THE HARRISON JALLA PERSPECTIVE: Congratulations To Super Eagles But Nothing To Celebrate
Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the goal of the leader is to serve.
The characteristics of the servant-leader are:-
(1) Listening
(2) Empathy
(3) Healing
(4) Awareness
(5) Persuasion
(6) Conceptualization
(7) Foresight and
(8) Stewardship.
Unfortunately the current leadership we have at the NFF do not possess the characteristics of servant leadership, rather their focus is to further personal interest, their agenda and the looting of our Football treasury.
They have failed woefully to understand what football means to Nigerians, the power and strength embodied in football particularly considering the current prevailing security situation, kidnapping, banditry, Boko Haram and armed robbery.
Nigeria was at the precipice of a looming civil war caused by the criminal annulment of the June 12 1993 Presidential election won by chief MKO Abiola under the Generals IBB and Sani Abacha military Governments and declared a pariah nation by the international community.
But Football came to the rescue and healed the nation.
The 1994 AFCON victory, the superlative performance of the Super Eagles at 1994 World Cup in the USA and the winning of the Atlanta 96 Gold medal where Nigeria took football super powers Argentina and Brazil to the cleaners did the magic of cleaning up Nigeria’s image before the eyes of the international community.
The current leadership of the NFF are con men in the Glass House carried away by their undeserved and unmerited appointments in FIFA and CAF and parading the FIFA President in Nigeria every six months, which in the figment of their own imagination, is the indices to measure success or growth of football in Nigeria.
This current NFF leadership has displayed gross incompetence in every segment of football – the domestic leagues are dead, women’s football fortune is dwindling, youth and grassroot football nothing to write home about.
Even Super Eagles, who have a third-rate coach Gernot Rohr foistered upon them for the past six years, have nothing to show.
The good news to soccer-loving Nigerians is that the change from the inside propelled by 2022 Task Force is coming soon. We certainly cannot continue like this.
Congratulations to the Super Eagles against CAR, but nothing to celebrate in a win against a war-torn country like Central African Republic especially when we also suffered a home defeat few days earlier to the same team.
BY HARRISON JALLA.
