FOR Nigerian football to be the best in the world or at par with the best, it needs good men and women to be clean, sane and well run. But good men and women never feature in the equations.

Nigerian football politics, as it is played today, is dirty and crude. To survive in it or play the politics, you have to be dirty and unclean.

For not agreeing to leave the Super Eagles for the Ministry of Sports' officials to control, Kojo Williams was impeached. Nduka Irabor, a man whose passion for football strain the descriptive power of any adjective, organised the freest and fairest election in the history of Nigerian football last December.

But because the powers-that-be in sports, led by the then Sports Minister, Samaila Sambawa, did not feel comfortable with the result of the election, they set up a body called "the stakeholders" to fight the re-elected chairman, Ibrahim Galadima.

Even when the world football governing body, FIFA, recognised Galadima's re-election, Sambawa did not allow him to operate. When all efforts to remove Galadima failed, Amos Adamu was given the task.

Adamu it was that ensured that Emeka Omeruah was not re-elected. Abdulmumuni Aminu, Dominic Oneya and Kojo Williams were past victims of Adamu's politics.

To remove Galadima, Adamu, working with the stakeholders, was able to compromise FIFA scribe, Urs Linsi, who agreed to and backed a kangaroo congress in Abuja last month. Before anybody could say jack, Galadima has become history. Adamu, "Mr. Fix it" had done it again.

The kind of men Adamu and the Ministry of Sports want in NFA are men that will use NFA's money to buy 78 World Cup tickets for themselves. They want men that will sign marketing contracts with the likes of PADMOZI. This company is NFA's main marketer and at the same time playing the role for Globacom, NFA's main sponsor.

How can PADMOZI negotiate a good deal for NFA when it is also consulting for Globacom. With the election slated for the later part of this month, below is an x-ray of candidates that have shown interest in the NFA chairmanship and board.

SANI LULU: If Sanni Lulu's performance as the director of sports of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja is used as yardstick, then he has not got what it takes to turn our football round. Sports in the FCT are nothing to write home about. So if Lulu does not have the magic to turn about football in FCT, how is he going to do it in NFA?

Lulu's only song is "I will turn football around," but he is yet to give us any concrete plan of how he is going to do it. But in spite of not having any plan, Lulu may be next NFA chairman, and there are insinuations that the FCT Minister, Nasir El-Rufai, is backing his candidacy.

LUMUMBA ADEH: The new chairman of the 2010 African Nations Cup Bid Committee has not been a huge success in the running of his club, J.C. Raiders, a corner shop when compared to NFA. So if he cannot run a corner shop successfully, how will he run a huge supermarket called NFA.

SEGUN ODEGBMI: Odegbami's achievements on the field as a footballer are the stuff legends are made of. Small wonder he is still treated with a lot of respect everywhere he goes. Odegbami also deserves credit for his contribution to Chioma Ajunwa's winning the nation's first Olympic gold medal.

But off the field, Odegbami has not been able to record similar achievements. As manager in 3SC, NPA, Super Eagles and even lately, Gateway Football Club, Odegbami has not recorded much success. Apart from the above, Odegbami and the powers-that-be in the ministry, especially Adamu, are not birds of same feather.

TAIWO OGUNJOBI: This man is popularly called the "Mr. Fix it of local league." If your club is battling relegation or you need to win the league, just give the job to Ogunjobi and he will gladly fix it. Patriots regard him as one of the problems of Nigerian football.

The way he betrayed Galadima and other board members say a lot about his character and credibility. He simply does not have what it takes to turn our football round.

BOLA JEGEDE: The Jegede Babes chairperson should concentrate efforts on reviving her club before thinking of NFA job.

SANNI TORO and EDDIE ADENIROKUN

Unless the NFA statute is amended, the two are not eligible to contest election into the board of NFA.

AISHA FALODE: It is only in Nigeria that journalists would also want to be sports administrators. How Falode will combine reporting with sports administration is not clear. In Nigeria, where sports and corruption go hand in hand, how Falode will serve two masters is still unclear.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 14.08.2006 22:48

We Shall Overcome  JJC

# 2 Very well written and incisive ,from your analyses,I'll suggest you consider contesting yourself. Posted by We Shall Overcome| 16.08.2006 10:12