Former NFF Boss, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, Blasts On The Current Federation Impasse.

Nigeria football administration witnessed a renewed wave of crisis with a court ruling declaring the boards of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and its affiliate body the Nigeria Premier League as illegal bodies. What is your take on that?

It is quite sad that we are again witnessing such a development in the administration of our football so early in the new year, that all hands need to be on the deck to work on how to move the game forward. This is not a new problem per se, it is a carry over of what has been happening in the previous years which we have failed to adequately deal with. However, since the NFF have filed an appeal against the ruling, then we have to be patient and wait for the outcome in the law courts.
I wouldn’t like to speculate or make any statement that could further complicate the situation in as much as it is the solution to the problem all well-meaning Nigerian football lovers are looking forward to.

You are well experienced in football administration as a former Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association. Why do you think it has been very difficult dealing with the problem which has continued to haunt the present board of the NFF?
What is happening presently is an internal problem and you’ll agree with me that it is always easier to deal with an external problem than an internal one because you can’t fight against yourself.
It is a problem we have to look inward to solve.
For some time now as regards our football, we have been fighting against ourselves and there is no way the game can develop under such circumstances.
There are lots of personal interests and we have not been able to align those interests to suit the interest of the country, which I believe is paramount.
There are lots of agrieved people amongst football stakeholders and because they feel their grievances are not being properly or fairly addressed, they head to the law courts.

Most Nigerians lay the blame of the country’s current football woes on the doorsteps of administrators while administrators on their part blame the players and coaches for not living up to expectations. What is your own opinion on the issue?
Well, it would be difficult to single out the administrators alone as the only problem confronting our football.
The administrators and coaches exist because the players are there to play the game.
 You also have other stakeholders which include the club owners, sponsors, fans, press and others. All of them cannot work in isolation of each other and in a situation where each party does not play its part well, the whole body suffers. Administration might constitute the major problem confronting our football now but that is certainly not the only problem.
The coaches have part of the blame while the major actors which are the players have their own part too.
But rather than apportioning blames, what is needed now is to find lasting solutions to the problems confronting football development in the country.

What would you profer as solution to the ongoing crisis considering the possibility that FIFA might step in with a ban, if the issues are not resolved?
Like I’ve said earlier, the law court is already involved and I wouldn’t like to pre-empt the court’s judgement.
However, the problem can be resolved without Nigeria incurring a FIFA ban because that would not do anybody any good. It is therefore in the interest of all waring factions within the football family to find lasting solutions to the current crisis.

What is your assessment of the on-going African Cup of Nations in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea especially in the absence of Nigeria and other top teams like Cameroun and Egypt?
Judging by the events in the group stages of the tournament, I can only say the competition has been full of surprises just as it was during the qualifiers.  
Some traditionally big teams in African football - and of course that includes the Super Eagles - are missing in action and in a way, that has taken some glamour off the competition.
When you talk about big teams, you are talking about star players that make up such teams.
And in a situation where the star players with countries like Nigeria, Cameroun and defending champions Egypt are not around, it would surely tell on the tournament.
 I believe that also affected the standard of the games to a certain extent but then, I think that would improve in the knock-out stages. Personally, I think the major positive so far is that the competition has further established the fact that African football is fast, growing with teams formerly referred to as minnows now catching up.
What that means is that every country would now have to work harder to qualify for subsequent tournaments and that would help to further raise the standard of the competition.

The Syli Nationale of Guinea that eliminated Nigeria from qualifying have themselves crashed out in the group stages of the on-going Nations Cup. Do you think the Super Eagles would have done better had they qualified?
We played against Guinea twice during the qualifiers and the Super Eagles failed to beat them, which means the Syli Nationale are the better team. To think we might have done better than them at the tournaments proper would be mere speculation and instead of doing that, we should focus on how to qualify for the next edition.

Talking about the next edition, the qualifiers for the 2013 Nations Cup would commence for Nigeria with the game against Rwanda later this month. Do you nurse any fear ahead of the match the Super Eagles would be playing away from home?
I want to believe that we have all learnt our lessons by the non-qualification for the on-going Cup of Nations.
 I think we are very lucky that another edition of the competition is coming up just next year and that gives us the opportunity to get back into reckoning very quickly. Therefore, instead of nursing any fear, we should use the disappointment of missing this year’s edition to spur us to better performances to ensure Nigeria qualify for the 2013 event.
Whether we play away or at home should not matter.
We must work hard and aim to win all our games irrespective of where they are played.
We can’t afford to slip up any more and we must not take any chances.
All hands must be on deck if the Eagles are to get back into African and global reckoning.

You said all hands must be on deck. Don’t you think the crises rocking our football might affect the Super Eagles preparations and possibly jeopardise Nigeria’s qualification for the 2013 Nations Cup?
It is left for the NFF to put their acts together and manage the situation. Despite the crisis, what Nigerians expect is for the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2013 Nations Cup.
 I don’t think Nigerians would entertain anymore excuses in the event of another failure.
Our target for the Eagles should be two-pronged which means we should not focus only on the 2013 Nations Cup, but also on the World Cup coming up in 2014 because that’s part of the reason the qualifiers for the next Nations Cup is starting earlier.
 All avenues must be explore to ensure we get it right this time and we all know that adequate preparation is the key.
Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi and one of his assistants, Daniel Amokachi are presently on ground at the ongoing Nations Cup as analysts for Supersports cable television.

Don’t you see that as a distraction for the national team handlers?
I think Keshi and Amokachi are positively engaged.
The assignment they are undertaking at the Nations Cup entails they’ll be busy watching the games to give meaningful analysis.
That gives them the opportunity to assess other African teams at close quarters and get to know one or two things regarding their styles and tactics.
The experience should make them even better coaches by the time they return to tinker their own team.
And along the line, if the Eagles come up against any of these teams, the coaches should have adequate knowledge about such oppositions which should be to Nigeria’s advantage.

Thanks for speaking to us Sir.

You’re welcome