Vanguard
3 December 2008
Former House of Representatives member, Sani Ahmed Toro, has chided chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for missing the two matches involving the players and officials of the country's U-20 side, Flying Eagles in the on-going Ibori Cup competition being organised by the West Africa Football Federation (WAFU).
Toro was miffed that NFF chiefs opted to attend competitions outside the country where lucre in hard currencies would be earned than to watch Flying Eagles' matches since they are the next team to hoist Nigeria's colours in Rwanda early next year.
"It is a big shame that NFF chiefs are not here in Oghara. I have searched for them and cannot find any member of the board. They are busy junketing abroad whereas the Flying Eagles are Nigeria's next biggest team. What we find in the Olympic team is a side assembled every four years unlike the U-20 side which has since inception been the factory to discover new players to replace ageing and injured stars in the Super Eagles.
"Please show me any NFF member here. I can only see Chief Adegboye Onigbinde here going to the team to offer expert advice but it would have been nice if NFF men were to see the team and rub minds with the visitors from 14 West African countries that are attending this WAFU tournament. We are sitting in the State box, I ask you again, where is NFF here?
"Look at the disappointing manner in which the Flying Eagles have executed their last two matches. They have managed to squeeze out two victories. Walahi, they are not good and cannot take us to the desired height of winning the U-20 World Cup.
"If NFF men had been here, they would have seen things for themselves and task the coach to bring out the best players that abound in the country. It hurts to see Nigeria struggle at this level when you and I know that there are more than enough players to choose from. I won't be deceived by these two victories and we must begin to tell ourselves the truth if we truly want to change the game in Nigeria.
Toro was not alone in lampooning NFF chiefs as another former NFA Secretary General and retired assistant Director in the National Sports Commission (NSC) Tijani Yusuf expressed disgust over the absence of the men who run football in Nigeria.
"How can you be the host football federation and not a single member of the NFF is here to socialise with their affiliates in other West African nations? If they were here, they could have opened lines of communication for quality friendly matches. But they are not here. They are busy attending competitions where they can earn estacodes.How can Nigeria play two matches and the hierarchy of NFF did not watch a single game?"
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