Dear Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi,

It is with deep concern about the state of the Super Eagles that i write this open letter to you.

I have been an ardent follower of our national teams since the mid 1980s(Precisely China '85 Kodak U16 WC). I started following the Eagles since Maroc '88 where I watched the likes of you (Keshi), Odegbami brothers, Henry Nwosu, Okwaraji, Eguavoen, Omokaro, Yekini, Okosieme, Edith Egoye, Peter Rufai etc. Infact jst last week i rewatched that Final btw Nigeria and Cameroun. What a highly technical, tactical and matured game!

Never since then has the Super Eagles been in such a lowly state as they are now.

In the 80s we could boast of the likes of you and some other players listed above.

In the 90s we could boast of the likes of Amokachi(Fc Brugges, Everton etc) Okocha (Frankfurt, PSG etc) Amuneke (Barcelona), Finidi ( Ajax), Kanu (Ajax, Intermilan, Arsenal), Babangida (Ajax), Ikpeba (AS Monaco), Babayaro (Chelsea),Yekini (Victoria setubal), Oliseh (Juventus), and others.

In the 2000s we had the likes of Okocha ( Fernabache, Bolton), Kanu (Arsenal, Westbrom, Porthsmouth), Okunowo (Barcelona),Uttakah (Rennes, Porthsmouths etc), Martins (InterMilan, New Castle etc),Yobo (Everton), Babayaro (Newcastle), Yakubu (Middlesbrough, Everton), Agali (Rodstock), Aghahowa (Donesk, Wigan), Odemwengie (Lille,Lokomotive Moskow), Taiye Taiwo (Marseil), Mikel (Chelsea)

Now in the 2010s see our key players: Enyeama (Lille), Mikel (Chelsea), Musa (CSKA Moskow), Emenike (Fernabache), Ambrose (Celtic), Echiejile ( AS Monaco), Onazi (Lazio), Moses (Stokes), Omeruo(Middlesbrough). No Nigerian player today features for a top club in Europe except Mikel hu has been out of Chelsea line up for most part of the season. We no longer have players in Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, Arsenal etc.

We know we are really lacking in quality bt we would nt want to make d mistake of building a team afresh. U started a good work in ur last term as a coach jst dat our boys took some of their opponents in the last qualifiers for granted. We need continuity, nt saying we dnt need new players though, bt their introduction should b gradual.

You ignored several quality foreign players in ur last term giving preference to unexposed home players which proved costly to us.I am nt saying Home based players should be discarded bt the national team should b selected based on merit and nt the "Give the local boys a chance" mentality.

We will need you to fast track the switch in nationality for our Europe born players that have d real quality to feature for the national Team.

We dnt want "imposters" in our team again like players Amokachi used against Uganda and South Africa. We only need proven players with real quality. The Green and white Jerseys should b shown some respect. Only players with real quality should don our jerseys. We also need a gradual integration of some of the U20/U23 players.

We dont need tribal sentiments. Select d best players irrespective of ethnicity.

Lastly, i believe the Super Eagles can bounce back. No complasancy against Egypt, Chad and Tanzania.

Super Eagles shall be great again.

- A concerned Fan.