Leaders, Leadership, Sports
VENTURES AFRICA – For
weeks now, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has been embroiled in
intense drama of politics. The result has been threats and
counter-threats of supremacy by the different camps and factions that
have emerged as the football governing body remains without a leader
five days before the kick off of the AFCON qualifying series where the
Super Eagles will be looking to secure a ticket to defend the AFCON
title they won admirably more than a year ago.
The drama began when, upon return from the
World Cup, certain NFF leaders were arrested and investigated for
misappropriation of funds. Soon enough, an intricate web of power play
politics soon became visible and grew increasingly fierce with the
leadership position at the NFF becoming ‘available’ via an elective
congress that should have happened last week. Since the arrest(s) in
July, statements have been issued, charges have been leveled- and
denied, closed door meetings have been held but the high point of the
drama occurred last week when two different men emerged as NFF President
following two separate congresses.
Without the leadership of the NFF sorted out though, the prospect of another FIFA ban, only weeks after the last one,
appears real and the football league and matters have been left
unattended to. The basis of the conflict between both factions is a
classic tussle for power and control but with time running out, one
faction will have to give way for the other but the brutal truth is that
it should never have come to this.
Sadly, in Nigeria and across Africa,
politics comes first and actual development comes second. Continuity is a
myth and stability is a mirage. Is it a surprise that Africa’s
champions and leading football power cannot sort out the issue of
transferring leadership without an embarrassing and laughable show? Not
really.
This is hardly a Nigerian problem as
elections- any election- in Africa rarely occur without major drama and
controversy and with disregard for laws and regulations being a regular
feature, issues like this are commonplace.
For the Super Eagles though, this has been a
major disaster. In the last 18 months, the team has enjoyed success on
and off the field as they have enjoyed a wave of marketing success and
signed on more sponsors than they have in history. While these contracts
are unlikely to be affected, it is safe to imagine that the ceaseless
drama around the NFF hardly makes the national team a more attractive
proposition but the real loss is in the area of development and
continuity.
Football in the country is a long way from
Eldorado with a local league famous for corrupt officiating, empty
stadiums and fixture congestion, a sub-par grassroots strategy and
continuing cases of misappropriation of funds. To fix these issues, what
the football body needs is definitive planning and execution that is
based not on the whims of the man in charge but on the bigger goals of
the body. If this were the case, the name on the door of the President
will matter less and football will be the winner. Unfortunately, in a
country where politics and football are like Siamese twins, it is quite
far-fetched.
The silver lining however is that
hopefully, other African football body are learning from a masterclass
on how not to run a football governing body by their Nigerian
counterparts.
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