In 1985, Nigeria internationals and NNB FC teammates Stephen Keshi, Sunday Eboigbe, Bright Omokaro, Henry Nwosu and Tarila Okorowanta were banned by the Nigerian FA for reporting late to the national team camp.

Consequently, the players moved to Ivory Coast, where they joined Stade Abidjan. Two years later, Keshi moved to Lokeren in Belgium and that was to be the start of the exodus of home-grown African talent to Europe.

When Cameroon caused a tremor by beating the world champions, Argentina, 1-0 in their opening game and reaching the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the eyes of the world were opened to the quality of African talent. Four years later, Nigeria followed suit, topping a group that included Bulgaria and the long-suffering Argentina.

The bulk of the players in these squads were Europe-based, mostly out of France and Belgium. It was time for Europe, and the rest of the world, to sit up and take notice. They duly did.

Scouts flocked to the continent in search of young talent and more players headed out. As more and more came back home riding posh cars and generally flaunting the results of their sojourn abroad, the craze was on. The result is that African players have grown to be ranked among some of the best in the world and African football has also earned well-deserved respect. But this has become as much a curse as it is a blessing.

On the plus side, players earn good money, live good lives, play for some of the world’s top clubs and become big stars and role models. They gain valuable exposure and experience, which translates to marked improvement in their respective national teams.

Clubs such as Beveren, in Belgium, and Ajax, from the Netherlands, have established partnerships and academies in Ivory Coast and South Africa, leading to benefits both ways. Unfortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule. Apart from in South Africa and northern Africa, the domestic game in Africa has not profited from its exports.

In Nigeria, there are pretensions to professionalism, but the game remains basically amateur. Very little, if any, of the hundreds of thousands in foreign currency (usually US dollars) exchanged in player transfers finds its way to the clubs that produced and nurtured the players.

Clubs are poorly run and the majority of players are badly remunerated, earning as little as $200 per month in certain cases. To make matters worse, players are owed wages for anything up to eight months. They are quartered in “camps” which are usually no better than run-down hostels and make trips to away games in cramped buses, sometimes driving for as long as 12 hours.

Access to medical facilities is virtually nonexistent and it must count as one the miracles of the modern game that no player has died on the pitches of Africa. The result is that these players are desperate to leave and will do anything and go anywhere for the prospect of a better life.

The Nigerian situation is replicated almost everywhere across the continent. Unscrupulous agents take advantage and, sometimes in connivance with corrupt club officials, sell players and pocket the proceeds without reinvesting in the clubs.

The Beveren and Ajax Cape Town examples provide different templates for the kind of symbiotic partnership that can provide long-term benefits for the domestic game. The question is: will they be allowed to?

Colin Udoh is the Online Editor of KickOffNigeria.com and a football writer.

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