When having to choose between helping a kin and a stranger, especially in a clime where the popular parlance “blood is thicker than water”, Nepotism would always rare its head in the mouth of moral arbiters.
When some expected outcomes do not go according to the plan, it is only mentally soothing and almost by default, bar any bad blood between the relatives, the person who holds the choice would favour his relative.
Rightfully, it would make a lot of sense to rather vote on the bases of competence rather than cronyism, but when the relative is doing equally well, or the worst not far behind, the decision to favour one’s kindred would make perfect sense.
It is not also to say that anybody should be slammed for a decision they have all of their rights to own, simply because it is not in agreement with one’s opinion.
Asisat Oshoala might not be the most impressive of players on the shortlist of the best women football players in Africa, which is only based on her not-so-impressive performances for the Nigerian national team, it would, however, simply be down to a personal agenda not to see her as the best African woman footballer in the world at any point since she has been winning the award.
Truth is, she has not exactly been able to replicate her club form for the Super Falcons, but outrightly downplaying her influence.
It is also funny that Alexia Putellas should not even be considered in the top 3 of balon d’or nominees for last year based on her performances with the Spanish national team, but here we are casting stones at our very own, simply pathetic.
So much has been said about other players even in the Super Eagles, Osimhen being the best example.
He has often been maligned by those who should know better, however, it is rather sad that the foreign media has promoted our own gems better than we have done.
It should be considered a mattered betrayal by those people that have been singled out to have at any point in time downplayed the influence of Osimhen, and full of hypocrisy sing the praises of Haaland (who, even by eye-test, shared a similar striker profile as Victor Osimhen). The madness simply needs to stop.
One could understand the pains of these Athletes not exactly having the same fortunes as they have had with their respective clubs in the national teams they represent, but the bigger problem is that the national teams never had a system of football, a whole lot of disorganization, which is quite alien to how they play in the biggest teams in Europe.
This act of hypocrisy, even by respected media personnel, definitely has to stop.
