Oliseh must get Ibe, Iwobi – Micheal

Sunday Oliseh

Ajibade Babalade has urged Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh to try to persuade England-based duo Jordon Ibe and Alex Iwobi to play for the Super Eagles.

Nineteen-year-old Ibe, who was born in London to Nigerian parents, has represented England at Under-18 and Under-19 level. However, the teenager is still eligible to play for Nigeria at the senior level.

Arsenal forward Iwobi, who is the nephew of former Eagles captain Austin Okocha, has represented England at Under-16, 17 and 18 level.

Like Ibe, the 18-year-old Arsenal Under-21 team captain Iwobi, who was born in Lagos, is eligible to play for Nigeria.

Ibe, who was one of Liverpool’s best players last season, has been promised first team action by the Premier League club manager Brendan Rodgers in the new season following his impressive performances in the team’s pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia.

Scoring his first goal for the Gunners in their 6-0 victory over Lyon in London on July 25 earned Iwobi plaudits from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Reports last month claimed Oliseh was planning to meet with Ibe to persuade him   to commit his international future to Nigeria, and former Eagles defender Babalade hailed the move.

Although Iwobi in January pledged his international allegiance to Nigeria, Babalade says there is a need for the new Eagles manager   to meet with the player to assure him of regular playing time if he works hard to justify his invitation for the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

“I’m happy with Oliseh’s appointment as Nigeria coach,” the Senegal ’92 Africa Cup of Nations bronze medallist told our correspondent on the telephone during the week.

“He was my teammate in the national team – and I believe he is the right man for the job.

“He said he would give our best plays a chance to play for the national team. I’m glad.

“Our team need quality players at the moment, because we have been lacking quality in every department.

“Ibe and Iwobi are quality players. There are other good young European-born players of Nigerian descent we can persuade to play for us.

“But Oliseh must get Ibe and Iwobi. They will help the Eagles a lot, because they are quality players.”

The former Shooting Stars strongman maintains Oliseh needs time to resurrect the fortunes of the Eagles, who missed out of place in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations – after winning the 2013 tournament in South Africa.

The former Austria-based defender, popularly called Kunde,   said, “We need a team that will instill fear into our opponents like the Eagles of the 90s. Many teams were afraid to play us because we played good football. We had quality players and everybody worked their socks off   to help the team win games.

“Oliseh should work hard to build a strong team for us. We need players who are hungry for success. We need players who are ready to fight for the ball.”

Babalade added, “I believe Oliseh will succeed. But it will take him a year to build a solid team.

“He needs time. We just need to be patient with him. We shouldn’t expect miracles, because Oliseh is no magician.

“I love the way the Nigeria Football Federation is supporting him. I pray they continue to support him.

“A win against Tanzania (in their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on September 5)   will help the Eagles regain their confidence.

“A draw won’t be a bad result for the team in the encounter.

“Many people will lose interest in the team if we rae beaten by Tanzania. Oliseh will come under pressure from the media and fans. I pray for a good start for him.”

He says Oliseh should not bow to pressure from some sections of the media to exclude the likes of Mikel Obi, Emmanuel Emenike and Brown Ideye from his plans, saying the players still have a lot to offer the national team.

“They are good players and they should be invited   to prove themselves,” the Shooting Stars team manager said.

“We need their experience to win games. We shouldn’t write them off because they struggled to regain their best form last season.”

Babalade urged former Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi to drop his plan to sue the NFF for “wrongful dismissal and defamation”.

He said, “Keshi should forget about the NFF and move on. He should be proud to have won the Africa Cup of Nations and taking the country to the second round of the 2014 World Cup.”