Nigeria’s Women Football League Collapsing

The immediate past chairperson of the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), Chief (Mrs) Dilichukwu Onyedinma, has expressed concern over the gradual collapsing of the country’s domestic women football, saying if nothing is not done urgently, the entire gains made before now would be completely erased.

NWPL incumbent chairperson, Aisha Falode, had accused the former NWFL board of being archeeted for the retrogression witnessed in the league, stating the board failed to secure single sponsorship for the league resulting in the highest number of walkovers in the history of women’s football in Nigeria.

However, Mrs Onyedinma, Mrs Onyedinma, who chaired the then board and under whose tenure the NWFL birthed a professionally-handled women league from pro-level (division two standard) to the amazement of many football lovers wondered why the present leadership would just be left in hands of one person with poor management skills.

“Out of maturity, I decided to watch things unfold. To now learn that Folade is comparing her visionless and directionless leadership with the legacy we set with women football is embarrassing.

“Where do I start from, where’s women domestic football development today? Everything is collapsing because one person is running the show. No more accountability. Nothing to hold on. No new grassroots players have been discovered in the past five years or so, unlike what obtained when we were there.

“I hear she even struggles to call congress annually. NWFL is now managed as if it is a state league. Throughout the time I chaired a properly constituted board, Congresses were held as at when due and in different states without any hindrance. There is no way a leadership set-up ordinarily designed for a full board structure can function well with just one person taking decisions alone.

“During our time, we didn’t have to run cap in hand to NFF begging for funds. The board which was adequately constituted through an election always sourced for funds to carry out our programmes adequately.

“As a board, we rendered a detailed account of everything we did, the documented copies are there for all to see. These days, there are claims of sponsorship agreements with no details for the clubs to see…,” Mrs Onyedinma who was a former board member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said.

For the past over five years, the current NWFL leadership which was renewed two years ago has been running without a properly constituted board as against stipulated status vis-a-vis approval by the NFF hierarchy.

This medium exclusive gathered that in 2020, when Aisha Folade was reappointed as NWFL Chairperson, the country’s football body via an official memo dated January 14, 2020 instructed that a board made up of nine members, including six representatives from participating clubs and two independent board members be constituted in line with relevant article.