Sports
Minister Sues For Calm Over NFF Board Members’ Appointment
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has urged football stakeholders to remain calm over some appointments into the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board by the Federal Government.
Dalung, in a statement at the weekend in Abuja, said efforts were being made to correct an oversight made following the recent appointments into the NFF board.
Tidesports source gathered that the Federal government had announced the appointments on Friday of over 1,000 members, including 209 board Chairmen.
They are to fill positions on the boards of government parastatals, including the NFF and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Others are the National Institute for Sports and the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre which are all under the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
Dalung, in the statement released by Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, his Special Assistant on Media, said the appointment of members into the NFF board by government was an oversight.
“By virtue of their (NFF) statutes, members are elected and not appointed.
“The appointments were an oversight which is being sorted out. NFF is governed by statutes and board members are elected by congress and not appointed.
“I am appealing for calm from all stakeholders as it was an administrative oversight. Efforts are tailored towards addressing it very soon.”
The Minister also stated that government and football’s world governing body FIFA were in talks to clarify the issue and assure them that no harm was intended.
“I have spoken with the FIFA General Secretary over the situation in Nigeria and conveyed Federal Government’s commitment to upholding the governance structure of the NFF.
“All efforts are on course to liaise with CAF and FIFA on constructive engagement that the situation may likely attract.
“The current board of NFF under Amaju Pinnick has provided leadership but their performance is subject to a congress and not appointment,’’ Dalung stated.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.