Which way for Nigerian football?

The public outcry that trailed the presidential directive and the fear of FIFA ban for government interference invariably compelled President Jonathan to reverse his earlier directive. But before that policy summersault, a major shakeup in the leadership of the football sector was witnessed. At an emergency meeting in Abuja, nine out of the thirteen NFF […]

The public outcry that trailed the presidential directive and the fear of FIFA ban for government interference invariably compelled President Jonathan to reverse his earlier directive. But before that policy summersault, a major shakeup in the leadership of the football sector was witnessed.

At an emergency meeting in Abuja, nine out of the thirteen NFF Executive Committee members unanimously agreed to impeach the former president Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi, 1st Vice-President, Chief Amanze Uchegbulem and the former Chairman of Technical Committee, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi. Their sins? Corruption, high handedness, ineptitude and nepotism.

The faint hope harboured by the sacked leaders to escape the axe was completely extinguished when the NFF congress met later in the week and unanimously rectified the decision of the nine Executive Committee members.

As if to rub salt into festering wound, the embattled former NFF president and his two allies were handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for investigation over the alleged misappropriation of a whooping N1.3 b meant for the prosecution of the 2010FIFA World Cup.

Already the anti-graft agency has beamed its search light on the NFF secretariat and the finance department is its main attraction. Early last week officials of the commission stormed the NFF secretariat and after quizzing top officials in the finance department for several hours, left with close to fifty files for further investigations.

For now, it is too early for the accused persons to expect any reprieve as the questions they are going to answer are so many and might be hard nuts to crack.

In order to avoid any vacuum in the administration of the game, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, Chief Obina Ogba and Mr. Dominic Iorfa all Executive Committee members of the NFF have since stepped into the shoes of the impeached former colleagues as acting president, Vice-president and technical committee chairman respectively.

They have since swung into action and so far, they appear to be working hard to win back public trust and confidence for Nigerian football. For now, they are yet to put forward any wrong foot. Although the temptation to extend the date for the 2010 NFF election was enormous, the new leadership abided by NFF and FIFA electoral codes. Elections would be held as scheduled and those earlier assigned the responsibility of conducting free and fair election will still preside over the electoral process.

The task before the new NFF leadership is gargantuan but if approached with all sincerity of purpose, their brief stint will bequeath lasting legacies. The least they can do to salvage Nigerian football is to ensure that a credible board made up of football people with impeccable records and proven integrity is constituted.

If they are to sacrifice their personal interests by not returning to the board of the football federation, that should not be too much for them to do to save Nigerian football. Already there are talks in certain quarters that to begin on a clean note, no member of the present Executive Committee should be re-elected. The argument is that they are all part of the previous regime that allegedly failed to deliver on its campaign promises.

But looking at it from another angle, if the baby is not thrown away with the bathing water, it may do the football sector a lot of good because the positive experiences garnered so far by some of the board members who may aspire to return cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand.

The future of Nigerian football is resting squarely on the out of the August 21 election which is expected to produce a board with the necessary clout to rescue Nigerian football from its cesspit of bewilderment.