Former Super Eagles forward Osaze Odemwingie has urged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to rethink its strategy regarding the recruitment of foreign-born players. He emphasized that representing Nigeria’s national team should stem from a genuine passion for the country rather than mere persuasion.
In a recent interview with Brila.net, Odemwingie expressed concerns about the increasing trend of convincing players of Nigerian descent, born abroad, to switch their allegiance to represent the Super Eagles. He pointed out that the connection of these players to Nigeria may not be sufficiently strong in some cases.
Odemwingie stated, ‘I have watched interviews of players who said, “I was born here, raised here; I feel British.”‘ As for me, I had age one to seven in Nigeria, so I went to primary school in Nigeria.
Advertisement“I went to my village with my dad and met my granddad; I had some connections with Nigeria from early childhood then we went to Russia and returned at 17 played five years in Nigeria before I went to Europe to play football.
“These days, it’s like they want the pampering. Me as you know, I don’t need no pampering. If Naija pampers me, it’s more than enough for me. We love everyone and there are some cases where the love wasn’t based on the decision for the love of a European country, unless maybe you have a mixed heritage,” Osaze stated.