Last Monday night was great for Nigerian
footballers.
The Nigerian Football Federation pulled out all the stops to put together an event to celebrate a sprinkle from a sea of great footballers that have
represented Nigeria through the ages.
Any which way, the choice of the legends through all the generations is bound to generate some level
of controversy. What blighted the whole exercise,however, was the unjustifiable decision to lump the two genders together in the choice of legends in every position on the field of play.
For some inexplicable and unfortunate reason, that’s exactly what happened. For example, people are
now trying to understand the choice of an Anne Chijienne (a legend in her own right amongst the
female footballers) ahead of great male
goalkeepers like Fregene, Ogedegbe, Enyeama,Rufai and so on, in the category of goalkeepers.
Little wonder Emmanuel Okala was livid with the choice.
Just for the records, Okala is the only goalkeeper in
Nigeria’s history to win a version of the African Footballer of the Year Award.
Simply separating the sexes would have prevented that ugly controversy and allowed for celebration of both sexes without any rancor.
Back To The Evening.
Despite a few hiccups in the content of the
ceremony and a few technical hitches here and there (understandable for a first such event) no one can belittle the significance of the ceremony and
what it portends for Nigerian footballers in the future.
The question on every lip is why no previous board of the NFA had ever attempted to introduce it, and
capitalize on the power of celebrating ex-footballers
to drive an agenda, given that aligning with Nigeria’s greatest brand ambassadors can be a
major game changer.
Last Monday night, the NFF did just that –
assembled a large number of retired super star football players, invited a Grade A audience of
some of the most powerful personalities in global football administration, put together an immaculate
evening of glitz and entertainment, and celebrated some of the most famous football stars in a well
packaged evening.
It was a historic occasion. For the first time a board
of the country’s football administration would be truly honouring footballers with awards.
It is a major statement that underlines the many
giant strides of the Amaju Pinnick led Executive Committee.
Incidentally, and understandably, not everyone
would agree with the statement that the board has
scored a pass mark.
At the venue the whispers of disagreement were
loud enough to be heard. Although the board may
have done remarkably well with international
football and politics, the same cannot be said of the
domestic game.
It is not in my place to defend or promote the
present board but even the blind can see that in the
area of marketing the game, the board has scored
higher than any other board in the history of
Nigerian football.
Since the national team qualified for the 2018 World
Cup a few months ago, the board has secured
more lucrative sponsorships than at any other time
in the history of Nigerian football.
Additionally, Amaju Pinnick has used his position in
CAF and FIFA to effect a boom in the placement of
Nigerians into various CAF committees reminiscent
of the days when now-discredited Amos Adamu
ruled Nigerian football.
In short, how well the Executive Committee under
Amaju Pinnick has done is a matter of contention
amongst football stakeholders.
That’s why, unfortunately, despite his achievements,
the road may not be quite clear for his re-election
next September when the elections into a new
board will take place.
For obviously strategic reasons, the general
assembly that will conduct the elections has been
moved to the very Northern city of Katsina!
The common thread through the history of previous
boards is that none has managed to survive the
high-octane political intrigues of Nigerian football
and returned for a second term.
By taking the elections to Katsina, Amaju may be
taking the greatest gamble of his life. He is trusting
his political instincts and taking the battle to ‘enemy’
territory to seek re-election.
At the awards night, last Monday, the elections
were discussed in hushes.
Many stakeholders see the awards as a
masterstroke in PR diplomacy, designed to position
the Amaju-led board to shatter the one-tenure jinx.
Whatever the motivation, the NFF Awards were a
long-overdue development that must be
acknowledged on its merit particularly by the
footballers’ fraternity, as amply testified to by the
FIFA President himself whose brief remarks at the
event acknowledged the contribution, power and
presence of football’s most important ambassadors
– the legends of the game!
That’s why, I must once again, on behalf of
footballers from all generations, thank the Amaju
Pinnick led board for their innovation in celebrating
the legends of Nigerian football.
Finally, no matter how hard I try to understand the
rationale for lumping the male and female
footballers together in the selection process of the
legends, I have not succeeded.
It was a grave error that must be avoided in future,
one of the few draw backs of an evening of
excellent music and dance, blighted only slightly by
late commencement of the show, long patronizing
speeches and a few technical hitches.
Having said that, the event was a great
advertisement for Amaju Pinnick and his board.



I do not like the fact that I am writing this, but I
have an obligation to do so.
How Not To Treat A Sports Hero.
In the past few weeks, Nigerian sports lost some
prominent sports personalities including Deji Tinubu,
Raymond King and Morten Owolo.
Deji and Raymond were buried, with the Lagos
State and Ogun State governments supporting the
families of the deceased to send them peacefully to
their Creator befittingly.
It is now the turn of Morten Owolo to be buried. He
is from Delta State but spent all his football career
in Rivers State.
Morten was a member of Nigeria’s successful 1972
Second All African Games team that won the
games’ Gold medal. He represented the
Green
Eagles through to the middle of the 1970s playing
at left-back.
He was a pioneer member of the great Sharks FC
of Port Harcourt team of the 1970s along side
Dediare, Dombraye and Quackopone.
He retired in the early 1980s and worked,
thereafter, with the
Rivers State Sports Council as
coach, not only of Sharks FC for a brief period, but
also in several local government areas fishing out
talent.
In short, his entire football career was spent in the
service of Rivers State until he retired from service
in the 1990s.
When he passed on a few weeks ago, officially and
verbally, the Rivers State government, through the
State’s Commissioner for Sports, was notified of his
death.
I, actually, spoke directly with the Commissioner
asking him to influence a token support for Morten’s
young family to enable them bury him decently.
The burial date is next week, March 3, 2018, and the
family tell me the silence from Rivers State is
deafening!
This is another public appeal for the State
government, through the Commissioner of Sports,
my friend,
Boma Iyayi, to rise up to the simple
challenge, support the family to give Morten a
simple but decent burial, and let the great football
ambassador have a triumphant passage to his
Creator without regrets that he served an
ungrateful State.
To be silent and to do nothing will be a
demonstration of
how not to treat a hero,
particularly one who diligently served Rivers State
through his best youthful years.
My Mum Goes Home!
As I was putting this article to bed, my Mum,
Abeke Odegbami, answered the final call by her
Creator.
I thank all those that have heard the ‘good’ news
and have been celebrating her with the family.
She lived very long and very well. For that, we
thank our Father in heaven and celebrate her incredible life!!!

Source: https://www.completesportsnigeria.com/odegbami-great-controversial-nff-awards/
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