FIFA must derive some pleasure from kicking Nigeria about — like football. Unfortunately, Nigerian authorities have been misled into believing that there could be no life without FIFA, maybe football.

Nigeria’s embarrassing loss of face and the blackmail some who parade themselves as lovers of football have continuously provided are simply unacceptable, except to a government willing to accede its authority to an ordinary organisation.

What is this whole noise about FIFA? Why would Nigeria allow an organisation that is decidedly against its progress to hold it to ransom? When would government stop FIFA’s interferences in Nigeria ’s domestic affairs? How can we award the right to our national decisions to a body that our laws do not recognise?

For the records, treaties, for that is what they are, like the ones that make Nigeria a member of FIFA, should according to the 1999 Constitution be subjected to approvals by our legislatures.

According to Section 12 (1) No treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.

(2) The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect to matters not included in the he Exclusive Legislative List for the purpose of implementing a treaty.

(3) A bill for an Act of the National Assembly passed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall not be presented to the President for assent, and shall not be enacted unless it is ratified by a majority of all the Houses of Assembly in the Federation.

FIFA, working with some Nigerians, who claim they love this country, has embarked on an endless journey to kill our football.

The same people who profited from more than two decades of football running on the full wings of government support, with Decree (now Act 101) which FIFA never opposed, are the ones saying that asking questions about the administration of football, about the use of billions of Naira government awards the Nigeria Football Association annually, and about the conduct of members of the NFA amount to interference.

Each time it pleases them, they obtain a FIFA ban, our government begs them, and FIFA lifts the ban. They are absolutely brazen because they have FIFA.

It is only in Nigeria that it is conceivable that the Nigeria Football Association established by Act 101, as a Federal Government parastatal, could without recourse to the law change its name to the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, the name with which it relates to FIFA, while still drawing its budget from government as NFA.

The National Assembly has maintained a befuddling silence over this illegality. In fact it authorised it by consistently passing NFA’s budgets which NFF spends. The illegality of a different body spending the budget it passes does not bother the National Assembly.

Once it got away with this illegality, NFA boasting about the wrath of FIFA has taken Nigerians for a ride. It is accountable to FIFA, and not Nigerians, on whose behalf it manages the section of the football property that is Nigeria’s.

When government last July took steps that would have given Nigerians an opportunity to clean up the game and its administration, the same self-serving people ran to government and made a fool of Nigeria before the international community.

Our President had to be explaining why he withdrew Nigeria from FIFA, a decision we had hailed in an editorial as a right step, only to return to FIFA within days. The President has become famous for being equivocal when it comes to FIFA, starting from last year when he cancelled Nigeria’s hosting of the 2009 FIFA World U-20 Championship over inflated budget.

FIFA had the guts to issue a statement suggesting it did Nigeria a favour by allowing her back to the fold, a patronising attitude it has continued to have in relating to Nigeria.

There are cases in court about football. Nigerian courts cannot be stopped from granting justice to parties in disputes in Nigeria, even if it is on football.

FIFA does not want those matters to continue. One of the cases is about elections into the NFA which many Nigerians wanted to follow the same Statutes the NFA parades before FIFA but refuses to follow. With all the petitions against the elections, FIFA went ahead with them.

Aggrieved parties had no choice than the court when FIFA would not listen to them. The latest ban and unban of Nigeria came with an order that all the court cases must end. FIFA is not interested in how the abuses of the Statutes would be resolved or any measures that would result in improvement of administration of the game in Nigeria.

Nigerians love football, but it is one love that is giving them too many pains. The poor performances of our teams are linked to the uncontrollable authority people in the NFA exhibit. They have refused to be accountable, even by the generous provisions of the Statutes through which they get into office.

By Act 101, NFA is an organ of the Federal Government and like other government agencies, is under the control of government. This may be wrong (FIFA has lived with it since 1990), but until the law changes, or NFA answers to Nigerians in most matters and to FIFA in some.

There would be no end to FIFA’s interference with our lives until there is a bold decision on what to do with the maladministration of the game which is the root of all these troubles.
Government still has to act in a way that would make FIFA realise that Nigeria has laws and is ready to accommodate FIFA, if its representatives would abide by our laws.

Many detractors would say that is impossible. The alternative they propose is subjugation to FIFA or the constant parading of Nigeria before FIFA’s court where we are banned one day, pardoned the next day with a threat of a ban outstanding.

The result of FIFA’s interference is affecting our football. It can only get worse. Government must weigh its options and come to a quick surgery to exterminate this FIFA cancer.