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Former NFA chairman Ibrahim Galadima wants Nigeria to devise its own unique way of running football which will accommodate both FIFA rules and respect for the country’s laws.
A hefty delegation led by Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi was in Zurich last week to brief top FIFA officials, including President Sepp Blatter on the resolution of the lingering crisis in Nigerian football. “Honestly, it is high time we sat down and took decisions that will define a better way of organizing ourselves. It is a shame that we have to run to FIFA to come to our aid every time we have domestic problems. I think it should be our own decision to run football the way we feel it is run globally, but one that takes into account our own peculiar situation. FIFA has basic rules for football, but it does not mean that our own laws should not be respected.”
Galadima added that the first step would be to identify the problem. “I think it’s high time we first ask ourselves the basic question of what causes these problems, then we can begin to look for long-lasting solutions.”
Galadima, who led the NFA until 2005, was hounded out of office at the conclusion of a bitter war of attrition following Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
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