By

Ezindu Okay-Lawrence 

I remember vividly when the news broke after all the squabbles, politicking, and game-plays of lobbying at the NFF congress and elections that eventually produced Alhaji Mallam Gasau as the NFF president after Amaju Pinick's tenure ran out, the news which many received with plenty cheers and applause suggested that Gasau's emergence was to be seen as a square peg in square hole. But over the years now, I have looked back and carefully considered, and I can boldly say that past failure of our Football administration is rubbing off on the tenure of Gusau so far, and has yielded no fruits or doesn't look like it would actually yield any fruit, any time soon.
This will be a wider discussion for another article and column.

It is no news that in the continent at the moment, Nigeria only has one team carrying the country's flag to the continent. That is Enyimba FC.

One would have expected that the NFF, hold galvanize and consider the country first and not the region from which the team representing the country comes from.  I also was expecting that the NFF would as a matter of urgency mandate all experienced coaches in continental football or at least few of them to go and support the technical bench of Enyimba FC, on behalf of the nation, at least for a better representation of the country.

These are  thoughts a football federation, ought to have on its own without being pricked by any external force or pressure. But unfortunately, the NFF would rather be engrossed in controversial appointments and reappointments. Which I see as totally unnecessary at this point. 
For instance the reappointment of Dr. Mohammed Sanusi who had attained an approved service year of retirement and thus has retired.
It is sad, to observe that  a country blessed with so much talented and brilliant heads at different ages still struggles with finding appropriate leadership in almost all areas of its existence. From political leadership to the other technical specific areas. Everything is shrouded in  maladministration and wrongs. This is very sad.

Looking critically at the state of our league, we cannot hold a complete season without controversies and irregularities, and this also extends to the appointment of National Team Coaches of all cadres and extends to other areas like invitation of players to represent the National Team.

A lot of errors, can be visibly noticed in the administrative system ran by the Gassau led team and this makes me wonder, if those who voted him into office and those who hailed and cheered, when Mallam Ibrahim Gassau emerged actually knew these men's pedigrees before bringing them into such administrative offices to oversea a department of the country with huge potential to make the nation a global force?

I think the praise singing and lipservice wards and hypocritically selfish personalities who are among followers of officials, of different government organizations is one of the major problems of development in Nigeria, because the people are so defeated in their mind that they have no more common wills to ask pertinent questions and demand rights to be done in places of public offices.

Now, the only representative of the nation in continental engagements is on the verge of early elimination, and this does not look like a crisis for the football administrators in the country, not serious enough for them to declare an emergency and summon all good heads to see how to salvage the situation for the country.

These so called leaders, appear dumb to me, always more reactive than proactive, often waiting for a situation to get so bad, before remembering they could have acted on it.
This is unacceptable especially, for those on whose shoulders lies the responsibility of running the big football administration of a country with such huge potential as Nigeria. I am in shock!

However, I am  optimistic that things can change. Either from the Political level in the country which when it happens, will affect the rest of the sectors positively, or at individual sectors, in this regard the Sports sector and football specifically being my interest.

It is left to be seen.

God help us, and may we help ourselves!!!