Nigeria Football Self-reliant
state. Nigerian kids love to play football. They don’t care whether you lived in Ikoyi or Ajegunle. Everybody just want to play football.
Given all these you have elucidated how do we then describe the youth programme of the Pinnick-led NFF board?
I need to give kudos to my NFF 1st Vice President Seyi Akinwunmi. He has been exceptionally bright in that area. He’s the chairman of our Youth Committee as well a member of CAF youth development committee. When people say we did not qualify for the last AFCON Under-17 I am not bothered because we went to the competition with players who are truly under-17. The essence of these cadet competitions is developmental not an end. Now we are doing the right things. Nigeria has won the Under-17 five times at the world level but what has it achieved for us at the intermediate and the senior levels? Look at the ongoing Zonal qualifiers in Niger Republic, only two of our boys are said not to be within the age bracket. Benin Republic lost 10 players to cheating. We don’t want to belong to such groups any more. Even our two players disqualified will be found to be within the age limit if they are retested. They will pass because they passed through our youth system sponsored by Zenith Bank. It is called the Next Eagles Challenge. We are starting the programme immediately after the elections. Our priority is getting the right players who will naturally transmit from the junior to the intermediate and the senior category.
What would you consider your greatest achievements for the senior national team, the Super Eagles?
Our biggest gain is building a virile, young team almost from scratch. As our biggest brand, we are talking of a sustainable Super Eagles. I must admit that it is still work in progress. We are seeing a youthful, disciplined and dedicated Eagles. It is a major plus for us. We are not just going to be counting what we have won within the period. We are not in competition with any previous board because football evolves and is dynamic. If you look at what happened recently, who will never believe that Madagascar will play draw with Senegal with all their star footballers? Football has gone beyond what anyone thinks. Nobody is sitting and waiting to be rolled over by so-called football powers. Not any more. What you achieve four years ago is different from what can happen now or tomorrow. Of course we can talk about the Rio Olympic medal, the Under-20, Under-17 World Cup, Falcons AWC etc. But the Super Eagles remain the top brand as it remains our benchmark in negotiating with sponsors. We have got a world-class coach. We are also not resting as we combed around the world for Nigerians born overseas to come play for us if they are good enough. If England can make our son Dele Alli to play for the Three Lions, we must be proactive not to allow others snatch from us those good enough for Eagles. That however doesn’t mean we are ignoring quality players from our domestic league in getting into Eagles. We saw what they did against Atletico Madrid during the friendly before the World Cup in Russia. If we get the mandate to continue for another four years, Nigeria will become a power both in the game and in the administration in the continent and at the global level.
What will you attribute to responsible for why Super Eagles failed to qualify for AFCON 2015 and 2017 back-to-back?
Government all over the world is a continuum and I will not put the blame of why the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the AFCON 2015 on the previous board. If you will recall, when I took over the NFF, Nigeria had only one point from a possible six points. Our first game was a difficult one as we played away to Congo Brazzaville. We however won that game. All we then needed to do to qualify was beat South Africa. I recall, God bless his soul, Stephen Keshi, warning all the big names in our Eagles to go into their rooms to rest before the game as it was a big one for Nigeria. But they insisted that they were professionals and that nobody should dictate to them like kids. They sneaked to indulge in things not for this public space. The result was that early in the clash with Bafana Bafana, Eagles concede two goals. It was quite regrettable. We did our best but it was not good enough to see us through. In the qualifiers for the AFCON 2017, we were unfortunate to be grouped with Egypt who were also hungry to be at the AFCON having missed three editions after winning back to back three times. They had a new coach, Hector Cupper who wanted to make a statement with the AFCON. I believe that Nigeria had the capacity to make it along with Egypt but just as we were thinking of seizing the momentum, Chad pulled out of the competition leaving CAF with no option than to deduct points of matches they played. That decision left us in the cold. But now we have learnt our lesson. We now have a very disciplined team with a coach who does not tolerate nonsense from any player. We have put everything Eagles’ need at their disposal and believe strongly that Nigeria will qualify for the AFCON 2019. We have lined up friendly games for the coaches to have opportunities of looking at other players in order to have stand bye and those who are good to step in when the preferred are not available.
But the women’s team, the Super Falcons, has not enjoyed the same benefits as the Super Eagles. Why that?
Like I said earlier, the Super Eagles is our best brand and that is what Corporate Sponsors discuss in negotiating a contract. They watch the players play for their clubs in Europe and elsewhere every now and then. It is Eagles they want and not the Falcons. It is regrettable but that is the reality we are faced with when dealing with sponsors. But we have now hired a top-notch coach to be in charge of the Falcons. There is no doubt that the Falcons is the most successful male or female team in Africa. They have won the Nations Cup nine times and have played countless times in the Women’s World Cup since inception in 1991. We remain hopeful that success for Falcons at the world stage will bring sponsors to the team.
Don’t you think the non-passage of the NFF bill into law in the National Assembly could work against some of the laudable projects you have outlined to make the federation self reliant?
We have done all that we need to do to get the bill passed. We have interfaced with the National Assembly and let them know the delay in passing the bill for the President to assent it into law was doing to the business of football in the country. They have passed it at both houses. They need less than 15 minutes to get it concurrent and pass it to the President for assent. This was part of what we told the Vice President when he was acting during President Buhari’s vacation. We want the Presidency to press it upon the House the need to finish its work for the bill to be signed into law. Trust me, if we have the enabling environment in place, Nigerian football will not go to government for funding in the next one and half years from now unless in very rare case for intervention. This liberation is the first thing the NFF needs to become self-reliant.
Your thrust into continental and global bodies came to some like a shock. You are CAF 1st Vice President, head of the AFCON Committee as well as member of an important Committee in FIFA. Is there a movement involved in all these?
First, I will like to thank the President of the country for giving me the opportunity to serve because if he did not, I will not be where I am today in both CAF and FIFA. However, I must say here that there are very few people who have been accepted to play vital roles in the global space. I also believe that some of Nigerians who have been called to serve should enjoy some form of protection from home. Very few Nigerians have been accepted into the global space when it comes to sports matters. With all modesty, I want to say yours sincerely is one of such. Engr. Habu Gummel is another Nigerian who has risen in that sphere. It is not easy to get there. When I got to CAF I looked around and discovered that there was no Nigerian in sight in terms of administration and decision-making. That was what spurred me to say no, Nigeria is too big to be playing back bench roles in football administration in Africa. I let my colleagues know that in Nigeria the first love is football, the second love is football while the third love is also football. We are a 100 per cent football-playing nation and so ought to have some of our people in right positions in the administration of the game. I let them know that Nigeria is one of the very few countries in the world that have participated in all FIFA competitions. I preach Nigeria and Nigerian football to them. I let them know what will be missing when Nigeria did not qualify for any competition. With this my strong Nigerianess, I started getting attention from my colleagues and today, as they say, the rest is history.
My happiness today is that we are now having Nigerians coming into CAF administration. We have a Nigerian as Director of Organisation in CAF, Nasir has just been appointed as a General Coordinator. Our target is to within the next four years get him to FIFA as a general coordinator. Nigeria is a big country and important in football. We need to rally round those in those positions in CAF and FIFA. If for instance something happens and such Nigerians get pull down, it is not another Nigeria that will take the position. It will go to another country and Nigeria will be loser after all. These positions help one way or the other. Take for instance, if I was not in CAF I will not be able to direct the Libyan federation to order their coach to apologise when he made snide remarks about our country.
Elections into the NFF board are scheduled for next Thursday in Katsina. Why do you want a fresh mandate?
Like I said earlier, my board has achieve close to 65 per cent of the dream to make the NFF self-reliant. I need another tenure to complete the job we have started. I want to say that it will be difficult for whoever comes in if I don’t get re-elected to continue where we have reached now. There is going to be a lot of apprehension between who takes over and the sponsors because of the confidence they have built on my board. I relate with them because of the trust they have in my capacity and the structure we have put in place for probity. Getting such trust from the corporate players in the Nigerian economy does not just happen over night. We have developed a synergy that makes the sponsors not doubt what we are doing. They are involved in all that we are doing. Take for instance, we are taking three of our sponsors to the next FIFA Best Award for them to see how things are done fit and proper. I requested these special invites for them to be in the centre of how FIFA run their events. So, I think we need to be reelected to continue the transformation we are bringing to Nigerian football in terms of vision, youth development and the drive to be self-reliant. It was a difficult call for me to want to come back because of some of the things that have transpired since I was elected in 2014. There where times that I ask myself why go through all these stress? I feel like throwing in the towel but that would amount to betraying members of my board who believe we are doing the best thing for Nigeria football and should not jump ship now.
I have a young family and I know the denials they have been made to go through because of my NFF position. Serving Nigerian football is because of the passion I have for the game. Nothing more. Like all good things, beautiful roses come through thorns. Nothing good comes easy.
I also want to say that as human, some of my actions may have offended some Nigerians. I say sorry to those who feel offended. Such decisions were certainly taken for the betterment of the game in Nigeria.