Like APC like NFF, by Patrick Omorodion

In 2014, some members of the All Progressive Congress, APC then in the opposition came together to hound Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP out of government. Part of their reasons was that President Jonathan was planning to remove fuel subsidy, an action they said would worsen the plight of Nigerians.

Ten years after, the same APC stalwarts and their loyalists have kept mute over the same ‘crime’ of removal of fuel subsidy and maladministration they accused Jonathan of. But they forget that even if human memory is short, history doesn’t forget.

So it is with the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF. In 2005, Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup that was played in Germany because of a head to head rule adopted for the qualifiers then.

The Super Eagles were grouped along the national teams Angola, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Algeria and Rwanda. ‎After 10 matches, Nigeria and Angola won six matches each, drew three and lost one each, thus ending with 21 points each.

That year unfortunately, the winner of the group, if two teams finished with the same number of points, was not determined by goals difference, otherwise Nigeria who had plus 14 goals after scoring 22 goals and conceded 7 would have qualified ahead of Angola who had plus six goals after scoring 12 goals and conceded six.

The winner was decided by head to head between the two top teams. Because Angola’s Palancas Negras beat the Super Eagles in Luanda and drew 1-1 in Kano, they had four points to Nigeria’s one and so picked the World ticket.

It was like hell was let loose with members of the football fraternity who were loyal to Dr. Amos Adamu, the czar of football at the time, spinning a narrative that then Nigeria Football Association, NFA chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima was to blame for taking the match to Kano.

Angry Nigerians joined in the cry and demanded for the head of Galadima. These Adamu loyalists, who are still holding Nigeria’s football at the jugular till today added salt to the injury by spinning a lie that Galadima was working for the ANPP government in Kano State to embarrass the ruling PDP federal government by taking the match to Kano with very hot weather knowing that most of the Super Eagles players were coming from a temperate Europe.

Yes, Galadima is a Kano son but was apolitical. He became NFA chairman on merit not because he was a politician, having served Nigeria in various sports capacities including being a one-time Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC.

He tried to defend the decision to take the match to Kano because the NFA had no money to prosecute the match and Kano State government was the only one ready to bail them out.

When the blame game became so fierce, Galadima them responded that the players didn’t raise their game in that Kano match and played as if the World Cup ticket was Nigeria’s birthright.

The anger in the land was palpable because that was the first time the Super Eagles would fail to qualify for the World Cup after breaking the ice in 1994 with three consecutive appearances.

What most Nigerians who joined the football cabal in condemning Galadima didn’t understand was that the Kano- born administrator was blocking them from feasting on the NFA’s finances to the detriment of the Super Eagles.

Galadima remains the only man who has headed the football Federation who ensured that frivolous spending was curtailed and money not spent on any trip was returned to government.

The cabal hated him for this including the fact that he also ensured that competitions were not a jamboree for every Tom, Dick and Harry who had no business on such trips. They eventually succeeded in easing him out.

Since Galadima’s exit, the NFF, as they became known later, has become the exclusive preserve of members of the same cabal loyal to Dr. Adamu. They changed the Statute to expand the voting members by making sure all the 36 States and FCT FA chairmen , who are mostly politicians and civil servants, had a voting right. That is why till today, if you don’t have the financial muscle to compromise these FA chairmen, you can never have the opportunity to head the NFF.

Meanwhile the same group of administrators who harassed Galadima out of office because Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, have kept mute after superintending the Super Eagles consecutive failure to qualify for the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, the first time it is happening.

Rather than blame themselves, they were blaming the coaches they hired. That was why they used four different coaches to prosecute the World Cup and African Nations Cup qualifiers.

If Galadima could be eased out for Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, why are the people who held sway and saw through the country’s failure to qualify for two consecutive World Cups being spared.

Why would the NFF owe players allowances? If they were transparent, the players wouldn’t have boycotted training before a crucial match in the playoffs. Nigerians are angry like they did in 2006 and there are calls for the current administrators to be eased out of the system.

Unfortunately those who are paid to oversee the federation are part of the people the NFF has been carrying to competitions and therefore any petition to make them account for their stewardship would be dead on arrival.

Except the faulty Statue that shuts out other critical stakeholders from having a say on those who can get on board to run football, the country will be condemned to having a mediocre administration.