Former Inter Milan and AC Milan star Taribo West was a flamboyant defender in his hey days, who has now teamed up with several other former internationals in a bid to get rid of corrupt top officials as the fortunes of the national sport in Nigeria have dwindled.
West was in the 90s an uncompromising centre-back, who was also known for his stylishly coloured dreadlocks for both club and country.
He was also outspoken even then that he is still remembered for dismissing his fellow teammates as “junk players” after the Super Eagles crashed out at the group stage of the 2002 World Cup.
He is now a pastor and a crusader for a better run Nigeria football.
“We’re tired of people stealing what we worked hard for,” said the straight-talking Taribo on a Human Rights Radio programme that has in the past few weeks been exposing the rut at the NFF.
“Football brings everybody together especially when the national team is playing, then there is no Hausa, no Efik, no Yoruba.
“But today, Nigeria football is sinking, it’s almost dead.
“And there’s almost no place where you can talk against those managing football (in Nigeria) because they have paid everybody.”
Taribo lamented the plight of the country’s team to the recent FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Brazil to underline how the country’s football has sunk due to corruption.
“I was with the team before they travelled to Brazil and they did not have water to drink when they trained, no jerseys, no medical support,” complained Taribo, who won a historic Olympic soccer Gold in Atlanta in 1996 and played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
“If you wanted a jersey, you had to ask from the girlfriend of the NFF president.
“The corruption is just killing.”
Nigeria’s teams to this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Poland both staged pay strikes to protest against unpaid bonus and allowances overseas.
“A lot of things that are not acceptable around the world are now the norm in Nigeria football,” added Emeka Ezeugo, who featured at the 1994 World Cup in the USA, where the Super Eagles were only seconds away from reaching the quarterfinal on their debut.
“Kidnapping and advanced fee fraud are a norm in Nigeria because we accepted them long ago. That’s also what is happening in Nigeria football.
“I am hugely disappointed with the federal government because it has accepted all that’s going on in our football despite its stance against corruption.”
Emmanuel Babayaro, a hero from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and Harrison Jalla, also an ex-international and players’ union boss, are some of the other former football stars in the vanguard against the alleged corruption at the Nigeria Football Federation.
“The players have seen the truth and they are also pained that the football they gave everything including the best of their youth for it to grow is dying in the country,” explained Tunde Aderibigbe, a director at the NFF who has petitioned against the NFF leadership to both anti-corruption agencies, ICPC and EFCC.
“The local league, which produced many of them, is now a big joke with no sponsors and this year, teams representing Nigeria have failed internationally, including the elimination of both the men and women teams from next year’s Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.”
On Monday, December 16, the country’s football bosses will return to court in the case of alleged theft of over $10 million paid by FIFA for the development football in Nigeria after another corruption trial involving them was dismissed on technical grounds last month.
The FCT High Court in Abuja is expected to rule on Pinnick and general secretary general Mohammed Sanusi to be joined as accused persons in the case, which has already seen three NFF account department staffers arraigned in this matter.
Anti-graft agency ICPC has in its own investigation of senior football officials seized more than a dozen of their personal properties.
Officials said what the football bosses have is far in excess of what they have earned.
