Football Federation:Nigeria Must Co-Opt Orji Uzor-Kalu ,Others To Get Results ,By Gabriel Omonhinmin

The 2014 FIFA organized World Cup tournament has come and gone and as usual, a winner has emerged among the countries that competed for the coveted trophy. The first place of course was won by Germany. Now that the curtain is drawn on this year’s edition of the tournament, preparations for 2018 in Russia have begun almost immediately for countries, which are desirous of winning the tournament or making a meaningful impact.
Sadly, in Nigeria presently, some FA Chairmen and other football stakeholders are daggers drawn with the Aminu Maigari led Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, over so many fundamental issues bordering on policy or administrative wrangling, which simply do not help the growth of football in Nigeria. Some Nigerian journalists, who ordinarily, will not be able to function outside the Sports beat, “where anything goes”, are at it again!
These groups of journalists, as expected, are making a mole hill out of the recent FIFA ban on Nigeria over what the body, perceived as government meddlesomeness in the affairs of the Nigerian Football Federation, which is exactly not the case. Anyhow, FIFA is free to hold whatever view, it deems fit. What is however worrisome, is the way and manner, our supposed Sports writers are blowing this incident out of proportion and in the process, refusing deliberately to interpret the exact situation correctly. I am alarmed, when none of the Sports journalists has come out to state categorically, what exactly the matter is. That the Aminu Maigari led NFF and some FA Chairmen alongside other stakeholders are at war, which resulted in a court injunction. It was the Maigari group that wrote the Nigerian Minister of Sports, requesting for his urgent intervention to help salvage the already bad situation. The Nigerian government, as a matter of duty, reluctantly waded into the crisis to ensure that law and order prevailed in the country’s football family. The primary motives for this group of journalists, who are usually not the best of minds, in any newsroom in Nigeria, in ignoring the facts of this matter, are nothing other than financial gains; they are likely to make( a ) lot of money, once the crisis is allowed to fester.
I have come to know, over the years, as a practicing journalist that most Nigerian Sports Writers are never patriotic; they are simply money mongers, who usually do anything and everything to make money off Sports administrators/officials, footballers and athletes at all costs. This is the major reasons, why some of them, would almost commit suicide once they are re-assigned from the Sports beat. Although, there are few exceptions to this banditry, majority of the people, who today go by the name of Sports journalists or writers, do not have the requisite background in Sports to begin to pontificate on Sports matters. Very many of them never get to study Sports psychology or Sports administration. Neither are they really qualified as journalists in the strictest sense of the word.
I am yet to understand for instance, what a man, who studied Theater Arts, is doing in the Sports beat, instead of being in Nollywood if not for extortion. Some of them, often argue, that they veered into Sports writing because they were once Sports men and women, during their school days. But the behaviour of these people once they are engaged in any newsroom shows that they have no passion for the game. Their character is often unsportsmanly. Most times, news managers have no other option, than to give up on them. Their business and interest in the Nigerian Sports, is simply money, money and money. What a shame!! I must confess that I have no personal quarrel with Aminu Maigari, but honestly do not care if anybody is hurt in the course of my telling the truth. While Aminu Maigari and his incompetent group held sway, how many Sports journalists were bold enough to tell the man and his co-travellers that international football administration has long outgrown his competence? No Sports journalist I know did the right thing because of the crumbs they were getting from him at the expense of the country’s football development. If not in Nigeria, where on earth, do you put the administration of football in the hands of a man ,(like him)?
The Nigerian Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo is on the right track, as far as this matter is concerned. All we need to do now, FIFA ban or not, is to strive to put our football and Sports administration generally on a sound footing. The Honourable Minister must bear in mind while pursuing this objective that true sportsmanship is the ability to win without bragging, lose without complaining, and play while respecting others. This is the only way the country, will become victorious, at the end of this crisis. While I passionately appeal to the Honourable Minister of Sports to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than him in the country’s drive to re-direct the affairs of the Nigerian football administration.
Now, therefore, is the time for the Minister to co-opt seasoned technocrat in Sports administration with the requisite international status and experience into Nigeria’s football administration. People like the former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor-Kalu and Mike Adenuga just to mention a few, among a host of other qualified Nigerians, who are known to love football with an immense passion, into the management of the country’s football. These groups of Nigerians have the magic touch and the means to manage Sports generally especially football and produce the much desired results over a short period of time. The Minister, as a matter of priority, should put in place structures that will continue to discourage scavengers in Sports administration. This caliber of Nigerians cannot easily be blackmailed by our Sports journalists into making a wrong decision, or taking the wrong steps, in any given circumstance, because they are very familiar with the Nigerian Sports terrain.
Fifty-four years after Nigeria’s independence, now is the time for us as a country to begin to act in accordance, with Jim Rohn’s philosophy, which says “Profits are better than wages. Wages make you a living; profits make you a fortune.” We have long come to realize that Sports especially football is a unifying factor in the country and the world generally, it is therefore, not in our interest to continue to gamble with football and other Sports administration. We must now begin to profit from our huge investment in sports over the years. This can only happen, once, we learn how to get the right and qualified persons to man our various Sports, especially football.
Omonhinmin is a Lagos based Media Consultant.
E-mail: gabrielomonhinmin@yahoo.com