Courtesy of KenyaNet: Prior to the world cup qualifier between Kenya and Nigeria, President
Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to reward Harambee stars players with Ksh 3
million should they upset Nigeria.
Nairobi's Senator Gideon “Mbuvi” Sonko for his
part pledged Ksh 1 million for a win and Ksh 200,000 for each goal
scored by Kenya.
Suffice to say none of that money will be forthcoming given that
Kenya not only lost but did not score. In fact Kenya hardly tested
Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. There were times when Kenya
displayed confidence, tactical astuteness and solid defending. However
all this positive play happened in their own half. Harambee stars rarely
ventured forward and indeed there was no shot on goal.
Why you may ask ? To begin with, Kenya was missing alpha Striker
Dennis Oliech who was suspended due to successive yellow cards.
Secondly, Kenya were wary of pushing too many players forward for fear
of a Nigeria counter attack. Coach Adel Amrouche deduced that his best
chance of winning was adopting a defensive stance and hoping to catch
Nigeria on the counter-attack or on dead ball situations. To put it
plainly, Kenya did not have the firepower to match Nigeria so Amrouche
played it safe by focusing on defense.
How can Kenya build firepower enough to match the likes of Nigeria.
The answer is simple : Youth development. There is plenty of talent in
Kenya but it is all going to waste.
Rather than put the Ksh 4 million that they pledged back into their
pockets, Sonko and Uhuru should explore ways to build from the
grassroots. Uhuru as president should lead from the front and work with
well intentioned individuals like Sammy Shollei, Dr William Obwaka, Paul
Ereng and others to establish youth development schemes in counties all
over the nation.
Without youth development, Kenya will perennially lose to the likes
of Nigeria. Of the Kenya players, perhaps only Oliech and Wanyama are
capable of cracking the Nigerian squad. What Kenya needs is a team of
top calibre players like this duo. This can only happen with structured
youth development. Other countries have dozens upon dozens of youth
development schemes spread out all over the country. Kenya will never be
able to compete with other countries unless they do the same. The
country is doomed to mediocrity unless the current status quo changes.
Playing fields are disappearing
As Nairobi becomes more crowded, playing fields that were meant for
youth to play are fast disappearing into the hands of land grabbers and
so called investors. This spells doom for the future of football for it
is on these fields that the stars of tomorrow sharpen their nascent
skills. Sonko as senator of Nairobi should lead the charge in protecting
these fields from land grabbers. Not only that but Sonko should build
more fields so that youth have an avenue to keep themselves busy and
away from crime.
During the colonial days and during the first two decades after
independence, housing estates were always built with playing grounds for
the youth. In fact virtually all the famous playing grounds in Nairobi
were built by the British before Independence. This includes the famous
Jericho sports grounds which has nurtured dozens of national team
players. In fact even middle class estates always had playing grounds
for the youth.
Nowadays, housing estates are never constructed with playing grounds.
And those that existed have been grabbed and are now built up. This is
spelling doom for the future of Kenya football. Sonko as Nairobi senator
should lead the charge in reversing this trend.