Kingsley Kanayo | Lagos
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick, has given itself a pass mark for the strides it has made since it assumed office a year ago.
According to a statement revealed by the football house weekend in Abuja, Pinnick gave kudos to the unity within the group and the body language which have assured him that everyone is ready for the enormous work ahead.
The NFF boss admitted that there is still a lot of work to do, but assured that the body is working assiduously towards the set vision of building a sustainable football culture for Nigeria.
“As you rightly note, there is a lot of work ahead. I am not happy with the decline of the Super Falcons and we are putting heads together for an all-encompassing solution to women’s football, not just the Falcons. But apart from that, I believe we have done well in pursuing our vision.
“Our capacity-building programmes have had immediate impact in the League, which everyone is now talking about and, only on Tuesday, we did a public presentation of our youth development policy.”
Pinnick expressed delight at the triumphs of the Falcons and the U-20 lads at the 2014 African Women Championship and 2015 African Youth Championship, respectively; the continued progress of the U-23 team in the race to 2016 Olympics and the qualification of the Golden Eaglets for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, but pointed out that much is going on beyond the grid iron.
“We have been busy putting blocks in place for the building of a structure. Structure is important because this is what will outlive everyone. Once you have a structure, everything becomes almost automatic. Only monitoring and diligence will be required.
“The other big challenge is funding, and that is why we have been all over seeking the support of corporate organisations to buy into our programmes.”
Also, the NFF president revealed that his administration is determined to see that the national U-23 male team, Dream Team VI, qualify for and do the nation proud at the Olympics.
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