The following is ascribed as a statement by Osaze Odemwingie! A forward of the Super Eagles of Nigeria (I cannot collaborate its efficacy, but I reprint it, as I received it via twitter postings)
"Yes, I would say I am sorry to Nigerians for not playing according to expectations, and I believe I did not play well in the match. But the prediction of Prophet TB Joshua really affected us. We thought we could see him and see how he could overturn the negative prediction but the officials came with another prophet who prayed for us and told us that all was well" Osaze Odemwingie culled in from Twitter.
As a young player, in the Nigeria amateur leagues, I was exposed to prophets, marabauts, prayer "warriors", fetish inclinations of our team handlers, owners, supporters and team mates. As a kid, it was amusing for me to watch these individuals lose faith in their abilities, training, preparations and creativity in being enough to achieving success. The "extra" as it was called in those days, became a norm than a myth.
I heard stories of live cows being buried in the middle of the center circle of the field by big teams just days before matches, I actually saw bloodied dead animals being thrown in front of our buses on many occasions. I had attended many prayer sessions and watched as very confident men, were reduced to doubting their capabilities and years of practice, grooming and innate instincts....
Then I left to study abroad, and played for teams in advance countries, during that period, the only time I came close to my Nigerian league experiences, was in a tournament in Mexico, wherein our team was faced against another diabolical team, that during our in field lineup, had a witch doctor woman, chanting and was "taken by the spirit" and predicted our loss in that game..... some of my team mates of Mexican and Latin extractions, were not composed before and during the match. They were psychologically messed up, and lost focus, that it was only when we were awarded a penalty and scored, that they began to regain their confidence. We won, and after the match, as we exited the stadium, I saw her outside, in front of a bar, drinking a Cerveza beer and looking very forlorn....... I laughed all the way to the hotel... What nonsense!!!!
Clinical and Sports Psychologists will tell you of the impact of images, words, and other influences on athletes before and during key sporting events. And they warn about the negative impact these types of contacts and influences have on athletes.
The above statement credited to Osaze is very unfortunate! how could the handlers of the Nigeria Super Eagles allow such negative influences on the players??? It is amazing.... Culturally, Psychologically, and Emotionally, it is very upsetting. I believe it is irresponsible of the FA to allow "pastors" and "prayer warriors" access to the players or come into camp, to "pray" for the players.
Does the team not have its own chaplain and imam?? Clergy, that is trained to support and POSITIVELY prepare the mindset and conditioning of the team with religious scripture???
Furthermore, if true, why would TB Joshua, go ahead to pronounce a negative outcome on the team?? what was he trying to achieve?? Who does that???? Really!!!!
This kinds of situations just turns my gut against the Super Eagles handlers, administrators of the Nigeria Football Association and those dogooders.
Samson Siasia and Simon Kalicha should know better. There should be a trained team psychologist, a chaplain and/or imam, people who work with the team to ensure that their mindset is prepared, and focused on executing the planned match. For those players who are religiously inclined, the only person they get to talk to, is the team's chaplain or imam. These are the only approved "prayer warriors" that have the access and authority to "pray" with and for the team.. The rest of us, should do so, in our private spaces......
It is incredible that in this day and age, we must ensure that these types of influences are immediately stopped and checked.
And to "Prophets" like TB Joshua.... Please keep your bad news to yourself, if you have nothing good to say and if you really are that all powerful and all seeing, why not be patriotic and change the foreseen fortunes!!!.......... Nah, I am so upset.... I need to refrain myself from continuing with my thoughts about the statements listed above...
May the good lord have mercy on the way we treat ourselves and our country.......
No comments:
Post a Comment