Bako Calls for Sack of Gusau-Led NFF Board to Avert Further Damage to Nigeria Football

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Former Sokoto State FA Chairman, Dr Danladi Bako, has described the continued stay in office of the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as an aberration.

Dr Bako who as the Producer of the popular but now rested leading sports programme “MasterSports” on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), galvanised the fight and advocacy for FIFA to increase Africa’s World Cup slots from two to five in 1992, insisted yesterday that “In years gone by, the Nigerian Football Federation board led by Ibrahim Gusau would have been sacked by now. Their continued stay in office after a woeful first tenure makes past military regimes look messianic because during General Ibrahim Babangida or General Sani Abacha’s regimes, the monumental failures of the current board would not have lasted this long before they get fired.”

The former DG of the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) stressed that it was self-serving, immoral and insensitive to throw the emotions of over 200 million football loving Nigerian fans into a ping-pong, ding-dong and topsy-turvy clanger.

 “I imagine the pain of the country and a football loving President Bola Tinubu that the Super Eagles have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup since 2018, losing out in 2022 and 2026 even when Cape Verde, a country of less than a million people qualified, even when a small Caribbean country like Curacao qualified, even when FIFA increased the (CAF) African slots to 10.

“I was the producer of NTA “Mastersports” in 1992 and galvanised the fight and advocacy for FIFA to increase Africa’s slots from 2 to 5. We qualified for the first time in 1994.  32 years later, we can’t qualify for 2022 and 2026 World Cups. Even at the last stages of the last AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, the President graciously released N12 billion for the campaign yet we came back with the silver and not the real trophy.”

The former Sokoto State FA chairman who has attended six FIFA World Cups, three Olympic Games as well as no less than 12 AFCON competitions, stressed that it really must be a bad news for the country’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu who as motivator for the Super Falcons watched helplessly as the team crashed out of the WAFCON at the quarterfinal stage and also failed to qualify for the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 35 years!

“That we lost out at the quarter final is embarrassing enough, we simply did not play well, we scrapped through the whole tournament unconvincingly. Now, we are not going to be in Brazil next year.”

Instead of blaming the failures on ‘bad luck’, Bako insisted that it is sheer incompetence that produces these kinds of results.

“I was FA Chairman in Sokoto State and Special Adviser to Minister of Sports, Chief Jim Nwobodo when we plotted how to win the football gold at the Centennial Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.  So I speak out of experience. I am sorry, the immediate past President of the NFF and the current one as well have no inspiring pedigree to drive huge campaigns of an impactful World Cup.”

Bako further put these poor handling of the country’s football as the reason the why Nigeria’s age group national teams have all underperformed. “And the sad issue is that there seems to be no hope ahead.”

He described the free money inherent in the federation as the reason why every successive administration at the NFF always resort to using FIFA threat for why the government that is funding the country’s sports not to interfere in its affairs.

“As at 1985, we did not know that FIFA gave the football body as much as $500,000 Swiss francs for the Kodak U-17 victory in China. Going forward, the then NFA developed a secrecy code of non-disclosure that they were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for every qualification at the senior World Cup to ensure quality preparation.

“At every attempt by any supervising Minister to investigate or make the Association accountable, the leadership screams that government is interfering and they threaten FIFA will ban Nigeria. Free money has become the attraction to fight tooth and nail to be NFF President. Any attempt to retool and recalibrate the lopsided composition of the Congress that serves as the Electoral College will herald hoopla and false propaganda that FIFA will ban us.

“That story line is outdated and totally false. Besides, technically we banned ourselves from the last two World Cups by installing poor leadership. FIFA did not ban countries like England for making Prince Charles or Prince William the President of the English FA. Are there elections for President of the Saudi Arabia Football Association? Countries are allowed to fashion what works for them and forward such statutes to FIFA so it becomes a rule book when crisis and infighting arise within the organs.”

As a way forward, Bako advocated the overhauling of the NFF Statutes and reform of both the electoral process of that Federation Executive Board by giving the voting rights to the “goose that lays the golden egg”, in this case the Premier League clubs.

“Clearly, there might be State Association Chairmen who are passionate and knowledgeable but in most cases, they are political appointees who merely were on the campaign bandwagon preceding the elections. They get to run our football while Dr Felix Owolabi, Daniel Amokachi, Nwankwo Kanu and Segun Odegbami are onlookers and passengers in a game they gave their whole youth and adult ages.”

Without mincing words, Bako wants the seat of the NFF President to be occupied by persons with capability and deep capacity in making decisions about the quality and choice of national team coaches beyond just the choice of the Technical Committee.

“The President requires an Air Commodore Anthony Ikhazoboh mentality to inspire players and coaches especially at halftime when Super Eagles are one goal down in a World Cup match. The Federation requires a groit with the charisma of Samson Omeruah and the world-wide connections of a Kojo Williams. The President requires a deft business acumen of a Yusuf Alli who was a banker and petrol magnate to get necessary funds and utilize them well.  The Football house President requires a dogged defiance , determination of a Jim Nwobodo during his days as Chairman Enugu Rangers Football Club in the seventies.”

In conclusion, the former Sokoto FA boss wants President Tinubu to direct relevant government agency to call for the exit of the NFF board instead of the so-called attempt to perpetuate themselves in office for another four years through the flawed electoral congress slated for September 27 in Lafia.