Olawale Ajimotokan
16 June 2011
Stakeholders meeting summoned by the National Sports Commission (NSC) Wednesday have listened to the grievances of the splinter Nigeria Football Association, (NFA) faction and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with a view tackling headlong the factional crisis undermining Nigerian football.
The body of elders, made up of former secretary generals of the NFF, met first with the Aminu Maigari-led board and later with the NFA group represented by Harrison Jalla.
The Olive Branch was also extended to another aggrieved party, Segun Odegbami, the former international, who faulted the guidelines adopted in conducting the last election into the committee of the NFF.
The latest initiative is perceived as the last ditch measure to stem the bug from affecting the performances of the entire national teams and not to provoke the international body, FIFA from losing patience with Nigeria.
The mandate of Maigari board has been challenged by ‘NFA’ which secured a Lagos High Court order that declared the election held under the supervision of FIFA in August last year as illegal.
And it was in the bid to uphold ruling that the splinter NFA served a copy of the order on the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, who was prevailed upon to execute the court order by locking up the NFF secretariat.
FIFA and NSC have both expressed their support for the NFF as the body recognised by the laws of Nigeria to administer football and liaise with the international bodies.
Also at the meeting attended by Ekeji, were former scribes of the football federation; Hon Sani Ahmed Toro, Momodu Kadiri, Fanny Amun and the Commissioner of Police in legal department, who represented the IG of Police.
They all listened as the Maigari board tried to justify its own version in the light of the prevailing crisis.
They were billed to meet with Jalla and his faction later in the day for the second phase of rapprochement, and eventually work out a solution that would be acceptable to both sides.
“We, have the mandate of the NSC to wade into the crisis and talk to all the parties. We are going to make a recommendation to our principal (NSC DG) at the end of the exercise. We are elders in this business and cannot continue to look the other way as this crisis rages,” Toro said.
He told reporters that the ‘elders’ bared their minds to the Maigari board, by pinpointing some of the mistakes it made in respective of the crisis. They also told the board it needed to “sit up”.
We gathered that the NFF was put at fault for reneging on some of the concessions it made to Jalla in October in the wake of the crisis, which led to FIFA pronouncing an indefinite ban on Nigeria on the eve of a crucial Nations Cup qualifier against Guinea in Conakry.
One key violation against the spirit of the agreement was the decision of the board to remove Davidson Owumi as the Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League at the NFF Annual General Meeting in Uyo, last December.
There is, however, a concern that the factions might return to the trenches if the current effort to palliate them fails.
“That is the main reason why we have to dialogue you can agree and disagree” Toro said.
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Link:
Nigeria Football Crisis – Elders in Peace Talks With ‘Nfa’ Faction