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The forthcoming
elections into the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has
become a rallying point for former Nigerians players to unite for the
development of the game in the country.

Three former
captains of the Eagles, Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami and Austin
Okocha, as well as Mutiu Adepoju, currently General Manager of 3SC
Sports Club in Ibadan, have indicated their intentions to get on the
board of the football federation.

At a parley with
journalists at the Press Centre of the Teslim Balogun Stadium
yesterday, about 20 former Nigerian internationals came out in support
of their three colleagues, insisting the time had come for them to play
a prominent role in the administration of football in the country.

Some of the players
at the gathering were former Eagles goalkeepers, Peter Fregene and
Peter Rufai, former Eagles striker, Victor Ikpeba, former Enugu Rangers
star, Stanley Okoronkwo, former assistant coach of the Golden Eaglets,
Emman Tetteh, Tarila Okoronwanta, Tajudeen Disu, Edema Benson, Peter
Nieketen, Loveday Omoruyi, Nicholas Ukadike and Nicholas Obido.

Taking charge of destiny

Ikpeba, who read a
statement prepared by the footballers, said they are concerned with
developments in Nigerian football over several years now and could no
longer watch things deteriorate further. He said the time for change
had come and that he and his colleagues would spearhead it.

“The real change
will come only when the proper kind of leadership is provided for
Nigerian football administration. For too long, we, the players, have
watched as the game has gone down the slope of development in the hands
of those who do not fully understand its mechanics and may not have
deserved to run its activities in the first place,” he said.

He added that, as
the main actors in the theatre, the former internationals know that
Nigeria could have done better much and achieved more if the leadership
of the NFA had grown at the same pace with the growth of the players.

“We have watched
how administrators have turned part-time NFA board membership
assignments into full time jobs and their means of livelihood. We have
watched how administrators have fed fat on the success of players; how
the welfare of players has been only secondary to the needs of
officials; how, as soon as footballers leave the national teams, or
even their clubs, they are forgotten and neglected,” Ikpeba stated.

“Everyone knows that Nigerian football has come of age. So have the
footballers. Nigeria now has footballers that have seen it all and done
it all in football. There are retired Nigerian international football
players that have played in some of the best clubs in the world, played
under some of the best coaches in the world, and have been trained in
some of the best football institutions in the world. These players,
having retired from active football, now have all their technical
experiences to pass onto the next generation as payback to the
country.”