By Unukere Oboh
Hope for a flourishing football development in Nigeria may not come so easy unless stakeholders unite to kick out the cancerous misgiving in football circle in the country.
A member of the board of the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) and chairman Zamfara State Football Association,(ZSFA) Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau in an exclusive interview with DayBreak sports said it will be impossible for any board to work towards it targets if the unnecessary distraction caused by some people is not checkmated in the country.
Gusau who lamented that it was given those whose responsibility is to steer the ship to greater height much to desire, said the uncalled for distraction by some people is not only making the federation to lose its sponsors or would be sponsors because of the negative impact their claims is having on the sport.
According Gusau, who is also the chairman of chairmen in the football fraternity in the country, positive results can not be gotten with the way distraction from some Nigerians who are not interested in the growth of the game springs up every time.
He said though he is not against proper scrutiny of how football should be run in the country but the over flow of falsehood is killing the system, saying that objective criticism of the board is a welcome development but should not be laced with blackmail which is taking the game back.
While seeking for better cooperation among stakeholders to take Nigeria football to the next level, he is of the view that much needs to be done to keep the stake high for a better option for the country.
He said the present board as constituted has done a lot to see that the present senior national team has crop of players who are relatively young and can keep on with the momentum in continental and global success in the next decade.
“Though if you follow our performance in 2019, as a nation in international competitions is a pot of mixed grill, at the beginning of the year, we had fantastic results even though at the tail end we had some unpalatable results but on scale of preference I can say the positive outweighed the negative.
“People forgot the results we recorded earlier even with the distraction here and there, I make bold to say the board has done well.
“I can say with without any fear of contradiction that most often this distraction from certain quarters is not helping our football development, we must find a way out for the game to move on in the country on positive level because no sponsors will be interested in doing business with anyone in situations like this.
“You can now see why all this unnecessary distractions are not important rather they are kill joy and we must work to remove such elements from the system for it to grow,” Gusua explained.
Speaking further, the executive board member, said despite the hiccups, the board still has a good working relationship with their sponsors though the misinformation has caused some damages which could have been avoided.
Gusau noted that the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare since his appointment has been a pillar to rest on towards the revival of sports in the country as he has shown his commitment towards bringing in private investors into sports development in the country.
“One good thing I must tell you is that is that the sports minister, Sunday Dare has shown his zeal to allow private partnership with certain organisations in the country which will open more doors for football development; he is a caring and a listening father whose stay has brought stability to sports circle in the country.
“He is one man I believe can change the tide with his policy drive, so we all have to key in, to get the desired result,” he said.
The Zamfara State football boss however noted that it will be more beneficial if state governments can follow the line of the minister’s by disengaging from sponsoring football clubs in their states by involving private sector participation.
This, he said will help open up the business aspect of the clubs as it will go a long way in boasting their finance but he feared that since most of the governors see the clubs as another political agency to increase their popularity and as well as settle their boys, they may not allow such drastic changes.
Gusau believed private sector involvement in the running of the professional clubs will be good for the country.
“If it is possible for State Governments to pull out of the Nigerian League and the private sector comes in, even the novel idea by the League Management Company of community ownership by involving the people in the State, it will be a good development, though most government get themselves involved because of political interest, corporate involvement will be worth it, we need a legislation that can enforce it.
In the past we had teams like Raccah Rovers of Kano, Water Corporation of Ibadan, Julius Berger of Lagos, Abiola Babes, Leventis United, NIPOST, CBN and Customs united and a host of others but today the story is different, we can still there if the political will is there,” he said.
Gusua who hailed the performance in the league before the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic, said it was gratifying that results from almost all the league venues every weekend has been very promising and a plus to the organisers, noted that the officiating officials and other stakeholders should maintain the momentum to return the glamour associated with league football in the country.
“The performance of the clubs so far is worth commending and I must praise the efforts of the match officials who ensure that the right thing is done weekly, we still have much to do by maintaining the momentum any time the league resumes,” he said.
Speaking on the state of football development in his home state, the NFF executive board member said that the model of football they operate in the State is second to none in the country.
Gusua, who bemoaned that though things are moving on at a well-articulated level for grassroots football development, the State has not been able to fix back its rightful place at the premiership level in the country.
While hoping that the present arrangement in the state will propel that, he was emphatic that the 20 clubs format obtainable in the state, played on home and away basis will galvanize a new direction which will make it possible for the winners to do well at qualifiers for national leagues competition before battling for a spot in the premiership.
He said the State FA was not only concentrating on the top flight league in the state but organizes the state pro league with 24 clubs participating and share into two groups of 12 teams each and the top clubs usually gain spots in the state premier league.
Gusua also hinted that FA also organised various tournaments for the U-13 and U-15 players in the state and most of the discovered talents have found their places among the top clubs in the state.
He said the grassroots drive of the FA has seen to winners of the State premier competitions coming from outside the city centre as out of the six editions held so far, three champions has emerged from teams from the rural areas.
He said the FA will continue to explore more ways towards retaining a frontline position in football circle in the country
