There have been this agelong believe, that there must always be a change in government after the expiration of the tenure of a sitting NFF president.
This is a norm, that has metamorphosed into a belief and was gradually becoming a tradition, until a Warri man, Amaju Melvin Pinnick defied all odds, to break a jinx that has lived with Nigeria football for over three decades.
To all sworn enemies of Amaju and his board, the slogan has always been; that they have done their four years, let someone else come and try.
For this rather flimsy excuse, they fought him and members of his executive committee, just because they were desperate to fulfil all righteousness.
Remind them of the need to give Amaju and his troop a chance to right their wrongs, they will rebuff you with a capital NO.
Remind them of the giant strides that the Delta state born football administrator has taken in launching Nigeria as a strong stakeholder in the confederation of Africa football CAF, and the world football ruling body FIFA, they will simply say, those are personal achievements.
Remind them again of how Pinnick gave Nigeria, Gernot Rohr, a coach that has brought fresh breathe to Nigeria football and they will say what has he achieved that his predecessors didnt achieve?
They have prepared ready made answers to counter all opinions and were daily feeding innocent football fans with cooked seeds of discord that turned their heads against the federation and revived a crisis that lasted four years.
Those were the most turbulent periods in Nigeria football and with it, came the obvious setbacks, which they held as weapons in the battle field.
They were always quick to remind Nigerians of our failure to qualify for back to back Nations cup competitions, they will also mention the board’s failure to qualify for the Under 17 and Under 20 worldcups of 2017 in their well prepared hate speech.
While they laboured in vain to distract, the board concentrated on building structures, sourcing for private sponsorships and creating an enabling environment for Nigeria football to thrive.
They have obviously done so well in this regard and are now reaping the dividends of a well planned return that promises so much in terms of results, achievements and performance.
It is time to consolidate on the gains of hardwork and enjoy the dividends of proper planning.
In their very first match as a board on it’s second missionary journey, they motivated the team to a resounding 4nil trashing of Libya in Uyo and made it two victories in three days, with a 3-2 trashing of their North African opponent in the return leg fixture, played in Sfax, Tunisia.
These are signs of better things to come for a board that invested immensely in youth football development which has led to outstanding results from the National under 15 team.
Let’s not forget too soon, that the Golden Eaglets have qualified for the Africa Under 17 Nations cup in Tanzania after defeating all comers to emerge tops from west Africa.
The Flying Eagles too, have also qualified for the Under 20 Africa Nations Cup holding early next year in Niger Republic while the Super Falcons playing under the tutulage of a world class foreign coach, will be in Ghana from Novermber this year for the Africa Women’s cup of Nations AWCON.
All these coupled with the fact that a Nigerian team qualified for the semi finals of the CAF Confederation Cup are achievements worth celebrating.
Tuesday’s victory has now catapulted the Super Eagles to the top of a group that has South Africa and Libya in second and third places, respectively.
This latest achievement, is coming barely two weeks after all but two of Pinnick’s executive committee members got a vote of confidence to continue their good work and win more laurels for the biggest black Nation on the continent.
Who says continuity is not good? Am sure you will have a rethink after reading this.
We have every reason now to hold Pinnick and his board responsible, if they fail to deliver on their promises.