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Former Nigeria defender Kadiri Ikhana, MON, has declared that the mass resignation of the Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led Board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is a clear acceptance of failure on the part of the football governing body, Completesports.com reports.
Gusau Board’s Four-Year Tenure Should Be Probed
Ikhana, 74, also said the Gusau-led board’s four-year tenure should be properly probed, emphasising that, for purposes of accountability, the board should be made to render a proper account of its four-year stewardship.
The 2003 CAF Coach of the Year further said that Gusau and his colleagues’ departure should not be a cause for worry regarding possible FIFA sanctions, stressing that this is because the members voluntarily tendered their resignations after perhaps realising that they had failed in their duties.
Also Read: NFF President Gusau, General Secretary Sanusi, Other Board Members Resign
“I’ve just confirmed that indeed, the NFF Board, including its President, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has stepped down,” Ikhana, who guided Enyimba to win the 2003 CAF Champions League title for the first time for Nigeria, told Completesports.com on Thursday evening.
“No doubt, this is the first of its kind in Nigeria’s history, but it shouldn’t stop just at their dropping their resignation letters.
“Resignation from one’s duty post is a sign of admittance of failure. But for me, I’m just saying my own opinion; it shouldn’t just end there.
“The NFF Board under Gusau should be probed. They should be made to account for whatever sum of money given to them since its tenure, for which no single result was achieved.
“I don’t think this is too much a demand to be made. How many World Cup tournaments have the Super Eagles missed? How many U-20 World Cup finals have the Flying Eagles missed under this board? Or the U-17 Golden Eaglets? And, worse still, for the first time, the Super Falcons couldn’t qualify for the FIFA World Cup to be staged in Brazil next year.
“The failures are legendary, and they can’t just be left to walk away simply because they resigned. No, not at all.”
Ikhana Questions Nigeria’s Recent International Failures
The 1980 AFCON winner with the then Green Eagles (now Super Eagles) refused to believe that the NFF members could have been pressured to resign.
He also said FIFA would have no reason to consider sanctioning Nigeria because the NFF members resigned on their own.
“I think there is a place in the FIFA/NFF Statutes that members can resign on their own, in which case FIFA wouldn’t have any cause to wield its big stick,” Ikhana explained.
Gusau Resignation Should Not Attract FIFA Sanctions
“And I think also that resignation out of one’s personal volition doesn’t have to attract external sanctions. Their (NFF members’) action was tailored towards making Nigeria football better, and FIFA should have no problems with that,” Ikhana concluded.
