By Ikeddy Isiguzo
THE Maigari-led Executive Committee of the NFA sacked Davidson Owumi and not the Congress of the NFA. Those who were present said the matter was not brought up at anytime. So why did the Executive Committee smuggle in its position and make it look like it was a Congress decision?

Did those who wrote the NFA Statute want illiterates to continue governing a very important and high intellectual field like football? Why is possession of a secondary school certificate the minimum requirement to contest any office? The decision reflects in the quality of human resources found at the secretariat.

Article 68 of the NFF Statutes 2010 edition states, “NFF shall create an Arbitration Tribunal which shall deal with all internal national disputes between NFF, its members, players, officials, match and players agent that do not fall under jurisdiction of its judicial bodies.

The Executive Committee shall draw up special regulations regarding composition, jurisdiction, procedural rules of this Arbitration Tribunal.”

The same board that impeached former NFA executives set the impeachment aside. Congress ratified it. In the matter filed before the Court of Arbitration in Sports, the “Fantastic Four” (including Dr Bolaji Ojo-Oba) postulated that their impeachment was done in error. If they go to court, they can win. If they win, Maigari’s entire board is out.

I foresee the Lulu group coming back through the back door. One of them is designed to take over Davidson Owumi’s seat. Owumi should be sacrificed for a South West person. This is why the candidate for Secretary General (a South East person) cannot be announced. If Owumi gives way, they will sort out these other “jobs for the boys.”

Nigerians are unanimous in this case between the NFA and NPL. My measure is Brila FM’s daily audience participative programme Back Pass. All 38 callers voted against Maigari’s NFA. Not one caller saw any wisdom in their decision. Can this be a good measure of the popularity or and acceptability of the Maigari board?

Did the committee ratify the names of Samson Siasia’s assistants, as they want Nigerians to believe? I heard a member of the committee Victor Nosa Ikpeba insinuating on Brila FM that the committee did not meet on this issue. How were the coaches appointed? This is fraud. Someone should be told to resign.

If this can be done to Ikpeba and other members of that committee, what then is the hope of our football? This is sad. This is the type of Maigari’s men. Kudos to Ikpeba for speaking out.

Olajide Ayodeji Fashikun, [email protected]
Director, Sports Development & Marketing
Nigeria Sports Development Fund Inc

My comments
This is a heavily edited version of what Fashikun sent which was riddled with sheer abuses, I suspect a measure of his anger at the governance of the game. I pity those who take our football serious.

No organisation can stand for integrity with a flawed foundation. The elections of the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, should not have held. Many of us stated the elections massively violated NFA’s Statutes, nobody listened.

The problems of NFA, an organisation that illegally bears the name Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, are only beginning. Act 101 of 1992 established the Nigeria Football Association; it cannot change its name without amending the law.

However, the National Assembly sees no illegality in NFA changing to NFF without recourse to the law. The National Assembly approves budgets for NFA and allows NFF to spend them. When an organisation (NFF) exists outside the law and benefits from legality (budget) it is sanctioned to promote impunity.

Until we tackle the illegality of NFA, we cannot expect NFA to act legally. The National Assembly, for starts, should stop approving budgets for NFA until it is law abiding. We are kilometres away from making NFA law abiding, but little steps can lead to major changes. The tragedy is that a group steeped in greed of unimaginable proportions, acting above the law, has cornered our football.

Happy Birthday To My Boss, My Brother
SOMETIME in October 1982, Sunny Ojeagbase stopped me at the rail lines in Oshodi and offered me a job. I had a year to go in school, he waited for me. I was shocked on several scores. Here was a man who had never spoken directly to me, but unknown to me, he had followed my career, inviting me to The Guardian, which was beginning.

He kept his word, handled the complications of my NYSC positing. He treated me as if I was a staff, sending me on assignments abroad.

Through him I worked with other greats – Trigo Egbegi, who definitely brought more to the stable than covering boxing, Chris Okojie (studied Economics at University of Ibadan), but wrote those feisty comments, Pat Opara (deceased), we all depended on him to get things done and later Mitchell Obi, who inspired us with French perspectives.

Mr. Ojeagbase made sure we were family. He never compromised quality of work. I learnt a lot from standards he set for reporting and his insistence we understood issues.

Long before he turned 60, he handed reins of his sports newspaper to younger leaders like Mumuni Alao.
I wish him more years of service to the enlarging portion of humanity that depends on him. He remains my boss and big brother.

Please email comments, condemnations, or commendations to [email protected]