Adekunle Salami 
By the time you are reading this piece, a new President of the Nigeria Football Federation would have emerged at the Elective Congress which took place yesterday (Friday) in Benin, Edo State. He is Ibrahim Gusau. The court cases back forth were so ridiculous and confusing such that the average stakeholder in football will wonder why the desperation almost on all fronts.
Amaju Pinnick who has served two terms of eight years was not contesting but was heavily linked with the underground politicking and intrigues that led to the court cases flying about from different directions. World football governing body, FIFA, prefers that the game should be administered through its accepted statutes globally while different federations domesticate the statutes to run the game.
After the injunction secured by Harrison Jalla and co on September 15 for the election not to go on, a ruling by the Court of Appeal on Thursday morning, the eve of the elective Congress, ordered a stay-of-execution of an ex parte injunction secured by some fellows a fortnight ago to stop the elections, meaning that the coast was clear for contest for the NFF presidency in which 10 candidates including the current 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents of the NFF – Seyi Akinwunmi and Shedu Dikko – were on the cards for the poll. FIFA’s Solomon Mudege, Head of Development Programmes for Africa, and Gelson Fernandes, a former Swiss international player who is FIFA’s Director for Africa, arrived in Benin on Thursday for the election. Chief Malik Aikhunegbe, SAN and Chairman, NFF Electoral Committee, tried to clarify that the integrity of the committee was intact.
He said: “The Electoral Committee comprises two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, a judicial officer and another senior member of the Legal Profession, in addition to other eminent Nigerians. Accordingly, we put on a temporary halt, the work of the Committee, pending when the issues around the order of the Federal High Court are effectively resolved…my attention was drawn to an enrolled order of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, staying the restraining, “parties to maintain the status quo ante” order of the Federal High Court, duly served on the NFF.
With this development, all legal hurdles militating against the election have been dismantled.” It was like a movie but more importantly the role being played by the divided players union over the years especially Jalla should be evaluated. They are causing more damage with the entitlement mentality. Does it mean the coaches, referees and also sports writers should also ask for more representation on the board of the NFF? It is not automatic that a former player will be a good administrator, that must be stressed and the so-called players union has two factional leaders, yet they are holding the country to ransom.
The brouhaha over the NFF elections overshadowed the shortcomings of the Super Eagles in the two friendly matches played against Algeria. It was sad that the country’s authorities approved the encounter against the Algeria Team B which ended 2-2 and in the crucial grade A friendly, the Eagles lost 2-1 to the Desert Foxes after a ninth minute opener by Terem Moffi. The second and winning goal of the Algerians was ridiculous.
It was a long range shot which the defenders failed to check just as goalkeeper Francis Uzoho was flatly beaten. That was not the first time Eagles will concede such a cheeky goal. Thomas Partey’s long range shot also beat the same Uzoho at the Moshood Abiola Stadium and the goal was enough to keep Nigeria out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Also, in the encounter against Algeria’s Team B, Eagles keeper, Maduka Okoye, fumbled with the ball and it was collected from him by an aggressive striker. The same Okoye was unable to save a long-range shot of a Tunisian player in the second round of the African Nations Cup as Nigeria bowed out early.
No doubt, we are faced with a goalkeeping crisis. No keeper can be trusted in the Eagles fold today and that is because the coaches have not done well enough. Alloy Agu, a former international, was the keepers’ coach for many years and he was unable to fix the problem and now Ike Shorunmu is in the saddle and it’s the same old story. We have to look inwards. Vincent Enyeama was Eagles number one as a goalie of Enyimba FC of Aba. If the current coaches do enough work, a good goalie for the Eagles can come from the domestic league. It is sad to have a situation in which any attack is a potential goal against Nigeria, deliberate efforts should be made to solve the goalkeeping crisis in the senior national team.
