BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)’s Annual General Assembly which took place at the Unity Hall inside the Delta State Government House Asaba on Friday, October 4, 2024 has come and gone as football administrators from the glasshouse and stakeholders converged to do a review of the last one year of football under the leadership of the NFF President, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau.
Traditionally, such a forum is expected to afford an opportunity for critical review of the last one year of Nigerian football under this administration and also do appraisals and recognize stakeholders who have made significant contributions towards the development of football in Nigeria during the period in review through the communiqué it issued.
Unfortunately the 14 paragraph’s Communiqué issued at the end of the ASA was silent on the selfless and sacrificial efforts which members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club have put in place in the last one year of Nigeria football under the administration of Alh. Ibrahim Gusau
Perhaps recognizing the Supporters club should have been the 15th paragraph in the communiqué, but it was conspicuously missing notwithstanding the sacrifice, commitment and efforts which this organized group of persons put in place despite not receiving any form of subvention or grant from the football federation during the period in review.
During the Super Eagles last game in Uyo against Benin Republic in a World Cup qualifier on September 10, the Supporters club made themselves available by conveying their members by road from Lagos to cheer our national team to a 3-0 victory. This was significant as the Super Eagles got their pound of flesh from their neigbours who had recruited former Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr as talisman to put fear into Nigeria after their first meeting under the German tactician ended 2-1 in favour of Benin without the Supporters club presence. That first meeting also afforded Benin an opportunity to record their first ever victory against Nigeria.
Nigeria’s victory against Benin was followed up with a trip to Kighali Rwanda for Nigeria’s second World Cup qualifier. But the chattered flight from Uyo which was used by the NFF to convey the team was probably not enough to convey members of the supporters club. Anyone who watched the match between Nigeria and Rwanda on TV would confirm that there were sounds of trumpets and other musical instruments in that match, with no available visuals showing the presence of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club. But how did this happen when members of the Supporters Club were not carried along to Kighali? This remains a mystery which is yet to be unraveled but can be best described as one of the great wonders and efforts of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club to improve football under the Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF.
Again, during the just concluded AFCON in Ivory Coast early this year where the Super Eagles finished second behind hosts Ivory Coast. The Nigeria Football Supporters club made a massive presence in Ivory Coast by road and all those present left their jobs, personal businesses to travel and cheer the Super Eagles up in Ivory Coast even when there was no subsidy, grant, or any form of aid from the NFF. Yet the Supporters Club in their usual selfless sacrificial nature provided the means for transportation as well as accommodation for fans and feeding. Sadly, their vehicle broke down on their way back home after the AFCON, and mischief makers were swift to go on social media and attempted to ridicule the suffering of the supporters club, but when this writer contacted the National Chairman of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club Rev. (Amb) Samuel Ikpea to comment on the incident, he described it as a suffering that was encountered while serving Nigeria selflessly and by extension a symbol of “National Sacrifice’ for Nigeria.
No doubt, the Football Supporters club has made significant impact in the last one year under the administration of Alh. Ibrahim Gusau’s NFF-led administration, despite their non recognition for appraisal or appreciation in the just concluded Annual General Assembly. While it’s so sad that no single word of appreciation was mentioned, will this deliberate sidelining of their efforts stop the Supporters Club from standing by our national teams? Obviously not, the Supporters club commitment and faithful efforts to our dear Super Eagles have lasted in almost 70 years, it will continue again in Uyo on Friday when Nigeria hosts Libya in AFCON qualifier and such commitment cannot be deterred by the lack of magnanimity which the NFF had shown to them.
