Two of those fringe players hoping to make an impression were Leeds United midfielder Stephen McPhail, winning his tenth cap, and veteran midfielder Mark Kinsella, who won his 47th, but neither one covered himself in glory at The Valley.
McPhail made an unforced error that should have resulted in a goal, while Kinsella was less fortunate as his mistake did help hand the slick Nigerians the opener after 36 minutes.
Kinsella lost possession and Bartholomew Ogbeche of Paris St Germain unleashed a fierce low drive from 20 yards which hit the inside base of the left post before bouncing into the opposite corner.
Ogbeche’s goal made amends for his poor miss after 18 minutes. McPhail gave the ball away in the centre circle and the Nigerians quickly worked it to Ogbeche who was unmarked on the left angle of the six yard line. However, with only goalkeeper Colgan to beat, he slid his shot against the far post.
Ireland’s midfield went missing again to allow Nigeria to score a second goal four minutes into the second half, and that was the end of Kerr’s proud run in friendly fixtures and only the second defeat – but the heaviest – in his 16 matches in charge.
Obafemi Martins, the Inter Milan striker, ran unchallenged from just past halfway before skipping inside Kenny Cunningham on the edge of the box and poking a smart low shot inside Colgan’s left post.
The Africans, playing with great aplomb, struck for a third with twenty minutes remaining.
Cunningham hit a strong back pass without realising how close the goalkeeper was to him near the edge of his box, and it was almost impossible for Colgan to control the ball. It bounced off his body and fell into the path of Ogbeche who tapped it into the empty net.
Ireland’s only real chance in the first half came after nine minutes when Alan Lee bustled his way through on the right edge of the box before firing a low shot straight at the goalkeeper, and they deserved to be behind at the break.
Kerr made two changes at the interval with QPR winger Martin Rowlands and Stoke’s Clive Clarke replacing Liam Miller and Alan Maybury. That meant a second cap for Rowlands after he also came off the bench on Thursday, while for Clarke it was his senior international debut.
However, before either player could settle it was game over as Martins scored the type of goal which would have left Kerr fuming.
The experiments continued after 66 minutes when Holland was replaced by Blackburn’s Jonathan Douglas for his second cap, having also come off the bench in Poland last month. He too had hardly settled before his team were three goals behind.
McPhail and Robbie Keane both hit the post late on, and both will have to increase their work rate over the coming week, if Ireland are avoid defeats to Jamaica on Wednesday, their final Unity fixture, and against Holland at the Amsterdam ArenA on Saturday night.
Republic of Ireland: Colgan, Finnan, Maybury (Rowlands 46), Cunningham, Doherty, Kinsella, Millar (Clarke 46), Holland, Lee, Keane (Barrett 83), McPhail.
Subs (not used): Quinn, O'Brien, Kenny, Barrett, Thompson, Douglas, Reid, Given, Morrison, Doyle, McGeady.
Nigeria: Rotimi, Olajengbesi, Enakhire, Utaka, Obodo, Martins (Showumni 82), Lawal, Olofinjana (Obiefule 85), Abbey (Adamu 89), Ogbeche (Baita 72), Ekwueme.
Subs (not used): Bankole, Obiefule, Akwuegbu.
Goals: Ogbeche 35, 70, Martins 50.
Ref: A D'Urso
Att: 7,438