Amaju Pinnick was a two-term president of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF)
Amaju Pinnick, former president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), says a lack of maintenance culture is a major challenge facing sports development in Nigeria.
Pinnick spoke on Tuesday while delivering a lecture at the University of Ibadan titled “The challenges of sports infrastructure and maintenance in Nigeria: Prospect for the podium performance”.
Speaking at the event, Pinnick said Nigeria was blessed with sports talent, but the country lacked facilities for those individuals to exhibit their abilities.
The FIFA executive council member added that most stadiums in the country “don’t have what it takes to call the facility a stadium” and cannot host competitions sanctioned by the global football governing body.
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“What we lack in Nigeria is a culture of maintenance, and it starts from our homes,” Pinnick said.
“If you did not maintain your homes, how will you maintain the sports facilities?
“Nigeria cannot host FIFA competitions because most of the stadiums in Nigeria don’t have what it takes to call the facility a stadium.
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“For example, the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, which we see as our best presently, cannot qualify for such classification.
“It is because it does not even have hospitality suites from where FIFA generates at least 30 percent of its revenue from matches.”
Pinnick was elected to the FIFA executive council, the highest decision-making organ in world football, in 2021. President Bola Tinubu has endorsed his re-election bid.
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