Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced on Tuesday that the boards of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), the Nigeria National League (NNL), the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) and the Nigeria Nationwide League One (NLO) are to be constituted within the next one month.
Only last October, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports constituted a 10-member Interim Management Committee (IMC) to oversee the affairs of the Nigeria’s top flight football league. Headed by sports A sports administrator and politician, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, who had been Director-General of the now defuct National Sports Commission, the committee was mandated to oversee the NPFL until a substantive professional league board was put in place.
The IMC has since delivered a league season that is far improved than previous terms with quality play, firm decisions, incentives to players and clubs a well structured system that has won strategic partnerships, among other highlights.
Tuesday’s Executive Committee meeting of the NFF, which arrived at the decision, was presided over by its president, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau and attended by Yusuf Ahmed, Babagana Kalli, Sharif Rabiu Inuwa, Ganiyu Majekodunmi, Sunday Dele-Ajayi, Aisha Falode, Nse Essien, Margaret Icheen, Timothy Heman Magaji, and the General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi. The first Vice President, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu apologised for his absence.
The NFF Board raised concern about the recent results of the Super Eagles and the U23 male national team and endorsed Gusau’s position that the “Federation will never beg any player to wear the nation’s colours. It added that whoever is not motivated for one reason or the other to represent Nigeria should always be bold enough to state this at the point of invitation. Any perceived lackadaisical attitude by any player wearing Nigeria’s colours at international level will no longer be treated with kid gloves”.
Apart from not qualifying for the last FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar late last year, the Nigerian senior national team have also posted poor results lately, including a home defeat to Guinea Bissau in the qualifiers for the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria also lost their last three friendly matches to Algeria, Costa Rica and Portugal.
The Board appraised the preparation ahead of the Africa U17 Nations Cup and urged the squad to win the tournament, which holds in Algeria between 29th April and 19th May, and in the process earning a ticket to the FIFA u17 World Cup finals taking place later this year.
“While asseverating that the bronze-medal performance of the U20 boys, Flying Eagles at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt was below-par, the Board exhorted the technical crew and the players to see it as a national duty to win the FIFA U20 World Cup for Nigeria when the tournament takes place in Argentina between 20th May and 11th June”, the NFF statement also read.
But the Board expressed satisfaction with the new positive spirit and winning mentality in the camp of the Super Falcons, which has seen the team win its last three international matches. “With the bigger picture of the biggest-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup competition coming up in Australia and New Zealand this summer in mind, the Board admonished the technical crew to work even harder to give confidence to the players that they can indeed stand their own against the world’s best. Board stated that it will do even more to prepare the team for the big challenge with another grade A friendly match in Europe and a two-week camping in Australia before the kick-off of the tournament on 20th July,” the NFF said.
