Maikaba reveals Champions League target
‘Shambolic’ elections call for return of NSC- Kofar – Soro
Akwa United Head Coach, Abdu Maikaba has revealed the management of the club gave him a CAF Champions League target shortly before he completed his switch from Wikki Tourists.
Maikaba led Wikki to a thirdplace finish in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) last season as the Bauchi club finished behind Enugu Rangers and Rivers United in the overall classification.
The tactician has now exclusively told supersport.com that his brilliant track record prompted his new employers to raise the bar with regards to what they require him to achieve with the ‘Promise Keepers’ this term.
“I left a team that I helped qualify for the Caf Confederation Cup (Wikki Tourists) to join Akwa United at the start of this season, so the objective was to repeat the same project here,” Maikaba revealed.
“Immediately I accepted the offer to become the coach of Akwa United I asked the management Former Katsina State Director of Sports, Alhaji Aliyu Kofar-Soro has said the recently conducted elections into the various sports federations have further underscored the need for the National Sports Commission to be brought back.
One of the decisions which the minister of sports Barrister Solomon Dalung took that did not go what their target was for the season.
“They (Akwa United management) told me that if I could finish in fourth and third positions with Wikki Tourists in my first and second seasons respectively, they’d expect me to go one better and finish in second place at least with Akwa this season.
“I accepted the challenge and I think we are on course to achieve that,” he said.
United is currently in third place on the NPFL standings this term, but the Uyo club endured a tumultuous start to the campaign, failing to win in their first five matches in the NPFL.
They finally got off the mark with a victory over Remo Stars in Uyo on Matchday 6 and have subsequently grown from strength to strength. down well with the sports fraternity in Nigeria was the scrapping of the NSC.
Speaking to Daily Trust, Kofar-Soro said the elections into the sports federations were characterised by cheating orchestrated by ministry officials who conducted the elections.
He said Nigerians should not be deceived by the sports minister who wants everybody to believe that the elections were free and fair.
Kofar-Soro therefore said the only way forward is for the relevant authorities to ensure that the NSC whose responsibility is to administer sports using professionals is brought back to preside over the important sector.
“As someone who has been in the system for long, I want Nigerians to know that nothing has changed. The elections conducted recently were shambolic and highly manipulated.
“The minister is claiming that the elections were free and fair but the decisions of the Appeals Committee have proved him wrong. A lot of dirty things happened and those favoured by the powers that be emerged winners.
“The only way out of our present predicament is for those concerned to ensure that the National Sports Commission is brought back to take charge of sports.
“The National Assembly should act quickly to come up with an enabling law that will give legal backing to the NSC for us to be saved some of these setbacks,” he advised.
Kofar-Soro also said as long as people without the prerequisite background are entrusted with sports administration, there will be no tangible achievements.