The President,

Federal Republic of Nigeria,

Aso Rock Villa,

Abuja-Nigeria.

 

His Excellency,

 

IMPENDING NATIONAL SECURITY POSED BY A CABAL IN THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.

1.     PERSONAL RAISON: I am a bonafide Nigerian athlete discovered in 1976 in Jos. Played handball for Nigeria between 1979 and 1999; I was a first generation player of El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club of Maiduguri prior to which I played Zabgai FC of Bauchi. Played professional sport with Zamalek SC of Egypt. I report sports as a journalist since 1985 to date. Sports has been the only industry I know or can know;

2.     ISSUES: Given the above brief, I hasten to add, that a handful of individuals have formed themselves into a cabal in the management of Nigerian football. They have been shown to have conspired themselves, against principles of democratic culture, extending tenures of the elected State Football Association (FA) Chairmen across the nation (many who failed woefully will enjoy extended tenure till 2014), with the intent to subvert the nation and return themselves to office; THESE ACTIONS CONSTITUTE A SECURITY THREAT TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA and her national interests;

Their threat has shown signatures which the Federal Government is aware of but may not comprehend the full security implications which may start to mature from August 2010. If their intentions succeed their actions can lead in short while to a spontaneous riot nationwide;

a)      The present Board of the NFA unilaterally on their own, with a long term plan to use same for personal and selfish interests, against the national interest, and without recourse to the existing laws of the land, changed the legal status of the NFA to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). They laid this trap in such a way to make Nigeria a pariah in the annals of football if they were checked;

b)     The Board is alleged to have been peopled by men who lack character. They, as a result, cannot be libeled nor slandered. Anyone who cannot be libeled nor slandered is not good to hold public office; three cases made available to me include:

(i)                 One of them has a Federal Government White Paper that ordered him not to hold public office again for life in sports. Someone powerful, for primordial reasons, sidelined the report issued under his nose, and “smuggled” him into office; He manages our football with this tainted character;

(ii)               One of the principal officers of our football was a stores staff of Leventis Stores in Apapa-Lagos where he was dismissed for allegedly mismanaging trust bestowed on him;

(iii)             Another was alleged to have an administrative indictment for the mismanagement of funds meant for a handball team to travel abroad for a championship. The report was swept under the carpet by the ‘big man’ in the then National Sports Commission (NSC);

c)      Ordinarily, having failed woefully in the management of Nigerian Football in the last four years, moreso, with huge financial, managerial and other allegations hanging on their neck, including the disappearance of $236,000 from the coffers of the NFA, the Hoddlegate scandal, the non-development of the game, the lack of developmental plans for the game etc It is in our national interest to stop them and seek for better options that will bring people of genuine interests to manage the game;

d)     These persons have fraudulently manipulated the football system by bribing chairmen of State Football Associations who constitute the congress of the game; they were donated “extended tenures till 2014” whereas, many of them are not performing; These FA chairmen will guarantee the wholesome return of these discredited persons to the Board of the NFA in a process that is not elective, free, fair and is in contravention of the intent and spirit of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;

e)      Persons who make peaceful change inevitable in a system will call for violent changes; The manipulation of these processes will sooner than later make for violent attacks of football personages in the country; I presage this.

f)       Knowing how much they have skewed out people with vision and ideas to correct the rot they have brought into our football, knowing also that all matters of sports cannot go to a civil court of law and knowing that they will scream “government interference” and cause FIFA to ban Nigeria from international football, all these were done to guarantee a free money stealing regime of another four years;

g)      The security implications of these moves are far, wide and deep seated. There is no doubt that Nigerian football is down and out. Our cadet national teams are peopled by cronies and athletes who are age-cheats; 30 year olds are paraded as U-17 and U-20s; The media is replete with reports on this;

3.     FACTUAL SUBMISSION:

a.      The FG is aware of the $236,000 that was reportedly missing from the coffers of the NFA; What is the outcome of police investigations? The industry is of the impression that the original thieves are free spending their loot but the civil servant whose custody the money was lodged is sacrificed and is on trial in the court of law; Morally, somebody in the hierarchy is supposed to have resigned for leading an institution that deliberately contravened government directive in the movement of funds in the country; This alone is criminal. Who ordered the media from which the monies were stolen?

b.      For having on Board a set of officials that cannot be libeled nor slandered, must they continue to be allowed to re-contest into public office that requires trust like the NFA? Football is too important to Nigeria and Nigerians than to be left in the hands of less than good personnel, moreso, the nation is not suffering from a lack of quality human resources to manage her football;

c.       Ordinarily, where things are done properly, football alone like sports can be the biggest employer of labour opening up employment opportunities at virtually little or no cost to government. Situations in Cote d’ivoire, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia are enough pointers;

d.      For the several cases of age-cheating proven against the current Board of the NFA, the most obvious being FORTUNE CHUKWUDI’s, a 25+ used as a 16+ in the last U-17 Nigeria hosted; The international embarrassment and image of Nigeria is enough reason why they should have resigned;

e.      They have offered Nigeria a consistent, visionless, rudderless and no-plan for development. Our football has been worse off; No development nurseries, no international monitoring of the traffic of Nigerian youngsters, the volume of Nigerian talents who have signed slave contracts has been highest under this administration, etc

f.        THE HODDLEGATE SCANDAL: If this case is kept in the cooler as it is being done by the EFCC who it is being alleged in the sports industry may have been influenced, the mantra of this government to fight corruption becomes selective; All manners of corruptive actions and influences in the NFA becomes an official acknowledgement by the FG; Ask why did Shaibu Amodu qualify Nigeria twice for the World Cup and on both occasions he has to be replaced. The same cabal had made millions of Naira from this. Our performance in the world cup is not their interest;

g.      A clear case is the current world cup. While other nations are busy honing their teams, our own officials were busy adopting candidates for an election scheduled for after the world cup. Our coach met his teams with less than 20 days to the world cup for the first time. I presage they will blame preparations for why the Super Eagles did not do well in South Africa;

h.      The scandal involving the Hampshire Hotel in Durban is a clear example of how they steal money; A further government investigation of how decisions were reached and the financial implications of that low standard hotel will reveal the kind of personages who manage our football and why government may have to stop them;

4.     SUGGESTED ACTIONS:

a.      Audit the accounts of the NFA since 1999 to date;

b.      Hold the entire Board responsible for the missing $236,000;

c.       Investigate if the entire members of the entire members of the Board complied with the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau as public officers of the NFA, via the NFA;

d.      Investigate the personal accounts of all the members of the Board since they took office as NFA members. They should be able to give account of all such monies and the sources;

e.      It is on record that no Nigerian, private or public has travelled outside of the country like the President/Chairman of the NFA. All the trips have been used to abuse the office at public expense travelling with retinue of girl-friends, women, and people who threaten his position;

f.        Government should also order for all State FAs to responsibly conduct their elections first before the election into the NFA Board. The FG should insist that we have a unified election calendar;  

5.     IMPLICATIONS OF FAILURE TO ACT:

a.      Nigerians love football. Football is one instrument that has united Nigerians despite their differences. With the failure of the Super eagles in South Africa, the clamour, anguish and the pains of Nigerians will increase especially in the mass media. That is a first barometer to measure to look out for;

b.     Is it not sad the WAFU Cup we won in Abeokuta is the first silverware of the Super Eagles in 16 years? That underscores the fact that the NFA had over the years abandoned its duties and responsibilities and been in involved in money making business than the development of the game, a tool of international diplomacy. This is why government has to IMMEDIATELY take keen interest in these matters especially for the security implications;

c.      Shortly after, the architects of such failure having perfected their plans to return themselves en masse to office, having amassed so much public fund from their un-Godly activities in the past years will use same to “buy” their way back to office; The Ibrahim Galadima Board that was so Godly in its transparency and activities and were known to be better organized was sacked. Why should the more evil Board, evidently corrupt, rudderless and inept smite our faces and impose themselves against public will and national interest?

d.     Evil would have triumphed over good. They will then finally bring geriatrics to play kids from other nations and bask in the euphoria of cadet championships as ‘football development’ while the senior national teams will continue to fail;

e.     I presage, quickly too, that when Nigerians start getting these quality of bad results from the national team, one day, not too distant from here, in a spontaneous reaction, riots WILL spill. The news of riots in one community will ignite the riots in the neighbouring community; Yet, the “elected” perpetrators will be safe in office. A stitch in time we were told saves nine. This is the time to save the nine than be stitching later;

f.       This NFA Board is a cancer. The earlier it is exorcised the better for the system’s health.

 

I have done this is absolute good faith and in the defence of the national Interest. God bless Nigeria.

 

Yours In Sports,

 

 

OLAJIDE AYODEJI FASHIKUN