By Pius Idoko
It will not be business as usual for teams intending to bear Nigeria’s flag in continental football as a new wave of change is inevitable under the administration of the current Nff president Alhaji Ibrahim musa Gusau.
Nigerians in recent times have endured racketeering, but they’ve been assured the fate of teams who strive to represent the country on the continent will no longer be decided on a round table & in a highest bidder deal, as slots henceforth, will be earned or merited & non will be deprived anymore out of what is rightly theirs.
Last seasons FA cup, Nigeria failed to produce the team that should feature in the ongoing CAF confederations cup as the draw for the competition was held before the completion of the national cup & as such, the organisers of the league decided to pick flagbearers according to results obtained at the end of the Nigeria professional football league.
A similar case scenario occured in the 2017/18 season of the NPFL where the LMC declared Lobi stars the winner of the league in an emergency meeting held in Abuja, in order to meet up with CAF’s deadline, for registration of clubs for the Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.
Eye brows were raised last season when Kwara United benefited from the quota, as they were handed automatic qualification for failure of the league body to meet CAF’s deadline of club registration, with some club owners finding it difficult to assimilate the reality & eventually pulling their teams out of the Aiteo cup knowing that the end will no longer justify the means.
With this challenge, it is within the confines of a competent leader to alter the trajectory, & Gusau has taken the bold step to question what seems to be the norm & to defy the odds in correcting this anomaly.
In a communique issued on tuesday after the newly constituted body held it’s inaugural meeting in Abuja, the fourth agenda in the communique reads “In its determination to birth a new order in the general organization of Nigeria Football, the Board resolved that the calendar of each and every of the Leagues operated within Nigeria must be approved by the NFF before commencement, and ruled that the Federation Cup competition will now run alongside the Nigeria Professional Football League, with the seriousness of organization and attention that it deserves”.
Bearing this in mind, Nigerians will now heave a sigh of relief as the new board of the NFF led by an astute & a seasoned administrator Ibrahim musa Gusau are eager to expedite action to change the narratives positively & transparently in a bid to resuscitate the dwindling fortunes that have befallen the nations football in years past.
