While the Super Eagles will be able to call on Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi, the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder—another England youth international—has made the opposite decision
England and Nigeria have a long and storied shared history, and now, more so than ever before, the nations’ mutual past is bleeding into their sporting existence.
Nigeria was, of course, a British territory, officially decided at the Berlin Conference of 1885 following decades of increasing British influence in the region. Britain had power over Nigeria until independence in 1960.
The name ‘Nigeria’ was even coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Sir Frederick Lugard—a Governor-General of Nigeria between 1914 and 1919—in an essay for The Times in 1897. Shaw, incidentally, was born in Woolwich—the original home of Arsenal Football Club.
Many strata of Nigeria’s identity—even things as fundamental as her name—were moulded—with varying degrees of legitimacy—by the English, even beyond independence, which came on October 1 1960, when Zik took over Lugard’s former position as Governor-General.
The rest, as they say, is history, but the residual effects of the long and voluble relationship between the two nations is still being felt today.
It was marked that, on the day Nigeria celebrated the 55th anniversary of her independence, another one of the nation’s sons—Dele Alli—was handed his first England call-up.
Dele Alli | Received his first England callup on the day Nigeria celebrated her 55th year of independence
The reality of dual-nationality players is becoming evermore prevalent in the modern football landscape and it is a fiercely contested battleground, not least between African nations and their European counterparts.
Nigeria, over history, have won some and lost some.
John Salako, for example, was born in Ibadan but represented the Three Lions. Gabriel Agbonlahor—a complex case—is another player who ultimately opted for England over Nigeria, while Warri-born Nedum Onuoha, it seems, still hasn’t decided who he wants to turn out for.
While Ikorodu-born Asisat Oshoala shone for the Super Falcons at the Women’s World Cup earlier this year, Eniola Aluko—born 19km away in Lagos—was one of the faces of the tournament, but represented England’s Lionesses, rather than the land of her birth.
Eniola’s brother Sone, of course, made a different choice, but there have been many others—Una Nwajei, Ugo Ehiogu, Carlton Cole—who chose England, while Nigeria have also ‘lost’ players to Germany (Patrick Owomoyela and Dennis Aogo), Austria (David Alaba), Italy (Angelo Ogbonna) and the United States (Oguchi Onyewu).
Jordon Ibe of Liverpool, is a recent example of a player who has confirmed that he sees his international future—at least for the time being—with England, rather than Nigeria.
The tide, however, may steadily be turning.
There have been various factors that have proved influential in ensuring that some of the players spread across the Nigerian diaspora return to play for the Super Eagles.
A key reason, perhaps, is the decision made by Victor Moses to choose Nigeria over England. Moses, starring in the Premier League, receiving interest from major clubs, having worked his way up through the England youth set-up to become an U21 international, was exactly the kind of player that many African players are losing to European nations.
He could have been an archetypal ‘lost’ son of the continent.
The forward, however, opted to represent the Super Eagles, and only months after making his debut, became the darling of the nation as Nigeria won the 2013 Cup of Nations.
While the road has been long and winding for Moses, he has gone on to represent Chelsea, to win the Europa League and to demonstrate that he can influence high-profile matches in the Premier League—the latest example being West Ham United’s 2-1 away triumph over Manchester City.
Moses has become something of a beacon for U21 players across Europe who may now be considering—more so than they might have done five years ago—representing their lands of birth/origin overseas.
I wonder what influence Moses’s switch had on someone like William Troost-Ekong, who would subsequently opt for a future with Nigeria rather than with the Netherlands, for whom he competed at U19 and U20 level.
Alex Iwobi looks set to be the next player to follow in the West Ham striker’s footsteps.
Jay-Jay Okocha’s nephew was born in Nigeria but has represented England at U16, U17 and U18 level. As a young starlet at Arsenal, there’s no reason why he couldn’t have genuine, realistic ambitions of representing the Three Lions one day should he desire to do so.
However, Iwobi has spoken unequivocally about his desire to feature for Nigeria after his father taught him about the prestige, honour and pride that goes with playing for the West African giants.
Nigerians will hope that England’s loss will be Nigeria’s gain, and just a smidgen for Okocha’s talent would be enough to get supporters raving!
However, any joy taken from Iwobi’s decision may evaporate with the news that Roy Hodgson has opted to name Tottenham Hotspur’s Alli in his latest squad…thereby ‘claiming’ him for England.
It’s a surprising decision.
19-year-old Alli only moved to Spurs from his hometown club Milton Keynes Dons (then in the third tier) during the summer, and despite being a highly regarded talent, and despite making a good impression in his 322 minutes of Premier League action to date (enough, seemingly, for Hodgson), it’s hard to see him as one for the present, rather than for the future.
On this week, once again, and specifically on the day of Nigeria’s independence celebrations, the battle lines have been drawn once again and two great nations have each claimed one of the bright talents of English—and specifically North London—football.
It will be intriguing to watch Iwobi and Alli develop over the years, one for Nigeria, one for England, one for Arsenal, one for Tottenham, the one who the Super Eagles claimed, and the one that got away.
I wonder what Flora Shaw would have made of it all...
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