Too many cooks…

 

 

Too many cooks… 

By Clem Oluwole

One question that keeps disturbing this columnist over the past four weeks or so is: Who should run football in this country – the Federal Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports, the National Sports Commission (NSC) or the Nigeria Football Association (NFA)?

Much as I would not like to ‘violate’ the ceasefire appeal made during the week by both the Federal Ministry of Sports and the NSC on the furore over the second leg tie of the Cup Winners’ Cup involving the Rangers of Nigeria and IICC of Nigeria, the question as to who should run football has pushed me into doing so.

This columnist was in Lagos when the confusion as to whether or not the Eagles in the Rangers and IICC should feature in the first leg of the semi-finals of the current Africa Cup Winners’ Cup played on October 15 – about six days before Nigeria-Egypt second leg encounter in the current World Cup qualifying series.

A meeting of the NFA, the NSC, the Federal Commissioner for Social Development, Youth and Sports, Mr. Dan Isokrari, whose tremendous interest in football has been noticeable of late, and some officials of both clubs was held in the Boardroom of the NSC in the afternoon of October 13 and a decision was finally reached that both the Rangers and IICC should feature their leading goalkeepers for the first leg match. The reasons were that the Rangers argued that their reserve goalkeeper was yet to recover from the attack of the Senegalese mob, while IICC also complained that their own substitute goalkeeper too was nursing a boil.

But when the decision was announced, the Chairman of the Oyo State Football Association, Chief Lekan Salami, flared up. He submitted strongly that the two clubs must either feature with all the Eagles stars or without any of them. He further submitted that at such a crucial meeting, only himself and his counterpart in Anambra, Mr. Egwu, were competent to give such decision a blessing… the two were absent at that meeting.

The decision had been made public but a few hours later, another meeting of the NSC and the NFA was hurriedly summoned by the Federal Commissioner for Social Development, Youth and Sports. The meeting which continued till late in the night in the Boardroom of the NFA came up with another decision countering the earlier one. And that was where the crisis began to brew. ‘…all the Eagles are now to feature… in the interest of all concerned’. And that counter decision cost us two vital points in Cairo against Egypt.

Then came the night of October 21 in Cairo. The NFA executive members held an emergency meeting after the Egyptians had mauled the Eagles 3 – 1 and a decision was reached that the Eagles stars were not going to feature in the second leg of Rangers-IICC Cup Winners tie on October 29. The Federal Commissioner for Social Development, Youth and Sports, and the National Sports Commission’s Director of Sports, Mr. Isaac Akioye, gave the decision their blessing. One of the executive members of the NFA even told me in Cairo that the NFA was contemplating whisking off the Eagles to Ife immediately on arrival in Lagos for camping in readiness for the Tunisians on November 12.

Everything seemed to be going on fine until early this week when Mr. Egwu came out with the statement that the NFA reserved no right to ban any player duly registered with his club from playing the match.

The decision to ban the Eagles in the second leg seemed unchangeable until about 24 hours to the kick-off when the NFA or NSC or Federal Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports gave in… and came up this time with the announcement that the match had been put off till November 19, a week after the clash with Tunisia. But how the Shooting Stars gained admission into the National Stadium, Lagos, to clamour for a walk-over, still baffles me. It was even understood that the Rangers were already at the Enugu Airport en route to Lagos when they heard the announcement that the clash had been put off.

It takes sheer courage to take a decision and stand by it. The Federal Ministry of Social Development, Youth and Sports and the NSC have jointly assured the nation that such confusing situations would never arise again. It is high time a line was drawn… NFA is supposed to be a supreme body charged with the running of the country’s No. 1 sport. And if those who constitute the membership are not competent enough to sit at the helm, as we are being made to believe, then they should be told to give way. Otherwise, the Federal Ministry of Social Development or NSC should leave them alone. Two sane heads are better than one. Agreed. But too many cooks, they say, spoil the broth.

(Culled from Saturday Commentary, first published on November 5, 1977).