I CAN IMAGINE some readers muttering under their breath after reading my headline: “Mumini has come again with his wahala! Everybody is praising the Flying Eagles for a wonderful showing in Colombia, but here he is putting a question mark on their performance. Let’s find out what the problem is this time.”

“The NFF has always had a reputation for being a spendthrift. In one breath, you will hear top officials complain about lack of money to execute important programmes. But, in the next breath, you will see a bus-load of them embarking on a flight of fancy to go and “support” the national team.”

I HAVE decided to publish some of the feedback to issues that I raised in this column in the past few weeks. But before that, let me quickly have a few words on the football action involving Nigeria this past weekend.

I was in Osogbo, capital of Osun State over the weekend for a conference of my group, The Companion, when news broke that Chelsea Football Club of England had signed President Goodluck Jonathan as their new manager for next season to replace the sacked Italian, Carlo Ancelloti.

THERE IS HOPE for a better future for Nigerian sports after all. I came to this happy conclusion following the inauguration of the Adokiye Amiesimaka - led committee  set up by the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Engr. Sani Ndanusa, to determine the modalities for the establishment of the Nigeria Court of Arbitration for Sport  (NCAS).

HE ONLY place to be this weekend is the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos where arguably Nigeria’s most accomplished footballer ever will be formally “pulled out” of the national team, the Super Eagles. On Saturday, June11, 2011, Nwankwo “Papillo” Kanu will be honoured with a testimonial match that is worthy of a legend.

I AM writing this less than 24 hours after Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3-1 in the final of the 2011 European Champions League at the Wembley Stadium in London, England on Saturday, May 28. By the time you are reading, what will be the talk of the town is the international friendly match between Nigeria and Argentina in Abuja on Wednesday, June the 1st. Currency of news and local relevance suggest that the Nigeria-Argentina game should be my focus this week in Soccertalk, but that would be letting history happen before our very korokoro eyes without properly documenting it. Barcelona’s performance last weekend is the stuff of legends and it will be talked about for a very, very long time.

NIGERIAN football has become a Nollywood home video: a never-ending story.

NIGERIA received a double wake-up call over the weekend when West African neighbours Togo dethroned our home-based Super Eagles in the WAFU Nations Cup on Saturday, while Ghana eliminated our Super Falcons from the race to the 2011 All Africa Games on Sunday.

A FEW WEEKS ago when I featured Peter Osaze Odemwingie as the lead subject in this column, it was for the wrong reasons. The player had walked out on Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia over a disagreement and then gone on to confront the coach on Twitter. That prompted me to ask him to “shut up” and apologise to his coach which he promptly did. Case closed.

CAMEROUN, Nigeria and Real Madrid were forced to eat humble pie of various sizes in the past one week as the football menu snowballed across the globe. And Chelsea now have a chance to benefit from coach Carlo Ancelotti’s new found humility as the English Premier League is decided this weekend at Old Trafford. Everything points to one fact: Confidence is good, but arrogance can kill!

IT TOOK sheer determination for me to vote in Tuesday’s Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in Lagos State.

BY THE time Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid complete the final episode of their 5-Series best seller El-Clasico (The Classic) in the on-going football season, both sets of players will probably be extremely tired of seeing each other’s  faces.

 WHICH party did you vote for last Saturday?

SAMSON SIASIA faced the first real challenge to his authority as Super Eagles coach last week when striker Osaze Odemwingie walked out on him from the national team camp and then told the whole word on Twitter that his coach “had issues.”

TWO WEEKS OF SHEER BLISS in Nigerian football reached a high last weekend when the country’s top two national football teams recorded resounding victories in their respective qualifying tournaments.

WORLD SOCCER ruling body FIFA presented its current financial report last week at its Executive Committee meeting in Zurich, Switzerland. Covering a four-year period 2007-2010, the report showed that FIFA obtained a total revenue of 4 Billion, 189 million US Dollars, while spending 3 Billion, 558million  US Dollars, leading to an overall surplus of 631million US Dollars (about 94 Billion Naira).

IT WAS A CASE of double wild goose chase for  Nigerian football last week.

I HAD planned to share this article with SOCCERTALK readers for some time now. It was written by the famous SEBASTINE OFURUM, legendary sports writer and commentator, in the 1979/80 edition of his annual handbook, “NIGERIAN SOCCER ANNUAL REVIEW,” which sold for a cover price of N1 (ONE NAIRA) at the time.

A COUPLE of hours after my article hit the streets last week, I received an sms text message from the chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee, Barrister Chris Green, requesting to speak with me. Apparently, he had called several times but as I didn’t pick the call – I don’t usually  pick calls that I can’t recognise on this particular line – he decided to send the sms.

FOR THOSE who pretend, especially in the corridors of power, that the problems of Nigerian football are exaggerated by the media, the fact must by now be staring them in the face.

I AM DETERMINED to resume this column on a positive and cheery note, so I have decided to write about some of the legends of world sport that are being made in this era even as we all look on.

THE Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland will soon be changing its name to Court of Arbitration for Nigeria (CAN), going by the sheer number of Nigerian cases already before it, with several more en route.

Hi, Samson,

I HAVE just finished reading Serena Williams’ autobiography, On The Line, which she wrote with help from celebrated American biographer Daniel Paisner. Some of the most intriguing parts of the book are those about her rivalry with her sister, Venus.