Nigeria's Politically Correct Team In Brazil

In two weeks, on Monday, June 16, Nigeria will play Iran in Brazil world football competition as its first match in the Group F, trying to qualify for the second stage.
Go, Go, Naija!
Now, there is something strange with the team Nigeria is sending to Brazil. The minister of sport has asked the coach Stephen Keshi, to choose at least a player from each of the 36 Nigerian states, making sure each ethnic group is fairly represented.

“Make sure the players from the North are at least 50% in the team. For the South, 25% should be from the West, and 25% for the East. We don’t want to cause frustration to local populations because they won’t have any player from their ethnic group in the team. It’s a national team, you understand. Every son and daughter of this country should feel well represented.” said the Nigerian Minister of Sports Dr Tamuno Danagog.

Stephen Keshi, who is one of only two people, along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and a coach, kindly told the minister that sport is not about the West, the south, the north or the Ibo, the Yoruba or the Haoussa.

“Minister, please understand that this is high level sport. We need the best players, only the best ones, where ever the region they come from, or whatever their ethnicity or language. We will not be able to win a single match if I’d select players based on their language or region of birth. Please, Minister, kindly reconsider your position.” pleaded the coach Stephen Keshi.
The Minister won’t hear the coach, because he has an upcoming election to win, and won’t let a competition of 11 boys running after a small ball on a green field in Brazil stand on the way of his political savviness.
The coach Stephen Keshi was obliged to comply.

The 23 players he has selected are 50% from the north, 25% from West and 25% from the East. In some region, he couldn’t even find 3rd division players, so he was obliged to include some college amateur players in the national team. Also, Some people who will be traveling with the national team to Brazil will be there only because Keshi couldn’t find any player at all in some ethnic group, so he promised the Minister he will give them free tickets, all expenses covered to travel to Brazil to enjoy. The Minister was happy.

If you are upset reading this, let me tell you this how nigerian government’s cabinet are formed. I just used the football analogy to make you understand how absurd is the idea of a federal government which is not made of the best people Nigeria has, but formed depends on ethnic or regional representation.
If all Nigerians understand that to win a football match, they don’t care about the ethnic background of the players, I think they would understand that to win the war against poverty, the war against illiteracy, the war against pollution, the war against power disruption, the war against corruption, the Nigerian government should be made only of the best and finest of our people, regardless of their background.

There is a daily worldwide governments’ competition to beat each other, and secure a better future for their citizen. Tough less visible, and less noisy, it still is there, and we better win at that competition too!
Our future depends more on our government quality, than on winning a soccer competition!
Go, Go, Go, Naija! Bring back the Cup!

from here