How football can tackle Boko Haram – Toro

Hon. how worried are you that the activities linked with Boko Haram would have adverse effect on football and sports in general in the north? What is happening in the north is unfortunate but that notwithstanding, if the governors in the north would use sports particularly football effectively, definitely everything will be alright. It all […]

Hon. how worried are you that the activities linked with Boko Haram would have adverse effect on football and sports in general in the north?

What is happening in the north is unfortunate but that notwithstanding, if the governors in the north would use sports particularly football effectively, definitely everything will be alright. It all centres on unemployment and idleness. If the governors can put their heads together to use the power of sports, they would be able to bring back lasting peace in the north.

So you believe if the youths are kept busy with sporting activities, the level of insecurity in the region would drop significantly?

Of course it will. In fact in Bauchi State series of competitions are being organized to keep the youth occupied. They are being kept busy and once they are positively engaged, they would surely forget about some of the social vices that have culminated into the security challenges we are facing up north. If sustained, they would surely forget all about Boko Haram and all the rest.

There are fears that very soon sports would die in the north due to the Boko Haram insurgency. What is your take on this concern?

I am deeply worried because there are no more spectators in the stadia. When you go to watch football matches or other sporting events, you see fewer crowds because everybody is afraid for his or her life. Nobody knows what is going to happen next. But as I said earlier if the governors can put their heads together and use sports effectively, I am telling you the rate of crime and violence in the north would reduce drastically.

Warri Wolves have cited insecurity as their reason for not travelling to Bauchi for the Federation Cup round of 16 matches. What is the implication of this decision on Nigerian football?

You see they were totally wrong. Bauchi is one of the safest states in the north. It is not as bad as some people would want us to believe.  Matches have been played in the state without any ugly incident so there was no need for Warri Wolves to blow the security challenges in Bauchi State out of proportion. You only find very few incidents.  They could have gone by air because psychologically they have a reason to fear but for saying they are not going to Bauchi State where security challenges are less, I feel they have other reasons for their action. They should consider Bauchi as one of the best centres in Nigeria.

In view of this what action should the NFF take to serve as a deterrent?

The rule is very clear and I know the NFF would apply the rules accordingly. They will have to face the penalities for refusing to honour their group matches. The rules are there and there are penalities in case of any violations. Something must be done to stop clubs from holding the football federation to ransom.

One thing that has continued to intrigue many people is that despite the security challenges, there have been no reports of any ugly incidents involving sports. What do you think is responsible for this?

Whenever football is played everybody’s attention is towards that particular match. Even without money in their pockets, people find ways to go there and watch. I believe if football is used effectively, the killings in the north would reduce drastically. The attention of the youths would shift from activities of Boko Haram to sports. Once there are competitions for them to participate in or watch, they would not think about crime against their society. If they are engaged morning and evening in sports, they would have no time to sit and plot evil. I said most of the problems are caused by idleness and unemployment. An idle hand is said to be the devils workshop. It is quite unfortunate and the earlier the governors address these issues the better for the region and Nigeria in general. Nobody knows what is going to happen in the next six months. Nobody is secured any longer.

In few days the 2012 London Olympics would commence but Nigeria would not be represented in football. As a former NFA scribe, how sad do you feel?

Very very sad, very very sad. I thought after the 1996 Olympics, every other Olympics Nigeria would be there but today the story is different and I feel sad. Unfortunately, we did not get things right. It is an eye opener. Those in charge will have to sit up and do the right things to ensure that in subsequent Olympics, football is there. And of course this is the right time to start. I am happy that Nigeria is going to be in the next Africa Cup of Nations. We are going to play against Liberia and by the special grace of God, we are going to be there. We are not going to miss the nations Cup.

You sound like one who is underrating the Lone Stars of Liberia?

No! no!! I am not underrating them but I believe Nigeria is going to be at the Nations Cup. I have been following what Keshi is doing and I think he is on track. He does not want to gamble. If he gambles anything can happen and Nigerians will crucify him. If he assembles the best materials but something goes wrong, Nigerians will be happy that he has used the best available materials.

In specific terms what do you think the present NFF needs to do to qualify the nation for all major competitions?

They should concentrate on specific competitions. It is not compulsory to participate in every competition. It is not the way people are thinking they must qualify Nigeria for every CAF and FIFA organized competitions. They should select few and concentrate on them like the Nations Cup, the Olympics and the World Cup. It must not be everything like the five- aside and the rest. It should not be a matter of participating but participating and doing well.

When is your committee going to submit its recommendations to the NFF?

It was meant to be today (Wednesday) unfortunately the FA has little problems but we are trying to work out things. You know they have not collected their allocation for more than six months. So we are slowing down our act ivies but we hope that before the end of the month, things would take shape and we would complete our assignment.

How confident are you that your committee’s recommendations would end the crisis in Nigerian football?

I am confident. More importantly, though I do not want to pre-empt the report, what I know for sure is that our recommendations would go a long way in bringing back lasting peace in Nigerian football. It will make everybody happy. It has to do with the conduct of elections. We want to improve on how we organize our elections. This time, it should start from the local government up to the states and then national. It is not going to be what we used to have. They just organize elections at the national level and then use the machineries they put in place. This time around, we are going to stop such. Once that is sorted out and agreed by the congress, I think it would reduce all the litigations that have constituted a cog in the wheel of progress. We hope to have rancour- free elections in future.