By Eddie Akalonu
Brigadier General Gregory Adebiyi (rtd) has called for caution when stakeholders move to act on the latest judicial ruling declaring  the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF and the Nigeria Premier League illegal.

The former Nigeria Football Federation technical committee chairman warned that removing the current board now could be counter-productive in the face of the on-going programmes and events positing that they need strict monitoring and action. Speaking in Lagos he said “I am saying it is better to allow the current NFF

board to stay  to complete recent programs they started. They recently employed Stephen Keshi and gave him a mandate to build a team and that he must make the 2014  World Cup and 2013 Nations Cup. Therefore it is late to change the NFF no matter what problems are on ground,” he said, adding,”if we change NFF now for a new board, it will take us back because they will not come to implement programs started by this board but would want to have their own in place to begin afresh.

They may even not want to keep Keshi or support his plan to focus on home-based players for the national team. They may prefer to bring a foreign coach and you and I know what process and time that takes to take root.

The court has given a ruling that is unfavourable to the current board and they have appealed the judgment but we all know these are not good for our football. We are still repeating the mistakes of the past which yielded no dividends for the country,”he stressed.

General Adebiyi therefore appealed for peace, saying it is better to sit at a round table meeting where people will try to sort things out amicably than resorting to the courts.