Trials and Triumphs Of Amaju Pinnick At 51
How He has Transformed African Football His Huge Impact in Sports, Education, Poverty Alleviation Why President Buhari Honoured Him Inside His Catalogue of Awards
For a man who challenged resolve with steely grit and exploited the arduous planes of ambition and toil till he encountered grandeur at the crossroads where wild contemplation and hard work morph into triumph, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, Chairman, the Nigerian Football Federation and member of the FIFA Executive Council, who clocks 51 on December 1, continues to turn excellence and humaneness into an art form. As far as business ideas and innovations are concerned, he turns nothing down, except the collar of his shirt, writes Lanre Alfred
LA MASTER OF HIS UNIVERSE
ike an indefatigable mariner, Amaju Pinnick rides the storms, bolstered by a tenacious spirit and mulish resolve to excel and arrive with his dreams intact on pliant coasts. Today, that unyielding spirit of his has paid off. It has seen him through the teething and oft tumultuous stages of the cut-throat world of global football till he emerged unhurt and stronger in spirit and resolve like a champ.
In the pursuit of glory, the Warri, Delta Stateborn football administrator learnt to thrive like a lily in unimaginable valleys. Like the daring mushroom that pierces the motionless eternity of earth, pushing clearly but obstinately, through faint form, till the hour of fertility strikes, Pinnick sought to flourish where many have cowed to defeat. Shedding doubts like ragged clothing, he tilled the thick darkness of the soil, on whose cliff the fair flower advances, till the flag of its whiteness defeated the contemptible famine of night, and from the motion of light, spills itself in astonished seeds.
By dint of hard work, he honed his talent and schooled himself against the barrage of life’s hard knocks until his fortunate hour. There comes a time in every man’s metamorphosis when he arrives at the conviction that to give in to envy is to be ignorant; to imitate is to commit suicide; and that he must take himself for better or worse as a model of his fashioning; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn shall come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which he seeks to till.
The moment Pinnick realized this fact, he became aware of the immense power residing within him. He attained that rare understanding that enhances a man’s capacity to accept that none but he can set a ceiling to what height he could reach and what glory he may achieve.
This attainment in understanding was, however, not without pre-established harmony. Every faculty that constitutes his being came to accept that he was doomed for gloom if he, like most half-formed men, failed to fully express his God-given abilities. Thus, he simply chose to be unashamed of that divine idea, which he represents because God will not have his work made manifest by a coward, a man who feared his capacity to thrive, so argued Pinnick.
In his attempt to thrive, genius ennobled him by complimenting his efforts; the proverbial muse befriended him thus, his evolution as an alpha of a man. Through global football politics’ turbulent tides and windstorms, the unyielding spirit, ingenuity and incorruptibility of Pinnick have paid off.
Pinnick’s global influence in the footballing world has been acknowledged from quarters that matter; a fact which speaks volume of the transformative leadership he has brought to bear on football administration in Nigeria. His managerial acumen deployed to taking national football management from the doldrums to an efficiently run and profitable federation has elicited rave commendations from the high and the mighty. Accolades trailed Pinnick when Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State received the President of the Federation International Football Association (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, and other distinguished guests, were welcomed to the state during the maiden Aisha Buhari Women’s Cup.
At a dinner event tagged ‘Dinner With The Best of Corporate Nigeria’ in honour of Infantino and his CAF counterpart, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, Governor Sanwo-Olu had thought it the Aisha Buhari Women’s Cup was just going to be a competition; he admitted Lagos State got more than the hosting rights by having FIFA president to grace the occasion, underscoring Pinnick as a global asset of Nigerian origin. “We just thought it we are going to have the competition. But when Pinnick told me that ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to get CAF President to come here.’ I said ‘That’s really good.’ He further said ‘Not only him, Gianni himself is going to come.’ I said ‘Wow!’
“For these two men to be under the same roof at the same time in Lagos, in the same, it is big. It is big. I cannot but thank you both enough. You have honoured us; and you have honoured us greatly. You have given us hope. You have given us belief that indeed, our strength is in our unity,” Sanwo-Olu impressively said
Acknowledging the roll-call of the very important personalities and leaders of the Corporate Nigeria Pinnick brought together to grace the event, Governor Sanwo-Olu was full of adulations for Pinnick. According to him “It is only Pinnick that can do (bringing all biggest names in the business world under one roof). How he does it, I don’t know. To see all this happening, it means that Pinnick is such a good person for his whole colleagues in other federations to come and support us in this very unique occasion that we have started.”
In the same vein, President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, did not mince words in thanking Pinnick. The very elated Africa’s richest billionaire did not hide his pride in Pinnick “doing a very great job.” Dangote narrated how Pinnick made him change his mind about a short vacation he was to embark on just attend the event because Pinnick made CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, who was referred to as Dangote’s brother.
“Amaju, you are one person that can actually mobilise these kinds of people here. You are doing a great job, and we are very proud of you,” Dangote expressed.
Dangote used the occasion to reiterate his readiness to renovate the Abuja National Stadium while also promised Infantino that the Nigerian football would have grown to
a higher level when next the FIFA President visits Nigeria.
Highly captivated by Pinnick’s effort at attaining ninety per cent (90%) of the NFF funding, Dangote assured him further. “Amaju, what I want to assure you, you will reach may be 200 % of your funding,” he said.
Charging the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and leaders of the Nigerian business community, Dangote pointed told Amaju that funds would be raised to support the NFF. “So Amaju, your job is done. And I assure both the CAF President and FIFA President will be very proud to have somebody like you. There is nobody that has turned NFF to this level like you.
“You are the only person that I know can pester anybody and make sure that person delivers. Today alone, I got four phone calls from Amaju When he was at the airpost, he called me. When he received the FIFA President, he put him on the phone to be sure I would be here. So, thank you very much for all you have been doing. I can assure you, we will not leave you alone. We will continue to support you,” Dangote stated.
Not left out in the encomiums showered on Amaju Pinnick was FIFA’s Infantino who eulogized the Delta-State born administration for his revolutionary feats of turning around Nigerian football, and making it enviable globally. “For the great Pinnick who is doing such a good job for Nigerian Football, I say ‘Congratulations!’ When we speak about football in Nigeria, it is not just for emotions or passion or art; it is even more than religion. Football is life in Nigeria and Africa,” Infantino said.
CAF President, Motsepe, equally had glowing tributes for Pinnick. “The Nigerian national team has the potential to win the World Cup. And that must be the focus. Let me recognise my brothers, my family and people whom I said make me very proud and make all of us very proud. Pinnick, I think Nigerian Football
should be very proud. He (Pinnick) represents this country with pride. He represents African Football worldwide with pride,” Motsepe said in his appraisal of Pinnick’s stewardship.
ELECTION INTO FIFA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
The startling lustre of gold ingot pales to the radiance of Pinnick. He is not your average human or football administrator. Some would liken him to a modern-day idol but he resolutely transcends the lure of hyperbolic praise. He affects the candour of a general and the passion of a poet as he embarks on a relentless mission to milk a life of bliss and makes the most of every opportunity presented to him by miserly fate.
Last March, he was elected into the FIFA Executive Council, the highest decision-making organ in world football. Pinnick defeated Malawian FA president Walter Nyamilandu by 43 votes to eight during the CAF General Assembly held in Rabat, Morocco. He becomes the third Nigerian elected into the prestigious council after Oyo Orok Oyo (1980-1988) and Amos Adamu (2006-2010). Pinnick succeeded in his bid by his unusual approach to football administration and ability to identify and hatch practical solutions to daunting realities in the sector.
No wonder President Muhammadu Buhari hailed him on his election saying, “By dint of hard work, dedication and consistency, Pinnick has proven to be an efficient football administrator and the world has taken notice of his competency skills by electing him into the FIFA Council and one of the Vice Presidents of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).” The President noted that this feat of enhanced visibility and prestige of Nigeria in the international community is coming on the heels of recent elections of other well qualified and endowed Nigerians into strategic leadership positions in international organisations.
The President urged Pinnick to see his new assignment as an opportunity to enhance Nigeria’s reputation and identity as a football-loving country and optimally utilise the role of sports, through football, as a driving force to engender development, peace and stability at the regional and international levels.
Similarly, Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, described Pinnick as an experienced football administrator whose wealth of experience and a passion for the game will set him aside in his new job. He affirmed his belief that Pinnick will make invaluable contributions that would see to the development of football in the world.
FROM PAUCITY TO PROFITABILITY… HOW NFF BECAME SOLVENT UNDER PINNICK
Over the years, the NFF had depended solely on the government for funding. On assumption of office in 2014 for his first term, Pinnick averred that his target before leaving office was to make the NFF self-sufficient; a herculean task one would say. Indeed, funding had been the greatest challenge of previous NFF administrations. While the situation is not totally different for Pinnick, he has devised ingenious ways of sourcing funds. The federation has on its list of prominent sponsors industry giants like MTN with N500 million sponsorship deal, Air Peace with whom the NFF penned a four-year contract and another 4-year N400 million sponsorship deal with Premier Lotto popularly known as Baba Ijebu. Others are Revolution Plus Property, GAC Motors, Nike Sports, Peak Milk, Dettol and TVS.
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