As many people already know, I have announced my retirement from international football with Nigeria.

I am proud to have represented my country and I treasure the Olympic and African titles I won with the national team.

Being in the Super Eagles has played a big role in what I have achieved in my European club career and for that I am grateful.

At this time, I owe the Nigerian people and all supporters of the Super Eagles around the world an explanation for my decision to quit.

They are entitled to the truth.

Over the last few months, I have been accused of being a disruptive influence on the team, having no respect for constituted authority and behaving in a manner not consistent with my role as captain of the team at the African Nations Cup in Mali.

That is not the case.

All that I am guilty of is standing on my principles as a man and as a leader.

In the years that I have played for Nigeria, I have done my very best to wear the colours of my country with honour and commitment.

In Mali, the players were due a ticket refund, which had not been paid.

As the captain of the team, it was my duty to convey the feelings of my colleagues to the people that could solve the problem.

My colleagues and I were never rude to the late sports minister.

All that we did was to complain about the conduct of Patrick Ekeji (one of the directors in the sports ministry) over how the matter of ticket refunds was handled.

But even if we were rude to the minister, which is not the case, is it fair that players that had worked so hard for Nigeria during the qualifiers and were still in good form were ignored for the World Cup team?

It is painful that our African Nations Cup team was disbanded because I am certain that this World Cup could have been Nigeria's year, if we had been kept together.

Shaibu Amodu, Stephen Keshi and Joe Erico - our coaches at the Nations Cup should have been allowed to take us to the World Cup.

The way they were treated after the African Nations Cup was poor and they did not deserve it.

Shooting straight

Before the World Cup, coach Onigbinde told the media that I had refused to return his calls.

But I called him and made it clear that if Finidi George, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Victor Agali were excluded from the team for non-football reasons, I could not in good conscience go to the World Cup.

During the tournament, it was clear that the team lacked experienced players and we were not as deadly as we used to be.

Some people may have felt that I was happy that Nigeria did not do well in my absence.

Despite my grievances with the people that run football in Nigeria, it is still my country and I was sad that we were knocked out so early.

If Nigeria's profile in football suffers it may have a negative effect on the careers of young people seeking a professional career in Europe.

Clubs may lose interest in buying our young talent, as they would assume that our players are not as good as before.

Players like myself, Taribo West and Finidi George have already made our reputations in Europe, so our concerns are not for selfish reasons.

The fact I have retired does not mean that I no longer care about what happens to Nigerian football after my era.

This was the first World Cup where we failed to win a game and failed to top our group.

If the right measures are not taken to address the problems that affect Nigerian football, I am scared about the future.

We have to become a team that is feared once again.