Dear You.

The World Cup happens one time in every four years. It’s more than football.

Even if it’s just football, many Nigerians would be fine with that.

Seeing your team take part in this global assembly is solid.

But how do we end up not participating in this World Cup for two editions back to back? It’s unforgivable.

What if Tinubu does something about this?

We see movies.

What if a secret force of service ensures this happened?

What if they go to Rwanda and do some international lobbying and dirty work to ensure they beat South Africa. While Nigeria gets Ghana-Must-Go money bags and a letter that says WIN OR DIEEEE…

Imagine the day the news breaks: “Nigeria Qualifies!”

Everyone will shout, “God, we thank You!” forgetting that “God” probably hired some desperate men in suits to make it happen.

We will dance. We will tweet. We will forget that just months ago, we didn’t even have a working football structure.

And that’s the Nigerian way, isn’t it?

We don’t fix the system. We fix the score.

We don’t build properly. We just build enough to be seen.

But you can’t keep patching pride with politics.

If the Super Eagles ever want to fly again, they must learn to fly without being carried by state power or money or “luck”.

They must rediscover hunger the type Jay-Jay, Kanu, and Finidi played with. The type that made our flag mean something on the global stage.

Football used to unite us. Now it only reminds us of how divided we’ve become; in tribe, in vision, in leadership.

And yet, we still wait for miracles. Maybe one day, a Tinubu-type leader will actually do the right thing, not the movie thing. Maybe he’ll fix sports the way we fix roads before a governor’s visit.

Till then, we’ll keep dreaming.

Dreaming of another World Cup that won’t miss our green-white-green.

Dreaming of a Nigeria that shows up not because of bribes or backdoor deals but because we truly earned it.

And maybe, when that happens, we’ll finally remember that football is more than just a game.

It’s a mirror.

And right now, the reflection isn’t pretty.

But what you want to hear me say is:

3—0 against South Africa.

3—0 against Benin.

So take it.

Congratulations to you and yours.

Your Football Spotter

Ediale

#ForTheCulture

PS: I am still genuinely not optimistic.