Flamingos’ Success: NSC Should Give Gusau-Led NFF Board Its Due Credit
By: Sunday Agunbiade (Mr VAR)
The impressive performance of Nigeria’s Flamingos at the just-concluded FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup should not be celebrated without acknowledging the administrative and technical groundwork laid by the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Board.
While the National Sports Commission (NSC) deserves recognition for its role in supporting Nigerian sports, it is important to give credit where it is due.
The foundation of the Flamingos’ campaign was laid through the appointment of Coach Akeem Busari, goalkeeper trainer Coach Kola Ige and other members of the technical crew.
The NFF also provided competitive exposure through the organisation of the WAFU B tournament, Grade A international friendly matches and structured camping programmes that helped prepare the team for the global assignment.
These deliberate preparations, technical appointments and competitive opportunities contributed significantly to the team’s development and performance on the world stage.
More disheartening, however, is the apparent overshadowing of NFF officials by the 2 Man NSC Board in Morocco, where the Flamingos are representing Nigeria. Rather than allowing the federation responsible for the team’s technical and administrative preparations to take its rightful place, the presence and visibility of NSC principals raise questions about institutional boundaries and the proper recognition of responsibilities.
The NSC’s mandate should place considerable emphasis on sports infrastructure development, policy formulation, supervision and creating an enabling environment for sports federations to excel.
Building and improving sporting infrastructure across the country should remain a major priority rather than competing for visibility with the federations whose programmes it is expected to support and supervise.
A pertinent question also deserves an answer: If the Flamingos had failed at the World Cup after these preparations, would the NSC have accepted responsibility for the failure and taken the blame?
The NSC must therefore be fair and objective in acknowledging the contributions of the Gusau-led NFF Board rather than taking collective credit for achievements built through the football federation’s planning and execution.
Sports administration must be guided by accountability, fairness and clearly defined institutional responsibilities. Success should attract recognition for those who planned and executed the programme, just as failure should attract scrutiny of those responsible.
The Flamingos deserve every applause, but the Gusau-led NFF Board also deserves its rightful share of the credit.
I so humbly submit.
Mr. VAR reacting on Sports World Platform
