Kalu Laments Nigeria’s Failure In CAF Election

A former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Kalu, has described as “unfortunate’’ Nigeria’s failure to clinch the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive seat for West Africa zone 2.

Kalu, who is the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Pillar of Sports, made this known in Abuja last week.

He told journalists that Nigeria lost in the election because both the government and the Nigerian Football Association (NFA) did not take some of the stakeholders into confidence.

“If Isa Hayatou must be President of CAF, then Nigeria should have produced an executive committee member going by the contribution of the country to football development in Africa.

“We understand CAF and FIFA politics; government and the NFA should have relied on us for advice because this is the type of politics our people don’t understand.

“There is no way a country like Nigeria should lose to another country in the region to be executive member of CAF; it is unfortunate.

“If NFA and the sports minister consulted me, we would have found a way to handle Isa Hayatou.

“We know the language to speak to the delegates and they will abandon Hayatou.

“It happened in Tunis when the South Africans almost edged him out but I later came and bargained Amos Adamu with him and we played the politics and he got it.

“The two times Hayatou was elected, I bargained with Adamu.

“I told him that Nigeria is a powerful country and that as the governor of a state, I was going to scuttle his plans if he did not give us a chance.

“He later made us a promise in writing that he will support Adamu and that was how we got it,’’ Kalu explained.

The former governor noted that Nigerian Government had turned a blind eye to issues concerning sports development in the country.

He said to make sports thrive, government had to stop giving support to the mediocres that had nothing for the country.

“Nigerians are playing politics of bitterness and until sports stakeholders begin to pick those that can deliver, Nigerian sports will not move forward.

“I know most people don’t like Adamu but he is a great goal getter; I worked with him and I know him.

“When I was in the National Sports Commission and Chief S.B Williams was directly in charge of the NFA with Tony Ikhazobor as the chairman of NFA, Adamu was there also and he had answers to every situation.

“We must be able to see what is good in somebody; every bad thing has a good part to it and every good thing has a bad part to  it.

“Nobody is a saint and leaders must possess the good, bad and ugly character; that is how to go,’’ he added.

Kalu has promised to build a befitting secretariat for FCT SWAN as part of his contribution to the development of sports in the country.

Meanwhile, Sports  Minister, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, has approved a parcel of land inside the Abuja National Stadium Package ‘B’ for the construction of FCT SWAN secretariat.