By Kate Obodo
Following  President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to rescind the banning of the Super Eagles from international competitions until 2012, former Shooting Stars Sports Club chairman, Elder Bode Oyewole has urged  the Federal Government to be more careful in its decisions as it affects the running of the country’s  football.  

The Ibadan-based match commissioner, said in a statement that for an effective and smooth running of football in the country, the government needs to get  the right people to administer the game.

“I advise that careful and well thought out steps must be taken to ensure that the right people are brought into the running of our football. I am of the opinion that if the right people are put in charge, genuine development of the game would take place.

“We should jettison the penchant to merely promoting football by perpetually throwing in money and embrace genuine development programme that will lead to budding stars being churned out to replace ageing ones. We should also do away with the earlier practice of some god-fathers handpicking their stooges to man sensitive positions in our sports.

“A country of 140 million people has no excuse not to produce eleven young men that can match their counterparts from anywhere in the world. The in-coming NFA board should, as a matter of urgency, revive the nursery system of school sports, Principal Cup etc, which were the bedrock of our football development in the past.

Genuine steps should also be taken to sanitise our league system. A well run and honestly affiliated league will not only bring back the days that our stadia were packed to the rafters with fans, it will also be a veritable ground for fishing out home-based talents that will give the foreign based ones a good run for their money,” he said.

Elder Oyewole however thanked the president for rescinding his earlier decision which would have seen Nigeria being sanctioned by FIFA.

“I have watched with keen interest recent developments in our football administration in Nigeria,  and wish to thank the federal government led by President Goodluck Jonathan for his decision to rescind the earlier decision to ban Nigerian national football teams from taking part in international  competitions.

“Not only has the decision saved us from a potentially damaging FIFA ban, it has also saved a generation of budding male and female footballers from career torture. Mr. President has demonstrated his courage and willingness to put first what would bring the greater good to the greatest number of Nigerians,” he said.