A former House of Representatives member, Hon. Lumumba Adeh, says sustaining Nigeria’s upward movement in world football depended largely on how the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) manages recent successes.

He told Tidesports over the weekend in Abuja that NFF needed to be able to stand firm on issues particularly related to the Super Eagles.

Adeh listed the issues to include those of appointing a Technical Director as well as NFF’s relationship with Eagles’ head coach Stephen Keshi.

“Now, we can say that we are gradually getting there and that puts us in a good position to now aspire to out-do Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana and take our rightful place in African football.

“But the issue now is that we should be able to manage the present success, and fears will be whether our football managers can really sustain the pace,’’ he said.

Adeh noted that it was natural for fears to be entertained about whether the NFF could manage the success as the AFCON victory was not a result of its managerial acumen.

“I think it was through God’s intervention. Clearly, there was the hand of God in the entire arrangement. First, from the fixtures, and then down to the eventual progress of the team to the quarter-finals

“If one looks at our preparations and programmes, you will agree with me that it was not as a result of any deliberate planning or organisation that we got where we are now.

“I remember Keshi saying he needed time to take them where they are going,’’ the proprietor of JC Raiders of Jos said.

Adeh noted that, as an outcome of the AFCON 2013 victory, a lot of issues and controversies have arisen in relation to certain events or incidences during and after the tournament.

“If not properly managed, I am afraid, it is going to affect whatever gains Nigeria has made as a result of this victory.

“I was not in South Africa to know exactly what happened, but the steps the NFF were accused of having taken in the course of the competition, particularly in the preliminary round, may not have been right.

“It may for now be a normal way of making a coach sit up. But I want to take us back to the fact that this has been the style and character of the NFF and Nigerians have always been falling for it.

“We have always said it in times past that it is not at every outing that a national team or any club goes for that the coach gets sacked after a failure to win.

“But a coach that goes there and failed should be assessed to determine the kind of failure. If you allow him to remain in the system, it adds value to the system for subsequent benefits,’’ he said.

The former Vice-Chairman of the 2005 Interim Management Committee of the then Nigeria Football League (NFL) said the NFA was in the habit of diverting attention.

“The NFF has always been misleading football followers to believe that every failure is the fault of the coach and many people have never asked questions.