The conferment of the the MON on each member of the Golden Eaglets, and the allotment of a three-bedroom apartment to each of the players is understood. How is the win projecting us to the 20th position of world great economies in 2020?





http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=89385

Eaglets’ Feat in Line with Our Vision 2020’
09.16.2007


President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday said the victory of the nation's Under-17 national team, the Golden Eaglets at FIFA World Cup Competition in South Korea was a major step towards achieving his administration's goal to make Nigeria one of the world's 20 leading economies by Year 2020.
Speaking at a reception in Abuja in honour of the 22 players and the coaching crew who last Sunday defeated Spain by 3-0 to win the World Cup for the third time since 1985 when the bi-annual competition began, Yar'Adua said: "what you have done is in line with our vision to place Nigeria among the to 20 economies of the world by 2020."
Yar'Adua, who was visibly elated told the crowd that turned out for the reception held at the Eagle Square that he and others in government would strive to achieve the 2020 vision, so that the young ones would build on it and make the country one of the 10 topmost developed nations in the future.
The team won all its seven matches, scoring 16 goals and conceding four goals to emerge champions.
Yar'Adua described the achievement as the outcome of doggedness, determination and patriotism and called on other Nigerians to emulate the Golden Eaglets.
He said what the players had seen in terms of reception since their return on Tuesday was just a fraction of the feeling Nigerians had towards them.
Speaking before the President made his speech, the Minister/Chairman of National Sports Commission, Alhaji Hassan Gimba, said the honour done the country by the team was not only savoured in Nigeria, but the whole of Africa.
Gimba said government realised the importance of sports to national development and would not relent in supporting the sector.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Chairman NFA, Alhaji Sani Lulu, said the association would groom the team to form the bulk of future U-21 and the senior national team.
Lulu said the association would also pick its team for the next edition of the tournament to be hosted by Nigeria in 2009 from the various U-13 teams across the country.
He thanked the government for the grand reception, saying the team felt honoured by its magnitude. "Victory is sweet, it was achieved through hardwork, patriotism, dedication and above all prayers," he said.
Also speaking on the Golden Eaglets feat yesterday, Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. John Odey, described it as a "hard earned glory that should be preserved."
Odey who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Interna-tional Airport, Abuja, at a reception organised for the team said "the significance of what we are celebrating is that it is a hard earned glory and any glory that is earned should be preserved," he said.
The minister, who admitted that Nigeria failed to achieve this glory in sports in the past eight years, said "now that we have earned it, we just have to collectively preserve it."
"Our celebrating with the lads is to spur them and encourage Nigerian youths in other endeavours to earn glory for themselves and the country," Odey said.
Members of the Golden Eaglets had arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport at about 8.34 am and were received by the FCT Minister, Alhaji Umar Modibbo and Odey.
Modibbo and Odey accompanied by other government officials and NFA Chairman Sani Lulu led the Golden Eaglets to a waiting crowd hich included cultural troupes and school children.
The troupes from Abuja and Jos, the Nigeria Police Band and the Nigeria Football Supporters Club treated the team to cultural dances and songs. The team was later led to the Presidential Lounge of the airport before being taken through Airport Road to the Abuja City Gate in a long convoy.
They rode in a bust that had a banner that read: "Bravo our Golden Eaglets, we are proud of you."

how not?

First and foremost congratulations to the Golden Eaglets for their wonderful performance to lift the Under-17 world cup for the 3rd time in our history.

Conferment of honours and giving of properties to this wonderful ambarssadors are all in order.

From the footbal perspectieves, i hope the boys can be kept together and tutour by their present coach for the next under 20/21 world cup.

Historically, U17 has always done well for the reason of the fact that they always play as a team and do not see themselves as superstars like their flying and super Eagles counterpart.

Now that they are being showered with gifts and honours I hope that they can
(and Yemi TElla as a pyscologist- I am told) can keep their feet on the ground and ensure that their heads does not swell and get too big that they forget that only result will maintain their reputation or infact cyncis will say that their victory is fluke unless they can repeat it at another level i.e the Under 21 world cup.

Yes, it is possible that this win can propel us to top 20 or even 10 in the football nations/country of the world and indirectly if we do all other things including our econmoy like the golden eaglets it may even propel us to top 20 nations economy  by  year 2020.

There are howver 3 observations I will like to make.

First, there are no direct relevance between the soccer/football and being top 20 economy of the world. Brazil is almost number 1 in football in senior, junior, under17 and even women, they are not in the 20 economy of the world. so they are not diretly related.

Infact sports- football in particular in Brazil and in other poor 3rd world countries is just to coccupy this improverised nations youths time to cover up the povety and government inadequacies.

Secondly, I am begining to suspect that Yar Adua speech writers are just using every opportuniy to say 20 top economy in the world as if by magic we will get us there.

Two things from that,  if we don't work hard 10 times as to what we are doing now we will not only be unable to get there and even if we do, we may not be able to maintain it consistently. Our history has shown that we don't have a maintance culture. We don't even have 10,000MW of electricity when we actually need minimum 50,000 now witthout reserve.

we should be careful not to build castle in the air. OBJ spend 8 years and cannot light up the country.  Shame on PDP. What about our transport network. shambles.

Third and finally, we should give credits to whom it is due. Yar Adua came to power barely 4 months ago, and before then it was OBJ, Ogun state , Lagos stae and Benue state govt that has been taking care of this guy, to now attribute the success to Yar Adua speaks volume on the type of people we Nigerians are. We do not give credit to whom it is due and only sing along with whomever is there so that we may be seeing not to sing out of line when infact singing out the tune is the thruth.

It was during Yar adua administaration that the Golden Eaglets won the cup but their preparations was many months before he came to power.

They even qualify to go the world cup before he became president, so OBJ, Daniel, Tinubu deserve more credits including the previous govt of beneue State.

Whether we have arrived or not 2009 and U21 world cup will confirm that. whether we can build upon that success, it is in the hand of God.

This is purely football in all honesty but Vision 2020 should be taken more seriously rather than just paying lip service to it.

May God continue to bless this nation and everyone of us.