Amaju Pinnick’s ‘One chance’ NFF

Amaju Pinnick, an obscure personality in football administration, emerged from the blues under controversial circumstances as Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) chairman in October 2014.

Since then, he has thrived on controversy and also ingrained the Glass house in controversy, that football has been on a slippery slope . Nigeria, which used to be a dominant figure in African football is fast becoming a spectator, no thanks to Pinnick’s maladministration.

In living to his middle name,controversy, Pinnick who is owing Late Coach Amadu Shuaibu, Stephen Keshi, and Samson Siasia went and hired a foreign coach for the Super Eagles despite federal government’s opposition. Gernot Rohr, the new technical adviser whose resume has nothing spectacular will be paid $47,000 per month.

He signed a two-year contract that will see him lead Nigeria through the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Rohr knowing the antecedents of NFF has asked for three months salary advance and deposited his contract with Federation of International Football Association(FIFA) and the German embassy in Nigeria.

The implication of the new coach depositing his contract with Federation of International Football Association (FIFA)and German embassy is that he will fight for his right should the NFF breach the contract. What I don’t understand is how he is going the raise the monthly salary of the new coach since he could not even pay the local coaches. Another issue is the three assistants the new coach hired, whose burden will it be? What happens to the Coach of the Super Eagles earlier hired by NFF.I think the best word for what is happening at the Glass house is confusion.

Amos Adamu, ex Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) and Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) executive member described the appointment of Rohr by Pinnick as the new handler of the Super Eagles as a bad decision. He says ‘’ He does not have the pedigree, I don’t know him. For now, we do not have a coach. He will just damage us and then he will leave.”

Few days ago, Samson Siasia, coach of the Bronze wining team Dream VI at the just concluded Rio Olympics resigned his appointment following non-payment of his salary for six months and undignifying treatment from NFF officials. Pinnick has continued to carry on as if nothing has happened. Nigerians have not forgotten the embarrassing situation he put Nigeria and the Dream Team in Atlanta over flight arrangements to Brazil for the Olympics. He had approached the Minister of sports, Solomon Dalung some few weeks to the Olympics intimating him that the team intends to camp in Atlanta where Nigeria won gold in 1996. Dalung was said to have told him the Ministry was cash strapped, but he should approach the Nigerian Olympic Committee(NOC). The NFF chairman was reported to have told the minister that he should not worry as they have funds from sponsors and he only came to brief him on their plans. Few weeks after they got to Atlanta, he started blaming Dalung when they could no longer pay the bills.

Knowing fully well they did not have enough funds, he also took along four unaccredited players and four officials to Rio whose bills also became a burden. At a point, the team’s captain,Mikel Obi had to save the face of Nigeria from embarrassment and the ministry later reimbursed him. How can a man of his age be biting more than he can chew?
I will not blame Dalung for all these because his position was clear about finances from day one.The minister’s undoing was his inability to read the mood of the nation when Nigerians were brooding over the Atlanta Incident, he was already in Rio singing ‘’United States of Nigeria’’. His desire for a united Nigeria is a legitimate aspiration, but the timing was wrong.

Before the Rio incident,he brought a coach who came up with one of the biggest joke of the century that he will coach the Super Eagles, but will not live in Nigeria. Paul Le Guen, a coach without any known record, also does not want to be given a target. I guess he will coaching the team through Skype or Facebook video. When the deal did not work out, Pinnick like a man without a third eye did not read the mood of Nigerians and insisted on bringing another foreign coach.

What I don’t understand now is how he will fund the trips of the new German Technical Adviser as the contract says he is expected to travel around to monitor the performance of players? For someone who has become a perpetual debtor, that is owing dead and living coaches, Nigerians will have expected some level of restraint on his part. The quartet of Sunday Oliseh, Samson Siasia, Shuaibu Amodu Austin Eguavoen and Stephen Keshi are being owed salaries. How can a man of Pinnick’s caliber be so irresponsible that he has no shame.

Yet, he continues to embark irrelevant projects like the hosting of the new Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) president, Gianni Infantino in Nigeria about two months ago. The funds used in hosting Infantino would have been channeled into other things in these lean times. I do not see any value the visit of the FIFA president has added, rather it has further ridiculed the country. This is because our ranking has gone down compared to when he took over in 2014.Nigeria also crashed out of the qualifying series of the U-17 Cup of Nations qualifiers to a poorly rated Niger on goal aggregates.

On the part of the Sports Minister,he should have learnt his lessons by now because sports is one thing that unites Nigerian regardless of our ethnic,religious or political leanings. He needs to rise up to the challenge by providing leadership because the country is fast losing its grip of sports.

Hostility towards the Minister by a cross section of Nigerians and the media is understandably because social change is the most difficult thing to effect in the lives of the people. His removal of the powerful Director General of the National Sports Commission, Alhassan Yakmut over the controversial 2.9 billion naira All African Games money and the stopping the funding of sports writers attending International Competition is enough to incur their wrath. As part of the change agenda, the ministry only sponsored only five sports writers to Rio Olympics which is a far cry from the high number in the past.

Back to Pinnick, he seems to have no shame as Nigerians were yet to get over all the shoddy arrangements about finances and organization of the Dream Team VI in Rio. He stoked another controversy by attempting to collect the $390,000 dollars donated to the team by a Japanese Surgeon, Katsuya Takasu. It took negative reactions from the team and coach Siasia before he backed off. His conduct is not surprising, because it is a tradition in the glass house for NFF officials to live on the sweat of players. This was the source of constant friction between the late Super Eagles’ captain,Stephen Keshi and the then Nigerian Football Association during the Clemens Westerhof days.
Pinnick who almost engaged Chris Giwa in a physical combat over the protracted NFF leadership tussle on June 20,2016 cannot even manage dispute emanating from a political contest from what Nigerians have seen so far. Many believed his lack of diplomacy is the reason why the case is still pending in court. Dalung was reported to have send emissaries to Giwa to forget the matter, but Pinnick’s utterances continue to provoke Giwa. Hence, reconciliation attempts always hit a brick wall.

Left to the average Nigerian football fan, Amaju Pinnick should be fired for incompetence and causing unnecessary embarrassment to Nigeria. However, his saving grace is the FIFA law that bars government from interfering in football matters.

However, if he does not get his acts together, Nigerians have no option than to put pressure on the board of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to pass a vote of no confidence on him. His conduct so far portrays him as someone who is not capable of managing an ‘’Ajegunle Five Aside Team’’ not to talk of a big organization like NFF. Some drastic measure need to be taken before Amaju Pinnick buries Nigerian football.

Lawal, a public commentator, can be reached through [email protected]
Twitter: AbdulRafiu 19