A member of the newly elected board of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Hon Nse Essien, has assured that they would work as a team with the new NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, to reposition the country’s football.
Essien who is the South South representative at the board in an interview in Uyo blamed what he described as sports politics to be the bane of Nigeria’s excellence in football at the league and international levels.
“We can’t have countries like Ethiopia and Zambia, having their leagues on television and Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million people, we are not on TV. This is a challenge not just to the NFF, but the entire country. I have also seen a situation where the league is haphazardly run, we need to be in competition with other leagues in Africa.
“The league must have it own timeline from beginning, and it must end well. We don’t want a situation where the league will be stopped abruptly because of sponsorship issues, finances and so on.
“Finance is a major challenge, but then, with the right attitude and zeal, we can have sponsorship that will be able to carry the league.” The lawmaker, who is a member of the Akwa Ibom Assembly noted.
He said the calendar for the Federation Cup, would be harmonized to be in tune with the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL)
“We are looking at a situation where the Federation Cup will run simultaneously with the League, and not a situation where clubs are given slots underservedly,lo to go and represent Africa, which is not the best for us. The teams that have wining capacities should be the team that should represent Nigeria in Africa.” He explained.
Essien, who also identified poor refereeing/officiating as hampering the growth of the NPFL, warned that he was committed to ensuring that he would work with Gusau to bring sanity to football administration in the country.
“Refereeing is a big aspect of the game that must be looked into. Football can only be enjoyed when the officiating is effective, it shouldn’t be winning at all cost. when champions emerge; there should be true champions, and the referees must help us, and It is very important because you can’t spend so much and be frustrated by the referees.” He explained.
He assured that he was prepared to work with the Gusau – NFF Board to fix the game in order to restore the hope and confidence of the fans to the league.
“We are one family, the President is an excellent gentleman; he has the experience. He has risen from the level of a clerical officer to director of account, so he has got the experience.
“He also has the experience in Football. He is open to suggestions and advice, he is not a one man show. So far, when we had our inaugural meeting, he harnessed all contributions from every member and anything we collectively agreed is what he will do. So, there is no cabal as I have seen in the NFA.” He noted.
