Agenda for the new NFF board

I pray common sense will prevail on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 in Warri, Delta State as the Nigeria Football Federation elective congress charts a new course in the new leadership that will emerge to manage our football for the next four years.

Already, there are clear indications that the Delta FA Chairman, AmajuPinnick looks set to step into AminuMaigari’s office as he clearly leads the pack of aspirants so far who have indicated interest.

Despite moves by the Chris Giwa faction to get an interim  court injunction to stop the congress, the elections will still go ahead as stakeholders have vowed to re-position our football and lay to rest the upsets that have characterized our football in the last four months.

With the likes of Chief Mike Umeh, TaiwoOgunjobi and a host of others gunning for the top job, we believe that sanity may just be returning to the Glass House even as Sports Minister, TamunoDonagogo may have accepted the true state of things even if he made any attempts to influence the proceedings which will be observed by FIFA.

The new NFF board comes at a time where our national team the Super Eagles are hanging on the cliff with regards to qualification and perhaps defence of their title in January. The Eagles lie bottom of the group which comprises Congo (group leaders), South Africa and Sudan. Our next clash is in Sudan on October 11 with a return leg four days after at our new home ground in Abuja.

The choice of a new coach will be one daunting task for the new board as Stephen Keshi still handles the team on a caretaker basis so far with very unimpressive tactics which has left many Nigerians losing confidence in his questionable tactics and poor human relationship with his players.

That is why the new NFF board must take a firm and bold decision on  Keshi immediately and unfortunately, he may have given us an early exit from the Nations Cup after the Sudan match this is further based on his insistence of inviting a majority of his preferred players shutting out the likes of Ike Uche despite his sizzling form so far this season and other youngsters who have been identified  that can excel in the national team including KelechiIheanacho the star of the last FIFA Under 17 world cup currently with English giants , Manchester City.

The new NFF must ensure that we have a new coach or a coach who has the confidence of the players, has the confidence of the players in his tactics, have a team that will play with unity, have a coach who takes his players as humans who will always err, have a team hungry to succeed and have a team ready to win laurels.

The decision on Keshi should be taken without delay as the Eagles sloppy performance so far continues to affect our FIFA ratings in the eyes of the international community and is gradually eroding the confidence of the players where certain players despite their under performance in the national team have become permanent fixture and untouchables in the national team.

The new NFF board must build unity in the Glass House as the crisis has definitely torn members along their greedy, selfish interests which has pushed the development of the game far behind.

It should be a situation of no victor, no vanquished and all parties must learn to work as a team and ensure that every action taken is collective and in the best interest of the beautiful game. We must push the past behind us and urge all aggrieved members to remain active stakeholders with deep passion to move the game forward.

The time has also come to renew the sponsorship contract of the national team after Adidas the sportswear giant manufacturers who have been kitting the national team over the years opted not to renew the existing deal when it expires by December 2014.

It would be a very great opportunity to open greater chapters for the Eagles in getting a bigger package for the team with better financial benefits including coordinating quality friendly matches, greater mileage and other lucrative benefits to the association.

We must not compromise on poorly designed jerseys and ambiguous contract terms which may affect our national teams as we believe that all the teams should have a great advantage in the new deal.

As  African champions, the national team deserves a stronger deal with a wider focus to support grassroot development of our football. We must look at the legal content to examine what the country will gain and the disadvantages.
The new NFF must further work on a vibrant home league. We must commend the League Management Board led by Hon. NdukaIrabor for the revolutionary changes so far but the road to excellence still remains very far.

We need a league where the financial attractions will make teams spend big money, we need a league where advertisers will have the confidence to invest billions of Naira to develop the game, we need  a league where clubs will have viable marketing departments to attract their sponsors with good money, we need  a league where players are paid their salary promptly, we need a league where the standard of facilities on the pitch is high and the stadium if television friendly, we need a better league where the standard of officiating is high and hoodlums will not have their way, we need a league where teams will not win at home at all cost and medical facilities are fully equipped, we need a league where managers or administrators are transparent in the discharge of their duties especially on transfer deals of players.

We need a new NFF that will facilitate the development of grassroots sports in schools and revive the hey days of the Principal’s Cup and other football competitions among our teeming youths in various schools across the country.
The new NFF board must be able to attract the private sector into football development and attract the sponsorship of more competitions in the country just like in South Africa where there are about three or four competitions which guarantees qualification for a continental ticket for clubs.

The NFF should further focus on developing female football with sponsorship as our dominance in recent years has been threatened by other countries. The remuneration of our female players remains a pitiful sight and we must strive to improve their welfare to advance their game.

We further suggest that the new football administration should draft a football policy to guide it to a successful end that will accommodate the grassroots and the various national teams while the code of conduct for the various national teams should be upheld to enforce discipline among our players in the future.
The time has come to start preparations for the Olympic games in Rio de Janerio in 2016 and the world cup in Russia in 2018 and we must begin to make long term plans that will ensure that the present set of Golden Eaglets team will be the bulk of players at the next world cup.

The technical department of the NFF and secretariat must work hand in  hand in the right selection of players to the national team and we must be above sentiments in all that transpires in tyheir schedules.

Above all, the new NFF must be cautious not to fall prey like their predecessors in making mistakes especially on issues of finance which has been a major source of distraction that always left the association battered at the end of every world cup just before the next elections.

We urge the new board to be transparent, we urge the new board to be focused, we urge the new board to carry the congress along in its schedules in order to avoid any rift and we urge the new board to be objective in the discharge of their duties.

The new board should see their new schedules as a call to serve their fatherland as football remains a uniting factor in Nigeria and a strong political weapon which our dear country once a former giant in the sun can sustain as we work and look forward to the glorious days of new and more laurels to our great country.
The task for the new board to succeed starts today and there is no more room for groups and individuals who are on a mission to embezzle funds, but people ready to excel with our football. Welcome on board