whole Nigeria celebrated Yekini when he was doling out goals for Nigeria. No one remembered his tribe then so there is no need to start bringing up issues where none exist.

@op, wat i hv come to know is dat It doesn't mata to me wia a representative come from, wat matas is dat d rep performs and lives up to expectations. to me, d super eagles are doing so!

Dunno wat's is wrong wif keshi,did haruna lukman offend him ni?he's doin far beta dan john ogu&rueben gabriel who has nt played a single game for his relegation-bound club,nt to talk of sunday mba who doesnt av a club,hian!! its nt fair @ all!!

@maasoap & others who are turning tribalistic here,know that its the nation dat wins nt region.Let d best players play n nt tribe.

This is the Keshi's squad list. Just compare the names on this list with the names of the current under 17 team representing us at the moment.
Nigeria squad:Goalkeepers:Vincent Enyeama (Lille FC, France); Austin Ejide (Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Israel); Chigozie Agbim (Enugu Rangers)Defenders:Elderson Echiejile (Sporting Braga, Portugal); Francis Benjamin (Heartland); Efe Ambrose (Celtic, Scotland); Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars); Godfrey Oboabona (Rizespor, Turkey); Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves); James Okwuosa (Chippa United,South Africa), Kenneth Omeruo (Chelsea, England)Midfielders:John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England); John Ogu (Academica de Coimbra, Portugal); Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Nosa Igiebor (Real Betis, Spain); Victor Moses (Liverpool, England); Sunday Mba (Enugu Rangers); Nnamdi Oduamadi (Brescia, Italy), Reuben Gabriel (Kilmarnock, Scotland)Forwards:Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine); Shola Ameobi (Newcastle United, England); Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce, Turkey); Obinna Nsofor (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia); Uche Nwofor (SC Heerenveen, Netherlands).

Forza p: Dunno wat's is wrong wif keshi,did haruna lukman offend him ni?he's doin far beta dan john ogu&rueben gabriel who has nt played a single game for his relegation-bound club,nt to talk of sunday mba who doesnt av a club,hian!! its nt fair @ all!!

@Forza p,,,,I DONT KNOW WHY KESHI HAS NOT INVITE THIS GUY JOHNBULL AJALA FROM SNAKES FC. HE IS WORLD CLASS LIKE RONALDO AND MESSI. HE CAN PLAY ANY WING. HE CAN DRIBBBLE ANY PLAYYER AND SCORE 5 GOALS. BARCA AND MADRID ARE CHASING HIM NOW. KESHI WHAT ARE YOU WAITIN FOR CALL THIS GUY TO SE ASAP! What rubbish,....do you really expect keshie to call up some new players at this time of the qualifiers?i don't think so..lets qualify first,then we can try the new players at the friendly matches before the world cup....

Can you even believe that both coaches selected their players from the same country? What a shame!

Foolish post! When is Keshi who is from ila in Delta state, south south nw a south eastern coach? To the best of my knowledge Efe Ambrose, Obaobona, Enyeama, Ideye, Musa, Moses, Echeijile, Nosa Igiebor and Onazi are not from the south east. The fact that someone has an igbo name or one that's like does not mean he is from south east. There is nothing like briafra team we only have super eagles of Nigeria, get that into ur tiny skull.

Why do some people always bring tribalism on every situation in Nigeria,,@OP,,, people like you should have been killed during the biafra war....

ksam: @Forza p,,,,I DONT KNOW WHY KESHI HAS NOT INVITE THIS GUY JOHNBULL AJALA FROM SNAKES FC. HE IS WORLD CLASS LIKE RONALDO AND MESSI. HE CAN PLAY ANY WING. HE CAN DRIBBBLE ANY PLAYYER AND SCORE 5 GOALS. BARCA AND MADRID ARE CHASING HIM NOW. KESHI WHAT ARE YOU WAITIN FOR CALL THIS GUY TO SE ASAP! What rubbish,....do you really expect keshie to call up some new players at this time of the qualifiers?i don't think so..lets qualify first,then we can try the new players at the friendly matches before the world cup....

guy,so wat ur sayin is dat keshi shld kip invitin players dat are match rusty?clap for urself.even if all d players are igbos no p,all we want is dat d best legs shld represent d country,either old or new players,nt sum club-less dude makin d list,its very annoyin

Theben: Igiebor, echiejile, moses, musa, enyeama, ideye, ameobi, oboabona, ejide, ruben,kwambe, and Onazi are to the best of my knowledge not from south east.

The bolded to the best of my knowledge are actually from the south-east.

Afam4eva:
The bolded to the best of my knowledge are actually from the south-east.

Onazi is from benue state, Echiejile from Delta. Oboabona is from Esan Edo State.

ok

Keshi's team is Biafran but they are African champions too and on the verge of qualifying for world cup

If the team does not perform in Brazil please by all means fire Keshi but until then Keshi must be allowed to choose a team he considers the best and it should not matter what language the players speak!

Please allow Keshi to do his job

Theben:
Onazi is from benue state, Echiejile from Delta. Oboabona is from Esan Edo State.

Echiejile is actually from the Igbo speaking part of Delta state. I'm really not sure about Onazi though.

^
Igbo speaking part of Delta is still delta. The same way Yoruba speaking part of Edo is listed under the South South region.

Theben: ^
Igbo speaking part of Delta is still delta. The same way Yoruba speaking part of Edo is listed under the South South region.

fyi even Keshi is also from that Igbo speaking part of Delta

that's how silly some of the debates going on here is

some have no clue, they just debate for the sake of it

Theben: ^
Igbo speaking part of Delta is still delta. The same way Yoruba speaking part of Edo is listed under the South South region.

This is quantum Cluelessness. it seems you don't know the difference between a tribe and a state. Are you aware that Keshi is also from that part of Delta state? What a joke.

Biafra .... Nigeria

if we divide, who will claim all these trophies?

A very silly thread i must say...Federal character! This is actually the problem that has relegated Nigeria into a backward country. The players Keshi selected are doing the job for us, we shouldn't let our prebendalistic and jingoist perception of life becloud our lucid sense of reasoning; OP, one thing i know for sure is that you need to be exorcised from your crass hatred towards the igbo people. I love Nigeria no be mouth, na also by thought and expression; it is obvious to me that you do not mean well for Nigeria...go chop sh*t if e dey pain you jare.

Afam4eva:
This is quantum Cluelessness. it seems you don't know the difference between a tribe and a state. Are you aware that Keshi is also from that part of Delta state? What a joke.

Are you also aware that I'm from Delta State? Our language is somehow similar to igbo and we don't classify our selves as igbo despite the fact that most of our names are Igboish.

@Topic, Spain world cup winning team paraded players majority of whom are from Catalonia. I've not heard the spanish criticizing Del bosque for fielding mainly catalan players.

I don't give a hoot which part of Nigeria they come from, the only criteria that matters is "are they best Nigerian team that can play the round leather game?

If the whole team comes from the same village, that is perfectly fine with me provided they are the the very best/chosen on merit and can deliver results.

When I watch any Super Eagles team..all i see is Nigerians fighting hard for our fatherland.

I remember after AFCON a guy from my tribe was complaining that the cash awards to the Super Eagles was unfair because the team is predominantly made of Igbo boys. I was like....."what kind of brain, if any, does this person have in his head"?

'Biafran' team won us AFCON in 1994 and 2013 while 'Nigerian' team has fumbled over and over again.

Maybe we should stick with more 'Biafran' teams for success.

Theben: Igiebor, echiejile, moses, musa, enyeama, ideye, ameobi, oboabona, ejide, ruben,kwambe, and Onazi are to the best of my knowledge not from south east.

Keshi is not from the south east, igboland did not start and end in southeast. Keshi is an Igboman from delta state, echiejile and Nduka ugbade are Igbomen from Edo state, we have igbos whose towns are in Akwa ibom, benue, Rivers and Bayelsa.

Theben: Compare 94 squad
I can boldly say that there are more igbos in the 94 squad than we have now. I dont care if we have all 11 players from S.E. My major concern is result. Any team that is capable of doing us proud should be presented. The whole Nigeria celebrated Yekini when he was doling out goals for Nigeria. No one remembered his tribe then so there is no need to start bringing up issues where none exist.

Yea, 11 of the 22 players of that team are Igbos, that's impressive.

DrKlever: Foolish post! When is Keshi who is from ila in Delta state, south south nw a south eastern coach? To the best of my knowledge Efe Ambrose, Obaobona, Enyeama, Ideye, Musa, Moses, Echeijile, Nosa Igiebor and Onazi are not from the south east. The fact that someone has an igbo name or one that's like does not mean he is from south east. There is nothing like briafra team we only have super eagles of Nigeria, get that into ur tiny skull.

South east does not equate to Igbo, not all south easterners are Igbos, we have ethnic igala and Idomas in the south east. Keshi is not from the south east but is Igbo, he doesn't have Igbo name, he is Igbo. Same way Chukwuma nzeogwu was not from the southeast but was Igbo. Echejile is an Igboman from edo state, just like Nduka Ugbade.

Theben:
Onazi is from benue state, Echiejile from Delta. Oboabona is from Esan Edo State.

Echiejile is from Igbo speaking part of Edo state.

Theben: ^
Igbo speaking part of Delta is still delta. The same way Yoruba speaking part of Edo is listed under the South South region.

Delta is not a name of a language or ethnic group.

Theben:
Are you also aware that I'm from Delta State? Our language is somehow similar to igbo and we don't classify our selves as igbo despite the fact that most of our names are Igboish.

@Topic, Spain world cup winning team paraded players majority of whom are from Catalonia. I've not heard the spanish criticizing Del bosque for fielding mainly catalan players.

There is nothing like 'Igboish', nobody in Igboland speaks igbo language, we all speak dialects of Igbo language, and your anioma is no different, so better get that idea that your names sound 'Igboish' from your mind.