May, 9 2022.
By Wale Ajayi.
We live in a country where criticism is considered blackmail and the opposition is seen as enemies of progress.
Today in Nigeria football, there are some stakeholders that are considered as sworn enemies of the game. This is because they are aggressive opposition parties who can go at any lenght to fight their cause.
Among these persons, is a certain Delta state born former footballer who has been at the forefront of championing the grieviances of the oppressed. He was the kingpin in the many court cases filed against the NFF in the aftermath of the botched August, 2014, NFF Election held at the Chida Hotel, in Abuja.
The same individual conspired with a close associate in December 2021, to file a fresh case at a federal high court in Yenagoa, restraining the Congress of the Nigeria football federation from going ahead to set a road map to the 2022 NFF Elective Congress.
That singular case has effectively put a stop to any planned Congress and stopped all potential candidates from going ahead with their plans as no man has an idea of when the next NFF election will hold.
Just when many thought that the Sports ministry and NFF are working on strategies to get out of this logjam, came one of the most baffling and startling revelations of all time.
NSM media was reliably informed on Sunday, that a top shot of the football ruling body in the country and a few friends loyal to him, have perfected plans to ensure that the court case is not withdrawn any moment soon as that will delay the NFF Election beyond September 2022.
In a well rehearsed and perfectly executed strategy, NSM media understands that the group is willing to form an unholy alliance with the opposition, inorder to ensure that the court case is allowed to drag on till 2023.
An insider who revealed this much to NSM media said that the plan is to make sure they frustrate all efforts geared towards ensuring that the court case is withdrawn or bypassed.
"These men want to remain in office. They are desperate to stay put and will do anything to frustrate any efforts aimed at resolving existing crisis. Infact, they are planning to form an unholy alliance with the oposition just to make sure they achieve their aim our source informed.
Those championing this cause are mainly board members who are scared that they have a very slim chance to return to the mainstream of Nigeria football administration if by any chance they allow the election to hold this year.
They want to delay everything till February next year, knowing that at that time, Nigeria's Youth and Sports minister, Sunday Dare, will be clearing his table to go into full time politics and will not want to distract himself with what is happening in Nigeria football.
Secondly, they are counting on FIFA to declare a state of emergency in Nigeria football by setting up a normalization committee like they did in Sierra Leone in 2012.
If FIFA agrees to set up a normalization committee, members of the committee are expected to be in office for another six months after February 2023, before they will call an emergency Congress that will then set a roadmap to fresh NFF election.