By George Aluo
Who says winning in the round leather game called football is not the best thing to happen to any country. Even if this assertion is not universally true, nothing can be truer than it in this clime called Nigeria.
Since last week when the Super Eagles qualified for the Russia 2018 World Cup, the country has largely been on the same page with every Tom, Dick and Harry celebrating and eulogizing the players that performed the feat.
For once, everybody is proud to be a Nigerian. During the Eagles game against Zambia, nobody talked about where a particular player hailed from. All we wanted was result. It didn’t matter if the team’s Franco German tactician, Gernot Rohr had fielded all Ijebu or Kalabari players. All we were interested in was let us land in Russia in style. The Eagles got the job done with a Shehu Mohammed (a northerner) emerging the MVP, while an Alex Iwobi (a southerner) scored the winning goal.
Unknown to many, a good number of the stakeholders who had rolled out the drums today celebrating the country’s qualification are those who ab initio wanted to play the spoilers role, but for the patriotic decision of the media not to play along.
It must be pointed out here that if there is any sector of our national life where the Pull Him Down (Phd) syndrome thrives very well, it is in the area of sports, especially football. Be that as it may, the incumbent board of NFF has an avalanche of enemies, who had vowed to stop them from succeeding. Most of these enemies had the backing of those in government…I don’t want to mention their names.
But this writer has not forgotten what some people said about Nigeria and the World Cup project. Their earlier submission that it would amount to sheer waste of time for Nigeria to be in Russia. This writer still recalled that some people believed Nigeria had no business being at the World Cup.
“That competition (World Cup) stinks of corruption; Nigeria is too poor to waste money on it. The cup that we can win is the African Cup of Nations. There is nothing again that will take us to another man’s balcony in the name of the World Cup. We already have the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics…we can attend such meets. I am opposed to the World Cup. Conspiracy in the World Cup is too much.” Nigerians have not forgotten who fired the above salvos when the battle for the soul of the NFF Glass House was raging.
Hear another of such salvos when the NFF hired Rohr: “I am not aware we have a new coach. Those who hired him are on their own…” Nigerians, who follow football, know who made these statements and the new tune they are singing now that we are Russia bound.
It would be recalled that the NFF President, Pinnick Amaju and his team knew no sleep when the World Cup qualifiers got underway in Ndola, Zambia. The soccer federation’s second Vice President, Shehu Dikko was to be arrested when he returned from Zambia with the Eagles. The man escaped because the band of supporters, who traveled to Zambia with Eagles ensured the police did not whisk him away at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.
All efforts made by the “enemies” of Nigerian football to recruit the sporting press on their side were rebuffed.
This writer, alongside many of my colleagues had been accused of being on the payroll of Amaju, no thanks to the unwavering support he enjoyed from the media. While, I may not be able to speak for others, as a person, I know I m not on any persons payroll in the NFF.
The decision to support Amaju was purely on national interest and to the glory of God, that decision yielded dividend with the qualification of Nigeria for the World Cup, which is the world’s biggest single sports fiesta.
If the media had backed those who wanted Amaju out by fire by force, today, the country would have been the loser. That Nigerian football was not plunged into another round of crisis was because the media stood solidly by the Itsekiri born football buff called Amaju. Like him or not, Amaju has passion for the game. He is a young man that wants to take Nigerian football to the next level. He has a clear vision of where he wants to take Nigerian football to…so it behooves on all of us to support him in the interest of the nation. Those who want to take over the Glass House should wait for the next election, which would come up after the World Cup in Russia. If football stakeholders feel there is need for a change of guard, why not. What some of us don’t like is the idea of some people playing the spoilers’ role, a situation that does not help the country. That Nigeria did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup under Ibrahim Galadima was because of the same “show spoilers” role played by some people.
When Pinnick went for Gernot Rohr, some of us have not forgotten what some of those now celebrating our World Cup qualification said. When the NFF wanted to move Super Eagles games to Uyo, we know the politics that played out. We also know how the same people infiltrated the NFF board, ostensibly to destabilize it. We know the tacit support that was given to those who wanted to use the judiciary to truncate the nation’s football administration.
However, the NFF board (Amaju and his men) on their part must realize that they must be ready to justify the confidence reposed in them by the media. It must not be business as usual in the way the game is being run.
To keep enjoying the support of some of us (I want to repeat…not paid for) they must be transparent and carry every genuine stakeholder that can positively contribute to the development of Nigerian football along.
The soccer federation has of late attracted new corporate sponsors. To keep them and attract more, there must be financial transparency. In this era that money from government is no longer flowing, the way to go is corporate sponsorship. And as we all know, football is a big business in other climes. That is what it should be in Nigeria.
The biggest challenge facing Nigerian football is that of administration.
It is time to start getting it right. If FIFA, CAF and their affiliates in other countries are swimming in cash without depending on any government for money to fund their activities, one does not see any reason why the story would be different in Nigeria.
More importantly, to be autonomous and out of government control, as those running the game would want, the NFF must be able to bankroll its activities. The NFF cannot be asking for government money and expect those in government to watch the money “being shared” without asking questions or demanding for their own cut.
On the whole, to the glory of God, Nigeria has landed in Russia. Should every football stakeholder be on the same page, going far at the Mundial come next year, won’t be a mission impossible for the Eagles. We have got a bunch of young and talented players who are eager to make name. Just like Sebastian Broderick and his boys did at the Japan 93 FIFA JVC U-17 World Cup, the Eagles can spring the mother of all surprises in Russia by winning the World Cup.
Like Americans would say…Yes, we can! If only those who would later start taking credit for the job they did not do or help its course would allow the FA to be. Some of us wouldn’t want to know if the NFF budget is well “spend” or not ahead of the soccer show piece.