This NFF has conspired to destroy our common happiness, says Gara Gombe

Ahmed Gara Gombe was one of the brains behind the Stakeholders' Forum, which saw to the enthronement of the present leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after Nigeria's failure to qualify for the Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup. But his romance with the Sani Lulu-led board of the NFF soon turned sour when he discovered that 'the new body had no vision for the development of Nigerian football.'

Following Nigeria's 2-2 draw with Tunisia in a must-win World Cup qualifier on Sunday, Gombe, who has been at the vanguard of the call for the removal of the current leadership of the NFF, told CHRISTIAN OKPARA in Abuja that more of such failures would befall the country if the federation's board were not changed. He also spoke on the elections to the board of the NFF among other football issues.

LIKE many Nigerians did after the Super Eagles' disappointing 2-2 draw with its Tunisian rival in one of the most important matches of the South Africa 2010 World Cup qualifying series, Ahmed Gara Gombe could not leave his seat after the final whistle of the encounter played at the National Stadium, Abuja on Sunday.

He was a sad man disappointed by the repeat occurrence of the disaster that befell Nigerian football in 2005. That was the year he picked up the gauntlet, alongside other stakeholders of Nigerian football to fight for a new beginning for the country's football after the failure to qualify for the Germany 2006 World Cup.

A principal character in the coalition that saw to the removal of Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima as the chairman of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following the failure of 2005, Gombe could not believe that the NFF he fought for had taken worse steps than the ones the stakeholders fought against in the last era.

Although he had since severed his association with the current board of the federation, he still had faint hopes that the country would somehow manage to fight its way to South Africa 2010 with or without the aid of the NFF. But such hopes could not materialise after the debacle of September 6 at the National Stadium.

Now barely able to contain his anger, Gombe says the time has come for every Nigerian to rise and demand for explanations from the leadership of the NFF over the fate that has befallen the national team.

"These people have conspired to destroy our common happiness. Nigerians kept quiet hoping that we will somehow manage to beat Tunisia to get our qualification for the World Cup easy. But see what their incompetence has done to us," Gombe lamented.

According to the Gombe State former FA boss, Lulu and his board has failed top deliver on all the promises they made before taken over the leadership of the NFF.

"Lulu presented a programme on marketing, youth development, accountability, national teams and the secretariat when he was looking for our votes. Now three years after, he has no programme on ground for any of these things.

"Rather we have become the laughing stock of the football world. The world now sees us as a country of cheats who use over aged players in youth competitions. The MRI test has so ridiculed us that we cannot brag of our successes in age football because of these peoples' ambition to win minor competitions at all cost. It is shame.

"Look at marketing, no responsible company wants to deal with the NFF again because of the corruption in the place. Even the ones they had are pulling out, yet these people want to continue to damage our football. We must fight to stop them," he said.

Gombe also directed his anger on some people, whom he accused of foisting Lulu and his board on the country.

He was particularly sad at the roles of NFF former Chairman, John Obakpolor and Amos Adamu in installing Lulu, saying that these men have done a great damage to the nation.

"Obakpolor as chairman of the electoral committee was given guidelines, which stated that the minimum qualification for a board member of the NFF was the Secondary School Certificate. But he allowed some unqualified people to run and win election into the board. He did not bother to conduct aptitude tests for some of the illiterates on the board because if he had done so he would have discovered that some of the people couldn't administer football properly. Some of these people after three years on the board do not even know the rules of the game they are administering.

"Taiwo Ogunjobi was banned from holding any football office, while Amanze Uchegbulem was not properly elected as chairman of Imo FA. Yet they were allowed to contest the elections.

"Amos Adamu just wanted everybody on the board to be submissive to him so he could manipulate the electoral process with the aid of former FIFA Secretary, Urs Linsi, to install Lulu and his cohorts. That was the beginning of this problem our football is now facing," he lamented.

On the finances of the NFF, Gombe said it was ridiculous that the board kept preaching accountability when the body is riddled with corruption.

"Lulu cannot be talking about accountability when he spends money not appropriated, doesn't follow due process and cannot account for $238,000 belonging to the federation.

"It is strange that people have started campaigning for his re-election when in actual fact he should be in jail and not talk about re-election.

"When Lulu was campaigning for election, he came with a document entitled 'The hope for a new direction,' and part of his mission statement was 'where there is no vision the people perish. Now tell me have we not perished under Lulu.

"He promised an annual football summit, local football competitions as is the practice in other developed countries, zonal offices for the NFF, accountability and transparency, provision of facilities all over the zones and the training of administrators and coaches. Has he achieved any of these? The answer is no.

"Now they want to amend the statute to suit their re-election plans. Because the election is fast approaching he is giving N500,000 to each state association in the country. I shouted against the N500,000, which I see as a Greek gift because it will be accompanied by selfish demand of the giver. Why is the money coming now when his tenure is coming to an end," he queried.

Gombe did not spare the Minister of Sports for the rot in Nigerian football, saying that the Sports Ministry has been treating the NFF with kid gloves.

The minister, according to him, has every right to intervene when things are going wrong with Nigerian football.

"These people always try to fool us with the bogus claim that FIFA would ban Nigeria from international football if government intervenes to get things right. Article 19 of the NFF act empowers the minister to intervene, which is not tantamount to interference.

"They have killed our youth football, our women football and now the Super Eagles, yet people expect the minister to fold his arms and watch Nigerian football suffer this trauma during his tenure.

"FIFA gives the NFF $250,000 yearly for youth development yet we cannot raise a youth team without over aged players. What has happened to the $238,000 they lost? It is sad that Nigerians have forgotten that so soon.

"The NFF should be allowed to finish their tenure and go. It will be an insult on Nigerians if anybody thinks of perpetuating the current board in power," he said.

On the South Africa 2010 World Cup, which ticket seems to have slipped out of Nigeria's reach, Gombe said, "the dream is all over. We should declare an emergency on our football to cleanse the house. There should be a four-year programme that should encompass all aspects of our football.

"Also, the terms of the Presidential Task Force should be reviewed to include taking over the Under-17 and Under-20 teams so that we will start from the base to restructure our national team and

all state FAs whose tenures have expired should be dissolved for a fresh election to usher in candidates for the national elections. The EFCC should look into the accounts of the NFF, look at how match collections and all the money that have come to the body since it came to office were disbursed. That way we will know where the problem lies."

Rather than blame the Super Eagles' coaches for the 'failure' of Super Eagles on Sunday, Gombe says the NFF must take the stick, saying the technical committee failed to do its job properly.

He asked, "where were the NFF when Nigeria failed woefully against Mozambique? That was a game we should have won, but we drew.

"Why did not the Technical Committee not insist on friendly matches to check the fitness of the players irrespective of the coach's refusal to play? Does it not show that the committee and the coach were hiding the frailties of the team from the public?

"In 2005, we blamed the hot weather in Kano for the draw against Angola; now what do we blame Sunday's draw on? It is so simple: We had no plan for success. We will not be part of a second consecutive World Cup no matter what anybody wants us to believe. It is so sad," he lamented.


source :   http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sports/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=090909&ptitle=This%20NFF%20has%20conspired%20to%20destroy%20our%20common%20happiness,%20says%20Gara%20Gombe