Nigeria Football, Challenges and Possible Solutions, The System not the Man

Nigeria Football, Challenges and Possible Solutions, The System not the Man

By Audu Lawal

Football development in Nigeria over the years have suffered some setbacks although some form of progress have been made in some areas but there is still a huge gap when compared with the principles of global best practices.

In understanding the concept of this write up, it is important to know the meaning of the following words in the context of this article:

The System is a composition of all the relevant agency and bodies that make up the administrative, managerial and control network of football in Nigeria all of which are a creation of the law be it domestic or international laws e. g the FIFA Statutes, NFF Statutes, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other subsidiary laws.

The Man in this context connote the individual or set of individuals managing the affairs of football at the various level, e. g The Nigeria Football Federation, State Football Associations and Area Councils/Local Government Football Councils.

The Football Industry which is so wide in scope includes but not limited to the Players, Coaches, Referees, Administrators, Agents etc.

 Every aspect of football is regulated by specific laws, where the laws are functional and strictly complied to the letter, enforcement are carried out without prejudice and compromise, the entire setup which Include the system and the man will function productively.

Borrowing the words of President Barrack Obama, he said Africans should build strong institutions and not strong men, although having strong men in the helm of affairs would always compliment the strong system/institution.

It is a common fact that all football administration in Nigeria previous or current have faced series of challenges in trying to position/reposition our football in line with global best practice, the reasons for the failure would be our topic of discuss in this article and the possible solutions would also be proffered.

 I would start by identifying the challenges faced by the Nigeria Players who are classified as the most significant stakeholder in the football industry, in so doing, I shall be putting up some rhetorical questions that will require answers that will consequentially identify the problems and provide the solutions.

Can Nigeria football grow at a desired pace where the welfare and rights of the players are not adequately protected?

In trying to address the above questions we shall x-ray the facts placing them with the position of the key instrument regulating them.

It is not news that one of the reason almost all Nigeria players seek for greener pastures abroad is the inadequate and irregular protection of their welfare and rights. Little wonder we find players from our great nation going to small African countries to pursue their dreams.

Football today has gone beyond leisure and recreation, it is big business and the major stakeholders (players) should benefit from their hard labour , situations where players are deprived of their entitlements such as salaries, match bonus, health insurance and in many cases lack of assess to contractual agreement entered between management of clubs and players.

It is rather unfortunate that the players have been so manipulated that they are either ignorant of their right or they are so scared to pursue their rights for fear of being victimized.

In the course of my advocacy and practice with the legal advocacy for the advancement of football in Nigeria and the players union while rendering free legal services to affected footballers counting over 217 players from all segment of the football league in Nigeria (NPFL, NNL,NLO & NWPL) the most notorious case was that of Izu Joseph the late 3SC player whose life was cut short in his prime by some security agent, if not for the dogged and resilient effort of the deceased brother (Reuben Izu) and Comrade Austin Popo the matter would have been swept under the carpet and the daughter of the deceased would never have benefited from the labour of her late dad.

From my many engagements with the players and management I am in no doubt that the system as never been fair to the players many of whom have suffered terrible injuries that have not only stop their carrier progress but affected their health immensely.

The System which is suppose to address this critical but sobber situation have done little to prevent the continuous abuse of the rights of Nigeria players this as in turn lower the standard as allot of Nigeria players are lined up seeking for greener pasture even in very small african countries.

An adage says you cannot flog a child and stop the child from crying, having identified the fact that allot of clubs are in the habit of not keeping to contractual agreement or even complying with set guidelines as to provisions which could protect the players rights and welfare.

 FIFA in its wisdom have insured that the players rights are protected by enacting provisions protecting the interest and welfare of players and went further to provide option for aggrevied persons to seek redress, Article 5 paragraph 2 of the FIFA Statute made provision for the necessary institutional mechanism in resolving dispute that may arise between players and management hence the creation of the players statutes committe and dispute resolution chamber.

The above position which is encapsulated and domesticated in Nigeria via Article 72 & 73 of the NFF statutes 2010 in principle makes provision for the creation of the National Dispute Resolution Chamber and the Players Status Committe.

It is unfortunate that the instrument created to address the challenges have been unutilized or hugely under utilized hence players mostly look to the sky for succour or channel their cases to the league management body who unfortunately lack the requisite capacity to address and award damages to affected players.

The man at the herm of affairs whether at the federation level or the state level might not be able to moster the political will to address this issues due to the long period of neglect and abuse in the system and the fact that he/she might also require the support of the same people who he seeks to discipline for individual future relevance, therefor establishing the players status committe and national dispute resolution chamber with the qualified individuals and equipping them with the required tools to carry out their duties could be the panacier to the abysmal attitude of club managers/ management and to eliminate the concept of intimidation as means of caging players from seek the enforcement of their rights.

In our subsequent editions we shall delve comprehensively into the rights of the player and how players can handle their affairs to avoid the unnecessary victimization they suffer on a daily basis.

This pieces was put together by Audu Muhammed Lawal, a legal practitioner and national coordinator of the legal advocacy for the advancement of football in Nigeria.