Much ado about 10-year Football Development Masterplan

A fresh crisis is brewing between the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) over what the latter perceives as undue interference in its affairs by the former. The bone of contention is the report of the 10-year Football Development Masterplan submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, August 23 at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

It would be recalled that based on Presidential directive, the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, on November 11, 2021, inaugurated a 16-man committee charged with the responsibility of fashioning out a masterplan for football development in the country. 

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Although 17 renowned Nigerian sports administrators were announced in September, only 16 accepted the responsibility as a former Nigerian international and member of the 1980 AFCON Cup winning squad, Justice Adokiye Amiesimaka, turned down his appointment citing lack of seriousness on the part of the government as reason for his action.

The committee was chaired by a veteran sports administrator and  former Chairman of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima who was assisted by a grassroots football supporter, Yemi Idowu, son of the late business mogul and sports philanthropist, Chief Nathaniel Idowu.

Other members of the committee were  Chief Segun Odegbami, a member of the 1980 AFCON winning squad, member of the 1994 victorious Super Eagles, Sunday Oliseh, member of the gold medal winning Dream Team at Atlanta 1996 Olympics, Emmanuel Babayaro, Alhaja Ayo Omidiran, Ikeddy Isiguzo, Augustine Ojiabor, Ade Ojeikere, Tobechukwu Okigbo, Tony Nnacheta, Muhammad Umar Farouk, John Opubor, Dr Bode Durotoye, a former NFF General Secretary Musa Amadu and present first vice-president of the NFF, Seyi Akinwunni.

So, after nine months of painstaking exercise, the committee submitted its report to the Sports Minister. It is the same report that was officially received by Mr. President himself on Tuesday at the Presidential villa. 

During the presentation of the document to President Buhari, the football governing body in the country, the NFF wasn’t well represented. Apart from the second vice-president who was a member of the committee, no other NFF chieftain was in the Villa. Maybe Pinnick and his board members who are still sulking, didn’t see any reason to be in attendance or they were not invited to the auspicious occasion.

However, for many people, the absence of Pinnick wasn’t a surprise because from day one, the NFF had refused to identify fully with the committee. It would be recalled that the NFF literally shunned the inauguration of the committee. That incident showed clearly that the NFF was not comfortable with the decision by the Minister to set up the Galadima committee to carry out one of its responsibilities which is to plan for the development of the game in Nigeria.

Well, the cold shoulder from the NFF leadership didn’t stop the committee from functioning, neither did it stop the report from being submitted to President Buhari who has already expressed satisfaction with the document.

One of the salient recommendations of the report is the expansion of the NFF General Assembly and Executive Committee i.e expansion of the voting delegates at the NFF elective congress from 44 to 111 and a slight increase in the number of Executive Committee members from 15 to 16 to accommodate a woman in line with FIFA’s thinking and new global practice.

As a matter of fact, President Buhari also said his administration has demonstrated the political will to create and develop a conducive environment for football to thrive. He also described football as a national asset that must be jealously safeguarded.

When it was time for him to make his remarks, the sports minister said something very instructive. He acknowledged the critical role to be played by the NFF in implementing the masterplan.

Dare emphasised that the final decision on the recommended expansion lies with the NFF General Assembly. He stressed that only the congress can make the expansion a reality.

Instead of this due recognition of the supreme powers of its congress to assuage the NFF, there appears to be disenchantment in the glasshouse as the football federation bigwigs are still feeling slighted by the sports ministry.

A recent article written by a former chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) in Lagos State, Fred Edoreh, has captured substantially the mood in the glasshouse. As a matter of fact, the feeling in some quarters is that the NFF only used the experienced sports journalist to express its disdain for the masterplan.

Instead of protesting against the continued exclusion of his immediate consistency from the congress and board of the NFF, he dwelt more on the lapses in the football development masterplan. This is not to undermine some of the germane issues he raised in his article.

But he derailed to some extent. As if he was not aware that the NFF willingly stayed away from the activities of the committee in protest, he acknowledged the need for the Masterplan but said it was doubtful, if the football governing body was taken along for its input in the football masterplan.

Edoreh whose article indeed warmed the hearts of the men in the glasshouse and their supporters, therefore, submitted that “if the masterplan is to be faithfully implemented, then it should be to the conviction of the governing body of our football and not by imposition.”

He also blamed the underdevelopment in the sports sector on what he referred to as the overbearing influence of the sports ministry, accusing it of  tactically or politically excluding sports federations from the planning of their respective sports. According to him, such unwanted behavior is always a recipe for failure.

Therefore, if the opinion of Edoreh is the thinking of the NFF, it will take real persuasion and pressure for the football federation and its congress to recognize and accept to implement the recommendations of the Masterplan committee.

In as much as some of the criticisms against the Masterplan committee and its reports are valid and worthy of consideration, it is also important to commend the sports minister and the Galadima committee because after so many abandoned committee reports, one may finally see the light of the day in the overall interest of Nigerian football.