Amanze Uchegbulam is a house-hold name in Nigerian football. He was First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation under Sani Sulu and a member of various CAF committees. In this interview with Jacob Ajom, Uchegbulam speaks on Nigerian football and the happenings in FIFA .
Excerpts:
What is your appreciation of Nigerian football?
Well, it has not been too bad, particularly, when you have a federation that first and foremost, qualifies for and participates in every major tournament. It is a rare feat because not every country that gets that opportunity to qualify for the five major tournaments — the senior World Cup, male and female, all the youth tournaments – the U-20, U-17, etc. It is good for our football.
Amanze Uchegbulam
It shows that we are actually giving opportunity to our players to graduate from one age grade to the next. It is good. In terms of administration, I will say, it’s neither here nor there until we learn to respect our own rules; which is a characteristic of our football and has been in previous regimes. It is not good for our football.
You were a key figure in the last but two NFF administrations where you enunciated numerous programmes and policies. Has there been any disconnect in terms of policy implementation since you left office?
I think in terms of the age competitions – because we started the U-13 in 2007 – and the U-13 we had then in 2008 was the Iheanacho set. When we left, Maigari and Green continued with them and the boys won the U-17 World Cup in Dubai.
They are the same set in the U-20 now and you can see the way they are playing shows a team that has been together since 2008. Our game plan then was to keep them together up to the senior level.
The boys are still together, which shows continuity; which is good. But I am worried that the U-13 programme has been abandoned. My advice is that they should revive it because that is the only way they can replace this U-17 team and then check age cheats. You could see that the Dubai U-17 was the youngest we have ever presented.
In terms of administration, we notice that all the heads of departments we employed are still there; they were there with Maigari and are still there under Pinnick, it shows that there is a thread of continuity. Ojo-Oba has gone, he was replaced by Deputy Secretary, Musa Amadu. He too left and the Assistant Secretary, Dr Sanusi has taken over, I think it is good for our football.
One of the developmental aspects of Nigerian football is the Nigeria Football Professional League. How would you rate the league?
I would not say I have enough information about what is happening there now, but all I can tell you is we started it. I was a pioneer member of the League when Obaseki was chairman, I served on that board. But the way it has transformed to League Management Company and what it is now, honestly, I don’t have much information. However, I am happy with Dikko because he is very enthusiastic about what concerns the league and getting sponsors to run the league.
But they should take it down the other leagues. During our time we created these other three leagues – the national league, the amateur league, what they call Nationwide league and the women league. It is good they have been able to sustain them but they should assist them in getting sponsors. The NFF has to do a lot to tie them to the elite league to ensure that as they negotiate with sponsors for the elite league they also drive sponsors for them.
The CEO of the LMC, Hon, Nduka Irabor is talking of community ownership f football clubs in the country, as a way of boosting their financial base and loosening government grip on football clubs. Is this practicable in Nigeria?
That is the trend all over the world and Nigeria cannot be an exception. That is a good move, it’s a good drive, a good move that should be applauded. Teams like Enyimba, Kano Pillars, 3SC, Rangers, Heartland can attract sponsors that can give them money to run their affairs. These are clubs that have made names for themselves. They should lead the way to autonomy, to professionalism and the community based football ownership that Irabor is talking about.
Nigeria’s soccer team players run with balls during a training session at the Waverley Soccer Complex in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on June 9, 2015, ahead of their 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup group D football match against Australia to be played on June 12. AFP PHOTO
When they throw it open and let government take a percentage share and not the controlling shares and let the people decide on the people who will run their clubs… where everything is professionalized. It’s a good move and let us all go in that direction; not the issue of using clubs like public relations outfits. I think it is a good move.
But some of these club managements are reluctant going public because they get easy money from government?
Yea! That is because there is a possibility of losing their jobs. Who wants to lose his job? But that is the ideal thing to do. We want to improve our football.
That brings to mind the issue of the Bridge Boys, a team you are very much involved with. What has become of the Bridge Boys because it is a project that is close to what the LMC is talking about?
Well you are right, I am a shareholder in Bridge Boys, I am a director there. We are about ten or nine who pooled money together. We pulled out of the National League because we were spending over N15million every year participating in the championship without anything coming in.
We withdrew and decided to form the local league which we call the Metro League to keep the boys busy going. It has not been easy with us, pumping in so much money. But the dream is still alive because the Bridge Boys are still on.
Any hope of maybe buying a space in the professional league?
We don’t need to buy. We have to play our way up to the elite league. When the time comes, we will be there.
You have been in Nigerian football for some time now as you were around when President Buhari ruled as military head of state. Now he is back as civilian President, do you see him as one who will lift Nigerian sports and football, in particular?
I happen to know some of the people who actually packaged his emergence as civilian President and they actually mean well. When people have their impression about certain people, they call them names and talk about their past records. But change can come in its totality. Change can come in terms of administration, change can come in terms of your behavior or one can stop doing what he used to do before.
Let us just move ahead and thank God there is stability and peace in the system. We have witnessed very smooth transition. But I plead with him to be firm, which I know he would be; then there will be a direction. Once there is a direction I know Nigerians are very good followers, they will follow.
Talking about sports, is there any hint that we are going to do well under him?
Yes, but let us wait and see his appointments. He is not coming to run sports; he is coming to transform the economy. Once the economy is good, sports will grow and more money will come into sports. Let’s see the people he will appoint. I hope he won’t appoint the kind of minister who would see football as the beginning and the end of sports; someone who will not interfere with the administration of football.
That was the misfortune we had in a minister in the name of Biu who was actively interfering in the administration of football and there was conflict. That was when the whole of our problems started. Let’s have a minister who will understand that all we need from government is to give us the facilities; like what Fashola did in Lagos; in every open space you are either playing basketball or 5-a-side, the youths are kept busy and the sports associations will get facilities to utilize.
That is what the government should do, and not to get involved in running football or athletics. Create the facilities and the people will find them handy to use.
Like we pointed out earlier, some sports officials find it easier to depend on government for funds than seeking sponsors to get money to run their affairs. Even when you were in the NFF you were almost 90% dependent on government funds. How can this tie be broken? Can the NFF be self dependent, financially?
Certainly, I have been an advocate of not getting money from government. Even when we were there I held a minority proposition on this issue. Government money is money people want to share. Government money is money you go to one Senate Committee or the House of Representatives Committee, everybody trying to talk about their interests. I don’t believe in that.
I have always said, and if my colleagues had listened to me, we would have since severed from government funding because I believe football can fund itself. Right now a lot of money is coming in from qualifying for the World Cup, you are talking about $8million or $9million.You get $1million for preparing your team and once you get to the World Cup, even if you are eliminated from the first round you get $8million.
And that is a lot of good money for you to run, prudently the affairs of football. I maintain that government should help us in providing us facilities. The way I reason is when you qualify for international tournaments, then there is government concern; where government comes out and bankrolls your participation in those tournaments. But in terms of day-to-day activity, we don’t need any government money to do that, if we can prudently manage our affairs.
What is the legal status of the NFF and the NSC? Is the NFF a legal body?
The Nigeria Football Association came in with Decree 101 and through the transformation of 2005 struggle under Galadima FIFA came in. We were the first set in 2006 that came in under the FIFA Statute. There is a federal executive approval, which FIFA has a copy and which the Minister, then Bala Kaoje wrote in a memo to FIFA attached a copy saying that government had approved that we run our football affairs via our statutes.
All we required to do was to domesticate that statute into our law for the President to sign. That’s all; to domesticate it, saying that the statute is an approved enabling law to run our football.
What is your comment on FIFA crisis?
It is unfortunate that all the hullabaloo is on because England and America lost their World Cup bids to Russia and Qatar respectively. If they had won the bid, nobody would be talking about corruption.
But that is not to say that I support any corruption in FIFA. But if England and USA didn’t lose the bids you think this crisis will be there? There would have been a way to ease out the corrupt ones and the institution will remain strong for the good of the game. It is unfortunate because they are now using that to blackmail FIFA. Corruption?
Yes, people talk about corruption when it does not favour them. But I am happy that FIFA is a well grounded institution. Blatter has said all those involved in corruption should answer their charges. And that is the way it should be; the family must remain together. Prince Ali took a wise step to withdraw after the first round of voting in order to keep the family intact. A few people are not happy; everybody cannot be happy
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