NFF Presidency: Addressing Abba’s admirable attributes
By Bala Ibrahim
It is a pity that while I am trying to address and promote the attributes of Alh. Abba Abdullahi Yola, Chiroman Yola, in meeting his well-deserved ambition of becoming the next President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, I scandalously exposed my own paucity of knowledge, about the all-important football governing body of Nigeria. In my previous article on the subject, captioned,
The Aptness of Advancing the Aptitude of Abba, I kept referring to the esteemed football body as, The Nigerian Professional Football Federation and giving it the acronym, NPF. I hope readers will forgive my ignorance, it’s due to the irremovable attachment of my brain to the Nigeria Police Force, NPF. Thank God also, I made it very clear to whoever cares to know, that my knowledge and familiarity with football is not only bad but dangerously dreadful.
Some people may laugh to scorn if I confess that the first time I entered any football stadium in my life was in the nineteen eighties when the late Alhaji Abdu Dawakin Tofa was sworn in as the deputy governor of old Kano state. The event took place at the Sabon Gari stadium, Kano, and because yours truly was a die-hard supporter of late Abubakar Rimi, the former governor of former Kano state, he was visibly at the stadium in roots, stem and branches. That was my inaugural entrance to any football stadium anywhere, and it’s clear from the mission, football was not the motive.
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But now, pursuant to my support for the candidacy of Alh. Abba Yola, Chiroman Yola, to become the next President of the NFF, I have taken it upon myself to do a rapid and intensive learning programme on elementary football, alongside the rudiments surrounding its management and administration.
And as a show of astute in this endeavour, as well as my eagerness to advance and advertise Abba’s admirable attributes, being qualities that should make him step into the NFF Presidential shoes for service, I would start by proving to the reader that my knowledge of football has improved, and as long as Abba is in the race, the trajectory of such knowledge would continue to move upward.
For starters, faithful football freshman Bala wishes to demonstrate his quick grasp and educate those in his former status of football foolishness, as well as those with a lack of knowledge about The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, NFF, was formerly known as the Nigeria Football Association, NFA. This was the position right up to 2008.
It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football team in1949. It joined CAF, Confederation Africaine de Football, the governing body of African football that was also founded in 1957. CAF came in 1959, the birth year of yours truly, and FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, was founded in 1960, the year independence was given to Nigeria. For those that are still poorly knowledgeable about the headquarters of the NFF, may it please them to know that, it is located in the city of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria?
This knowledge was all acquired speedily because of the belief that he who is making moves to market a man that is saleable, must first have the aptitude to advance the attributes of the aspirant. So, thanks to Abba’s ambition, my understanding of football and the forces behind its management, have turned scholarly.
It may also please the reader to hear from me, the hitherto football ignoramus, that, the NFF will be hosting its 77th Annual General Assembly in Lagos, tomorrow, Thursday, 18th August 2022. The General Assembly was earlier scheduled for the same Lagos, on the 17th of December last year, but the event was put on hold as a result of a court injunction, filed in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, by some football stakeholders.
It is the General Assembly that will decide the fate of the election, and by the grace of God, duel on the destiny of Abba, as the next President of the NFF.
In addressing the admirable attributes of Abba, and key reasons why he deserves to be the next President of the NFF, it is pertinent to call the attention of the reader and other football enthusiasts, to his humility and high sense of modesty, as demonstrated by the efforts he is making to distance his principal, the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, from his candidature.
Although Abba is the Chief of Staff to the Minister, a position he could exploit to his advantage, he has chosen not to do so. This is certainly a plus, not just on the integrity of Abba, but on the neutrality of the Minister.
According to an independent investigation carried out by BSN Sports, Abba Yola is running his personal ambition without taking advantage of his relationship with the Minister. The medium said, “A Director at the Ministry of Sports said, “the Minister had no hint that he was interested until we got to Birmingham. He is not supporting any candidate. He has said that congress should choose whoever they want as their President. Corroborating this, Abba Yola, while responding to the allegation that he will ride on the Minister’s support to have his way to the nation’s football Number One position, said, “You don’t know Sunday Dare. He is a man of principle, fair and just, and would not want to compromise on his oath of office. I can tell you this is my personal decision, which I will pursue without leveraging on my relationship with him, be it official or personal. This you can take to the bank”.
And the prayer of my bankers is, May Allah makes Abba Yola the next President of the NFF.
AMEEN.
