People always ask this question, what’s in a name? I believe that there is everything in a name.The Bible tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue. So the name a child is given at birth most times manifests in his life. We are told of a man named Caleb, said to be a man of the tribe of Judah, known for his unwavering faith in God.
Caleb and Joshua had faith in the assignment given to them to explore Canaanland and they delivered.
People always ask this question, what’s in a name? I believe that there is everything in a name.The Bible tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue. So the name a child is given at birth most times manifests in his life. We are told of a man named Caleb, said to be a man of the tribe of Judah, known for his unwavering faith in God.Caleb and Joshua had faith in the assignment given to them to explore Canaanland and they delivered.In the senior national basketball team, the D’Tigers, we have our own Caleb, the son of Agada. Like the biblical Caleb, he too had faith that it was not over for the D’Tigers in the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers.The team grouped alongside Cape Verde, Uganda and Libya had lost all the three games they played in the first round of the qualifiers held in Tunisia in February of 2024. They placed last in the group and their fans lost hope.So when the second round came in February of 2025, the team assembled again but among the players who represented Nigeria in the first round of qualifying in Monastir, Tunisia, only two – Mike Nuga and Abe Abuchi Agu returned for the decisive three matches in Tripoli, Libya.They were handled by a local coach, Abdulrahaman Mohammed who is not new to the team having served severally as one of assistant coaches, the most visible being in the squad of 2015 that won the Afrobasket in Tunisia for the first time under American coach, William Voigt.One player called into the team was Caleb Agada. And like the biblical Caleb, he had faith that all was not lost, that with a rugged determination, the chestnut could still be pulled out of the fire.They did it in style, beating the three teams that beat them in the first round and placed third with nine points to qualify alongside Libya and Cape Verde.Agada who plays currently for Avtor Saratov in Russia, had patriotism flowing through his veins and wanted to ‘die’ for the country.
Hear him: “I know what it means to the country (qualifying for the Afrobasket), what it means to the fans and what it means to represent my country. So every time I step on the court, I want to give my best for the fans, for the veterans who are no longer playing and to make Nigeria proud.
The win against Uganda meant a lot to us because that is what we came here to do, to get that qualification ticket to go to Angola. We needed to be focused, come together, play to our strengths and try to play well at all times”, he said.Explaining that the first round of qualifying games in the Tunisian city of Monastir was difficult, he affirmed that “when we got to Libya (for the second round) we were focused on making up for it by getting a qualification ticket, and that meant we just had to give our best.”That is the Nigerian spirit which most of our national teams posses. This was visible in the football teams in the past like we witnessed with the 1987 set of the Flying Eagles that came back from 0-4 to beat the then USSR on penalties after tying the game at 4-4 and without a winner after extra time.The 1996 Olympics squad captained by Nwankwo Kanu were equally in the never-say-die Nigerian spirit when they came from behind to beat Brazil to qualify for the final to meet Argentina.
That is the same spirit the present crop of Super Eagles lack but must imbibe as they prepare to begin the battle for the last six matches which begins with two this month.They will face Rwanda on March 21 before coming home to play Zimbabwe, the last in the group in Uyo on March 24.Like Agada said, the players should know what qualification for the World Cup means to them and Nigerians and so should be focused, come together and play to their strengths.They are expected to go straight to their Kigali camp on March 17, four days to the encounter. And with only three days to train together, one is therefore at a loss as to why the Chief Coach, Eric Chelle chose to invite 39 players.How is he going to select 23 players from the 39 in just three sessions of training? And the ever broke Nigeria Football Federation, NFF didn’t even consider the cost of inviting 16 extra players, when only five new players could have been invited to contest for positions with the regulars.
Former Super Eagles defender, Ifeanyi Udeze while speaking on a Smailz FM radio programme in Lagos during the week equally questioned the rationale of inviting as many as 39 players for two qualifiers.
AmemberoftheNFFTechnicalCommitteeandformer Super Eagles attacker, Victor Ikpeba didn’t spare some of the players, whom he said couldn’t have made it into the squad during his days in the team. His concern is the lackadaisical attitude some of them put up in camp and during matches.
The tie against Rwanda which comes up in 12 days is an acid test for Chelle. It will decide if he will be trusted to continue with the team and if the next match against Zimbabwe and the subsequent ones against South Africa, Benin Republic and Lesotho will make any meaning to their qualification battle.