Are Ordered NFF Reforms A Booby Trap For Normalisation Committee In Nigeria Football?

Who would a Normalisation Committee favour should such be introduced to Nigeria football?

Yes, it will favour Sports Minister Sunday Dare, who has cried out that the country’s No 1 sport is on life support.

Dare will certainly be critical in the cleansing of the Augean Stable along with a Normalisation Committee.

It will also massage the ego of outgoing NFF President Amaju Pinnick, who is now hell bent that he will not be the only man that will go down should a Normalisation Committee come into being.

Stakeholders who have been sidelined from the affairs of Nigeria Football and have been clamouring for major changes in how the game is administered in the country will also welcome a Normalisation Committee.

Who then will be at a disadvantage when a Normalisation Committee is in place?

The 44-person NFF Congress that has for the past decade held sway in running Nigeria Football.

This is because a Normalisation Committee will cause the total dismantling of the architecture of Nigeria Football, meaning the NFF Congress as presently constituted will cease to exist and there will be a need for reorganisation and fresh elections right from the State FAs and for the committee to review the 2010 NFF Statutes.

But back to the present now – President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the NFF to amend their Statutes to accommodate more critical Stakeholders before elections into the NFF Executive Committee are conducted in September.

This is a most laudable move that will help to reduce the rancour and infighting that has riddled Nigeria Football for many years now.

However, can the ordered reforms be achieved before September and is the NFF Congress as so constituted willing to make widely acceptable changes to the Statutes for fair representation in the new Congress and invariably the NFF Executive Committee?

The 37 State FA Chairmen, who make up the overwhelming majority of the present NFF Congress, have simply been ordered to cede the dominance and power they have enjoyed since the 2010 NFF Statutes took effect.

If they failed to now do so and do it before the September deadline, a Normalisation Committee will be inevitable.