As it has become a ritual every four years, the hullabaloo that trailed the election into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has come and gone. Ibrahim Musa Gusau, 58, is succeeding Amaju Melvin Pinnick as the 36th president of the NFF. Prior to his election, Gusau was the chairman of Zamfara State Football Association. But he is taking over at a time stakeholders are divided and unsure of the future of the country’s football.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar between November and December. The Super Eagles, the premium brand of all the 13 national football teams, failed to make impact at the last African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon last year, crashing out in the second round. Our senior women’s team, the Super Falcons have lost their invincibility in the continent they dominated with nine African Women’s Nations Cup titles in the past. They lost the chance to win their 10th crown last July in Morocco.

Meanwhile, the country’s topflight league, the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) has been comatose since the last season ended with no clear sign of when it will resume. In addition to these, debts in hundreds of millions of Naira owed hoteliers around the country and airlines are piling up. Same with debts to coaches and secretariat staff. Outstanding bonuses and allowances to players, some dating back several years, are also there to be settled. And so, Gusau is inheriting a federation riddled with so many challenges.

However, credit must be given to Pinnick for bringing some sanity into the chaotic manner the NFF was managed in the past. He brought in Financial Derivatives and the PricewaterhouseCoopers as consultants to manage the federation’s books. His partnership with AITEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, NIKE, etc., helped in the funding of some NFF activities. With dwindling resources from the federal government, Gusau and his team will need to think outside the box on how to get partners to fund football activities. Also as a way of cutting costs, it is not compulsory for Nigeria to attend all football competitions. The essence of most of the under-age competitions is developmental.

Finally, this is not the time for blame game on what has caused the drop in the quality of Super Eagles. The rot started way back in 1998/99. All past sports ministers and the NFF boards have only glossed over the matter. Since the 1994 ‘golden generation’ faded out of circulation, no concerted efforts have been made to recreate that era. Constant hiring and firing of coaches have not helped our development. What we are reaping now is the manifestation of years of “looking for immediate results”, using footballers bearing our indigenous names but lacking in that Nigerian football philosophy.

The new board needs to liaise with the ministry on the recent 10-year road map put in place for football development. Football is a multi-billion dollar business around the world. With good professionals with marketing background constituted to run League Management Company (LMC) just like the English Premier League, there is no reason why the Nigerian league cannot attract multiple sponsors. But the Sports Ministry must act quickly to resolve all disputes. Some 12 years ago, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) put together a body headed by Adokiye Amiesimaka to midwife ADR for Nigeria. The report of that body has gathered dust with nothing done to date. It should be revisited to put an end to frivolous litigations from stakeholders with disruptive tendencies.

To the Nigerian fans, learn to swallow the bitter fact: We are down at the moment. Now is the time for Gusau to return our football to the basics and rebuild.

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