I know I might not strike you as a sports kind of guy maybe because I hardly write sport-related stuff but I am, I promise. Matter of fact, I'm a die-hard Arsenal fan and I'm actually at the point of dying literally.

You see, I'm a very committed and patient man, little wonder I'm Nigerian. If you are reading this and are Nigerian, then I salute and celebrate you. Presently, there are a lot of similarities between Arsenal and Nigeria. One remarkable, obvious one is that you have to have a heart of stone to survive the love for them seeing as both of them are widely regarded as underachievers.

Nigeria is a country blessed with so much potential, raw material, natural resources, etc; just as Arsenal is a team blessed with talent, raw material (wonderful youth academy), natural resources (home grown talent). However, both successfully (with ease) break the hearts of their fans year after year.

It's been seven years since Arsenal last won a trophy and it's almost seven years since Nigeria had a leadership that at least brought some form of goodwill the way of its people. The Obasanjo regime probably remains our best in terms of the dividend(s) of democracy.

Arsenal is a team that plays the best, attractive, entertaining football; but has failed to see that entertainment alone does not win trophies. In the modern day game, the best players win trophies. This is similar to Nigeria where we possess a system attractive to the onlooker outside; this attracts investors but they come only to discover that the best hands are not managing these institutions.

Oh, how can I forget to mention that Arsenal has a strict wage policy that limits the earnings of its best players to sums as ‘paltry’ as $80,000 while their counterparts of less quality earn even more. This is similar to our dear country where our strict wage policy sees workers earn a minimum of N18,000 monthly. Their 'counterparts' washing toilets in other countries earn more.

For the past seasons, Arsenal has lost most of its best players to other clubs as a result of the annoying wage policy or their hunger for titles. Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and soon Robin Van Persie all moved and won the trophies they sought; as well as got paid well for it. Our country, Nigeria is gradually becoming a breeding ground for the fresh minds who discover that there is little room for them to be all they desire tobe. There is little renumeration after work is done; and as such, greener pastures are sought elsewhere.

Are we going to keep being the 'feeder team' to the other nations of the world while ours continually rots? Do our policies need to be altered? Are we going to keep 'entertaining' and producing talent while the world snaps them up and urges us to do more?
Enough is enough. We need a change and we need it now.

I believe in Nigeria.

Kelvin Igbodo