09/05/2021
JOHN CHIEDOZIE of LEYTON ORIENT
circa 1979
Picture Source: Private Collection
It is unthinkable for the menโs national football teams to play in qualifiers and tournaments without European-based players. Nigeria featured West Hamโs Daniel Jinadu in goal in the last U-17 World Cup.That, in my opinion, highlights how dependent Nigeria is on European-based footballers!
Apart from the 1950s when the likes of Tesilim Balogun and Elkanah Onyeali, both part-time footballers in England, were invited to feature for the national team, European-based Nigerians rarely featured for the national team.
West Ham had a Nigerian striker called Ade Coker in the 1970s, but he was not invited to the Green Eagles.The selectors thought he was not sturdy and skillful enough, perhaps?
The trend of featuring Nigerian players based in Europe started when John Chiedozie and Tunji Banjo, both of Leyton Orient, made their debuts for the Green Eagles in a World Cup qualifier against Tunisia in Lagos on July 12, 1980.
Chiedozie and Banjo won 15-18 caps for Nigeria between them, with the former scoring two goals for Nigeria. Both players had tough acts to follow in the national team. Otto Gloria preferred Sylvanus Okpala, Tunji Banjo and Alloysius Atuegbu in midfield, which meant there was no room to shoehorn Lagos fansโ favorite Muda Lawal in the starting eleven. Chiedozie, on his part, was doubly pressured.
At Leyton Orient, he replaced Laurie Cunningham, the first Black footballer to represent an England international team in a match organized by the English Football Association. Chiedozie took over Segun Odegbamiโs jersey number and position in the national team, with Odegbami playing as a central striker and swapping his signature No.7 jersey for the No.9 jersey. Chiedozie, like Odegbami, was a chalk-on-the-boots winger with an eye for a goal, but he had more pace and was more direct.
Today, globalization has affected conventional constructs of citizenship. Football has assumed an ever more significant role within the globalization process and the regeneration of national and local identities in the postcolonial and global ages. One of the subjects that divide opinion and generates (heated) debates among Nigerian football faithful is what country players born and/or raised in Europe by Nigerian parents/guardians should represent.
The emergence of promising players in the Premier League like Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace, Bukayo Saka of Arsenal, Tammy Abraham of Chelsea, Fikayo Tomori (now on loan at Milan), Tosin Adarabioyo and Nathan Tella of Southampton has accentuated this debate. There are people, like the cerebral ex-international Charles Okonkwo and the stellar journalist Kayode Ogundare, who argue that Nigeria did not invest in the development of these players and should not reap where it did not sow. Some have countered this argument by saying European national teams are not likely to feature Black players on reasons bordering on racism.
Regardless of what side of the divide one might be on this subject, it is vital to acknowledge the contributions of Chiedozie and Banjo. Their courage and patriotism inspired many football players of Nigerian descent in Europe. They blazed the trail.
- Anonymous Author.
