The first baby steps towards a better governance structure for Nigerian football will be taken today when officials of FIFA and CAF engage critical local stakeholders on the way forward for the national sport following the resignation of the NFF executive committee led by Ibrahim Gusau.
For a country of over 250 million people, football is the people’s game with talent in abundance and so much passion running high.
However, this has not translated to results or even made football a business worthy of note in this country.
An obnoxious 2010 NFF Statutes has ensured that state FA chairmen formed the majority voting bloc at the NFF congress with 37 of them joined by seven other stakeholders.
This huge imbalance meant that since Sani Lulu in 2010, the NFF Presidency as well as the executive committee have been held by these state FA chairmen, many of who do not have anything to show for football development in their locality even after many years at the helm.
Had the September 27 NFF polls gone ahead before the various interventions, Gusau would have returned as NFF president even after taking Nigerian football many years backwards and as many as 11 state FA chairmen were projected to be elected on to the NFF board.
It is for fear of losing power and for their selfish interests that these same state FA chairmen have now kicked against a Normalisation Committee to steer Nigerian football forward.
SCORENigeria insists that a wholesome re-organisation of the composition of the NFF Congress must be embarked upon to ensure an inclusive and more representative body that will bring fresh and bold initiatives to the way and manner Nigerian football is to be administered.
Measures must also be taken to ensure transparency, accountability and professionalism of those saddled with the responsibility of managing football in Nigeria.
The NFF are a cesspool of corruption and until those behind this malice are brought to book, this will continue to be the bane of the sport in this country, which will deny millions of youths opportunities to fulfill their immense potentials.
The NFF secretariat must be totally revamped with young and bright technocrats appointed in place of civil servants, who have nothing to offer for the advancement of Nigerian football.
The NFF technical department must also be re-organised and also empowered to carry out their statutory function to direct the development of the sport in the country.
A lot more needs to be done for Nigerian football to post the results it ought to internationally, while also transforming it into an industry that will gainfully engage millions of Nigerians, like has been the case in England, Germany and Spain.
SCORENigeria aligns with the reform, but this process must be transparent, purposelful and for generality of all stakeholders and not for another set of dictators and power brokers.
