The drumbeats of war have been beating at
high pitch as the Elective Congress of the
Nigeria Football Federation holds next Tuesday
in Warri, with a new President set t to succeed
Aminu Maigari.

In this report, JOHN EGBOKHAN chronicles the
agenda of the aspirants bidding to take
Nigerian football to the proverbial next level.
I ‘ve seen everything in football—Dominic
Iorfa
I am the
best person
to lead
Nigerian
football to
the next
level
because I
have put in
over 30
years of
service to
football,
first as a
player, who
played at
the top level in the Nigerian league, before
going to Europe to play professional football,
with top clubs in Belgium, England and Turkey
and went on to play for the Super Eagles and I
am presently a top administrator of a leading
club in Nigeria.

I have administered Lobi Stars of |Makurdi
for 15 years, uninterrupted. Of all the other
aspirants going bidding to succeed Aminu
Maigari, I can confidently say, with all sense of
modesty that I am the only one who has the
all-round experience to properly position the
NFF to achieve better results. Those conversant
with the league can readily testify that I’m one
of the best administrators around today. I have
the magic to change Nigerian football.
One of the things that I will offer if elected
President of the NFF, is strong leadership.
The administration of Maigari achieved a lot. It
was during his time that we won the 2013
Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, won the
2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in UAE, qualified
for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey and
qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in
Brazil, where we reached the semifinal and
are in the race to qualify for the next edition
in 2015.

However, despite all these achievements,
Maigari’s administration was tainted because
of weak leadership. Maigari was a weak leader
and that is why, even with all his outstanding
achievements that he cannot seek re-election.
It was during his tenure that we had crises,
which came because of weak leadership, When
elected NFF President, crisis will be a thing of
the past because as a team player, I will carry
everybody aboard the train of progress .
Take the case of our league, the weakness of
the Maigari’s board was evident in our league,
where a team got banished to another venue
for five matches, only to get a reprieve after
serving two matches of the stipulated period.
That is not good for our football. We have to
be seen to be strong and firm in decision
making.
There are so many things that I plan to do for
the Nigerian league, which remains the
bedrock of our football development. Our
league remains the surest foundation for a
strong and virile football development because
once we have a very strong and highly
competitive league system, from the amateur
rant to the professional level, then we are
surely going to excel as a football country.
Having been in the league since 2000, it is a
fact that I am the most eminently qualified
person who can readdress the problems of our
football. As a former player and current top
administrator, I know the stakeholders who
will help drive the vision of the incoming
administration to every nook and cranny of the
nation. I am well known and respected by
players, match officials and players and that
gives me the edge over others. I can solve our
problems within one hour.
The biggest problem of our football is greed,
where one person wants to control everything
and run a one-man show. This sort of greed
breeds problems and under-development.
I don’t want to talk about Eagles because I
know the problems of the team. I played for
the Eagles at a time when some of the
candidates were still in school.
I was the Nigerian player from the local league
to play in the English league with Queens Park
Rangers in 1988-89 season. Alongside Peter
Luck from Zimbabwe, we were the first two
Africans to play in the English league.
I was also the first player to feature in the
Turkish Super Liga and because of that, was
denied a place in the 1992 Africa Cup of
Nations in Senegal. They said that they can’t
invite a player playing in Turkey to play for
Nigeria but today, most of our players in the
Super Eagles are based in Turkey.
It is clear that the current disagreement
between Keshi and NFF members has affected
the performance of the team. As NFF
President, I will ensure that the coach and us
are on the same page for the growth of the
team. If we are not agreeing, there will be
problems. You have to have an understanding
with the technical crew.
I was part of the people who made Stephen
Keshi the coach. Keshi has not been happy
because of the contract. And the reason being
that when a local coach is made Nigerian
coach, what he gets is so small when compared
when a foreigner is appointed Eagles coach.
And there is no way an indigenous coach will
be happy with such a pay. If they want Keshi
to succeed, you have to give him the same
contract as the expatriates because our local
coaches believe that the foreigner is not better
than them…

My final message to the delegates is that they
should vote for the candidate who will
guarantee the progress of our football. The
delegates are important stakeholders in
Nigerian football and I urge them to vote for
me because I will change the face of our
football. I’m the right person to be the
President and I promise to run an all-inclusive
administration.


source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/gladiators-jostling-maigaris-seat/