Seyi Akinwunmi Briefs CE Zoom.... FULL REPORT (Read)

[Enugu II]

NFF VP Akinwunmi Chats with CE Zoom



CE Zoom had an excellent chat with NFF VP, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, earlier today. It was very informative. Here, I try to recap the 2-hour chat. Please suggest corrections if you had participated in the event. My thanks and shout out goes to Damunk who arranged this Chat for CE Zoom. Here we go:

NFF Achievements
1. Institution of transparency in NFF affairs including auditing of accounts by a major and internationally known accounting firm.
2. Moving to NFF Secretariat in Abuja from the temporary location.
3. Youth football development
4. Improving private sector involvement in Nigerian football.

Selecting Players for Nigerian National Teams.
Barrister Akinwunmi pointed out that it is false to allege that players selected for the junior national teams have been those based overseas. In fact, the use of foreign-based players at the junior levels have been rare but he points out that the use of such players is not wrong as long as the player is eligible to play for the country.

Selecting Players for the Super Eagles
The VP believes that players should be selected from anywhere as long as they are eligible to play for Nigeria. He does not believe the division between local and foreign-based player is necessary or useful. People should focus on who is the best players and not where the players is located. He notes that the problem focusing on who is or not a locally-based player is problematic because players leave for overseas as soon as they get opportunity to play for Nigeria. He cites the case off Anayo Iwuala who is reportedly receiving offers to move overseas after debuting for Nigeria, while playing for Enyimba.

Hosting of Super Eagles Friendlies
Akinwunmi claims that this is about financing these games because they are very expensive. This is why the games are mostly played outside the country. Moreover, local businesses and state governments have not shown great interest in sponsoring international friendlies to be hosted in Nigeria. Their interest have been restricted to competitive games. However, recently we have received interest from a private company to sponsor a tournament involving the Super Falcons, which will take place in Nigeria.

Women Football in Nigeria
There is gradual progress in growing women football in Nigeria but he acknowledges resistance in certain parts of the country to women participation in football. However, Barrister Akinwunmi cites progress noting large number of clubs participated in a recent local tournament for women teams in Lagos. He notes that several top Nigerian women footballers have been scouted and developed from such women clubs and tournaments. Examples include Asisat Oshoala and a few other top women footballers.

Federation Cup.
He acknowledged that the Nigerian Federation Cup, started in 1945, had not taken place in the last two years. However, he notes that this was not by design but resulted from difficult circumstances. For instance, it had not taken place last year because of the COVID-19 situation which shutdown football in Nigeria and elsewhere. In the previous year, there was fixture congestion and because the competition involves grassroots levels, it was impossible to have it then. He promised that the Cup will return for the 2021 year. He notes also that there have been renewed plans to improve participation in the Federation Cup, which had witnessed a steady decline in recent years. A revival requires more commercial interest and funds. Fortunately, there are localized leagues springing up which signal more participation in the Federation Cup as well.

Private Interests in Nigerian Football Clubs.
He noted that a few years ago, the NFF was able to convince state governments to relinquish interest in ownership of clubs. The VP, however, notes that the states realize the political importance of these clubs. The clubs represent ways to unite the state. However, funding challenges are helping states to realize that relinquishing ownership might be a viable, if unwanted, solution. At present, he notes that a state in the North has revived interest in letting go of ownership of its club but has attached conditions. These conditions include that the club’s name must be retained and the club must not be re-located elsewhere.

Some Setbacks to Football Locally.
Barrister Akinwunmi points to challenges and internal forces that have prevented some of the goals set up by the present NFF administration. He notes, for instance, the FIFA Center that was planned by the NFF but political intervention blocked access to required papers. Akinwunmi affirms that such obstacles have been major challenges for football administration in the country.

Hiring Local Coaches.
Seyi Akinwunmi notes the NFF encourages the development of local coaches and presents them with opportunities but notes that the bottom line is that the Federation has the goal of achieving results. He states that the NFF worked very well in supporting the late Stephen Keshi in spite of issues and also did the same with Sunday Oliseh. However, CE members raised questions on this assessment. The VP notes that the NFF followed a transparent process in recent coach hiring process and that Finidi George was simply upstaged by an ex-Nigerian player who performed better during the hiring process.

Will Seyi Akinwunmi Run for NFF President?
Barrster Akinwunmi declined interest in running for the position of NFF President after the tenure of President Amaju Pinnick. He cites his (Akinwunmi) age and the fact that he may not be ready to expend the type of time required to successfully serve as the NFF President. He, however, acknowledges that many people have asked for his interest in the position.

[Enugu II]

Please add any thing that I may have missed.....

[Cellular]

Thanks Prof.

[Next]

Was there any talk about the switch candidates?

Thanks

[Enugu II]

Was there any talk about the switch candidates?

Thanks

Next

How are you? I am not sure I understand the question? Please explain.

[Enugu II]

Thanks Prof.

Cell,

It went well. We planned for 1.5 hours but overran to 2 hours. We had to let the VP go and then spent time afterwards debating on issues.

[Next]

Was there any talk about the switch candidates?

Thanks

Next

How are you? I am not sure I understand the question? Please explain.

Thanks I'm fine. And you?

What l meant was if he was asked about those players who have or wanting to switch national teams, like Lookman, etc. If there's any news regarding this especially Olise or if this will be yet another Abraham?

Cheers

[fabio]

Thank you Prof for facilitating the session yesterday and the behind the scene work you (and your team) did.

We had a very small number of participations, however, the session was more engaging and enabled us to ask multiple questions with follow up questions. i.e. Otitokoro asked 4 loaded questions at a go and Seyi Akinwumi was able to answer all.

I also enjoyed the contributions of Jo and Nkechi.

On the issue of coaches development highlighted by Romeri, We need to put more focus on the National Institute of Sports (NIS). https://www.nis.gov.ng/

Uncle Damunk, preached against holding unto extreme positions, yet firmly held on to his position, which was extreme

[Damunk]

Thank you Prof for facilitating the session yesterday and the behind the scene work you (and your team) did.

We had a very small number of participations, however, the session was more engaging and enabled us to ask multiple questions with follow up questions. i.e. Otitokoro asked 4 loaded questions at a go and Seyi Akinwumi was able to answer all.

I also enjoyed the contributions of Jo and Nkechi.

On the issue of coaches development highlighted by Romeri, We need to put more focus on the National Institute of Sports (NIS). https://www.nis.gov.ng/

Uncle Damunk, preached against holding unto extreme positions, yet firmly held on to his position, which was extreme

You don come again.
I noticed that you were far more conciliatory than when you are here strutting your stuff on CE.
It shows you are an 'oní j'ò̩gbò̩n' (trouble maker) and have a far more amenable side to you when the cloak of anonymity is removed.

As for me holding an 'extreme' view that's amusing.
I am regularly and doubly accused here on CE of 'sitting on the fence' (when convenient) and having 'extreme views' (again when convenient).

I am always willing to concede as long as you make a strong(er) case.

Basically you were unable to counter Otitkoro's major points yesterday - points which have been made repeatedly by many of us on this forum over time. So why would I now suddenly concede that a quota system by stealth is a good thing?

Why would I push for an explanation why Finidi George has not been considered for a national coach role if I were an 'extremist'?

Why would I push for regional football institutes of excellence a la RM Academy if I were an extremist?



Oya, I dey hear you.
Na you dey push strawman argument say 'they' are saying ''nobody in the NPFL is good enough or can ever be good enough''. Nobody has ever said that my good friend.

Anyway, I will write an additional report on the meeting to supplement Prof's at some point today.
But it was a great 2 hours. Quite enlightening to meet the people behind the decision-making rather than speculating and running on feelings.

[Bigpokey24]

I am very upset, because I came in late. The timing was so early , didn't even know time had gone . Anyway the next one I hope to be there so I can hear more excuse from the fence sitter. I did not call your name

[Damunk]

I am very upset, because I came in late. The timing was so early , didn't even know time had gone . Anyway the next one I hope to be there so I can hear more excuse from the fence sitter. I did not call your name

You came atrociously late and then walked right out, even when the VP was still in there. There was a whole hour of discussion after you porked out.
Ive called your name, so don't even try and deny it.

[The YeyeMan]

I am very upset, because I came in late. The timing was so early , didn't even know time had gone . Anyway the next one I hope to be there so I can hear more excuse from the fence sitter. I did not call your name

You came atrociously late and then walked right out, even when the VP was still in there. There was a whole hour of discussion after you porked out.
Ive called your name, so don't even try and deny it.

Not surprised.

[Damunk]

FULL REPORT.

Cybereagles.com Hosts Seyi Akinwunmi, NFF Vice President
Sunday 30th May 2021.

After the introduction by Enugu II, VP Akinwunmi gave a brief bio mentioning his extensive charity work and his legal practise which “paid the bills”.

Top Accomplishments
He was then asked what he considered to be the top NFF accomplishments of which he was most proud in his capacity as NFF VP over the last 5 years.
He listed them as follows:


 i. Transparency
Considering the "spurious allegations" made against previous NFF boards, the current NFF Executive committee had quickly engaged the services of Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PWC) as their auditors contracted to do a yearly audit of their accounts.
This he said was their ‘saving grace’, considering the continuous onslaught of accusations and allegations that had become pretty much routine over the years.
They had also opened their books to FIFA for scrutiny. He said that he was quite proud of that financial transparency.

ii. NFF Secretariat
After many years of procrastination for various reasons financial and ‘political’, the NFF finally moved to it’s new secretariat in Abuja.

iii. Youth Development
Youth development is his passion and he was proud to speak of the national U13 and U15 programmes now established in every state of the federation. These programmes are now more widespread than ever. He spoke of a policy of de-emphasising the winning of tournaments for a broader approach. The establishment of U13 and U15 programmes hadn’t been an easy sell but they believed it was crucial for the NFF to “keep our eyes on the ball” and focus on the bigger picture. He said the commitment to youth football was unwavering and the U16 teams had gone out for a youth tournament in Japan for consecutive years. Meanwhile, increasingly, fans are beginning to watch youth teams.

He said the NFF have long identified the U20 teams as the problem area. ‘They are half way between academy level and the professional level” but the NFF was convinced that once the U17 problem was fixed then the U20 problem was on the way to being solved. He disputed the fact that youth players were not progressing to the national team, citing Samson Tijani in the male category and Monday Gift and Ijamilusi in the female category as the most recent examples. He pointed out that over 15 players from the U13/U15 level over the last five years had broken into the U17 teams and would only now be coming of age. It wouldn’t be fair to expect them to have broken through just yet.

Asked whether the NFF has plans to build soccer academies of excellence to match the Real Madrid Academy in Port Harcourt, VP Akinwunmi stated that there were long term plans for such academies but the reality of the matter is that the NFF does not have the resources to do so at the moment. He again pointed to the current plan of the NFF to partner with the corporate world on such projects.

He did however say that there are a number of top academies beginning to spring up around the country and the NFF President had just visited one of such academies in Oshun state and he himself had also visited another in Ogun state where he said the impressive facilities are “as good as anything I’ve seen anywhere in the world”. The NFF is also in the process of categorising academies into Class A, Class B levels etc so as to bring a degree of standardisation and accountability into youth development.

iv. Private Sector In Football
They have pushed for a much greater involvement of the private sector in football whilst at the same time trying to persuade state governments to reduce their role in club management and funding. It is obviously getting more and more difficult for state governments to fund and manage clubs. They need to divest, but for many, there are political reasons why they wish to hold onto the clubs.

The NFF’s third tier league is where the bulk of the private sector-owned clubs feature. This is an area where the NFF is keen on restructuring and nurturing to ensure the clubs are properly run and ultimately rise up the football pyramid to replace those who cannot make the grade in Nigeria’s Premier League. Some state governments are on board with this long term plan to commercialise their clubs but some insist they would wish for their clubs to retain their names.

Other Points discussed:

i. The Federations Cup
Due to “circumstances beyond anyone’s control”, the Federations Cup could not hold last year. This is only the second time in history this has happened, the first time being in 1973. COVID was one major reason for last year’s no-show, but then the Federations Cup begins at the state level long before it hits the headlines and therefore disruption of the scheduling has long-term knock-on effects.
This year there will likely be an abridged version as a result. Sponsors play a crucial role in all this and one has to remember that sponsors have also taken a big hit from the economic downturn.

ii. Women’s Football
On the lopsided and counterproductive grouping together of the continent’s top women’s teams by CAF, he refused to be drawn into the politics and reserved his comments. However he did state that the NFF had “expressed our displeasure” at the decision.

On the limited sponsorship of the women’s game, he said it was “not for want of trying” and they were doing everything in their power to persuade sponsors to invest. The Chairperson of the Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) Aisha Falode who is also an NFF EXCO member routinely accompanies the NFF marketing team to all their meetings with potential sponsors with a view to pitching women’s football at them and securing sponsorships.

However, he stated that the NFF cannot force the sponsors to invest in football, female or otherwise. This was in response to a specific question on why wealthy Nigerians such as the Dangotes, Otedolas were not investing in local clubs. However he was confident that the more the Super Falcons wIn games and tournaments, the better the league, the more the chances of securing sponsorships.

He also spoke on scouting for the female national team, stating that it was harder for younger women footballers to travel home from abroad (for camping etc) than the men. Moreover, within the country, not every state encourages or even allows women’s football to start with. ‘Let us (the NFF) not overrate ourselves” he stated. “There are cultural, state and political issues that are outside our powers. Parents also have their own say” he added.

He was however particularly proud that the Eko Football Queens Championship starts on Wednesday 2nd June and will feature 24 teams from across Lagos State. He also spoke of the recent ‘Super 6’ tournament in Ijebu-Ode as another example of how the women’s game is being encouraged. He agrees that grass root female football needs more publicity.

iii. Soccer Friendlies for the Super Eagles
He was asked why the majority of SE friendlies were played outside the country rather than at home where Nigerian soccer fans are forever craving to watch the national team. He replied that it was simply a matter of finance, as organising friendly matches was “extremely expensive”. Sponsors and even state governments were less keen on sponsoring friendlies and were more interested in AFCON and World Cup qualifiers.

He was specifically asked on the upcoming friendly in the US against Mexico in July. He confirmed the likelihood that the match would be played with NPFL players and felt it was a good opportunity to expose our local players (a term he said he dislikes) to top flight football. He mentioned that the NFF had come under constant barrage for not focussing enough on NPFL players but now they had decided to give them a chance to show what they can do, they are again under fire for doing so.

He was reminded that games such as this had a direct impact on Nigeria’s FIFA ranking but he insisted it was worth the risk. “Who says they won’t be good enough?” he asked. ‘Who said they can’t win the game?”. He reminded everyone that CHAN was fast approaching and this was an opportunity to prepare the team for the tournament.

iv. On Foreign-born vs ’Local’ Players
He is a firm believer in a Nigerian being a Nigerian wherever he is born or lives. “As long as they have Nigerian blood running through their veins, they are Nigerian” he said. The Super Eagles was only good enough for the very best and there were no apologies for scouring the globe, including locally, to find them.

v. Nigerian Coaches
Mr VP was asked specifically about the claim by Finidi `George that he was being ignored for a national coaching role despite his unarguable football pedigree, his coaching licences and his experience coaching youth teams in Spain. He is also a fans’ favourite and the clamour for him to be considered has been loud and unrelenting.

The VP first clarified that Finidi had indeed been considered and invited for interview alongside several others. Unfortunately for him, the NFF decided on another candidate, also an ex-SE player. VP Akinwunmi assured everyone that he is “a great fan” of Finidi George as are most of the NFF and there was nothing personal about the NFF decision to hire someone else from a list of candidates shortlisted and interviewed for the job.

On a more general note, VP Akinwunmi said he was unhappy with the public pressure put on the NFF via the media by aspiring coaches but it was ultimately not in the best interest of the NFF to engage in public debate on all issues, accusations and inaccuracies in the public domain regarding the body.

He was also asked about the NFF’s overall view on local coaches and made it clear that it was not the NFF’s role to train Nigerian coaches but to create an enabling environment for them to thrive and practise. He believes many Nigerian coaches “are lazy” and are not proactive in improving themselves technically. He described how many coaches were practising with level ‘E’ and ‘D’ coaching licenses but level ‘C’ licences were available with only a few showing an interest in achieving that grade.

Many a time the NFF has had to go beyond their remit to sponsor coaches on courses which they should be accessing themselves. There was often “a sense of entitlement” which did not augur well for coaching development in the country.
On its part the NFF had engaged the services of a top-flight Nigerian coaching trainer based in the USA who would be taking up office very shortly.

Finally, he was at pains to point out that despite what many might think, ex-Nigerian players had been engaged by the NFF over the years and would beg to differ on the premise that they were being ignored. He mentioned those ex-players on the NFF technical committee like Augustine Eguavon and Garba Lawal; there was Emmanuel Amuneke who took the U17 team to win the WC in 2015 as well as deputy SE Coach Joseph Yobo who has also acquired his licenses.

vi. NFF Presidency Contest
NFF President Amadu Pinnick has said publicly that he will not be running for another term, thus leaving the position open for contest. VP Akinwunmi was asked whether he would be contesting.
“I honestly don’t know. The new NFF President will have his hands very full. I haven’t given it much thought and people around me give it more thought than I do. God will direct me on that. But whether I run or not, I will give my all for Nigerian football.”

The meeting concluded with VP Akinwunmi thanking everyone for giving him the opportunity to meet with fans directly. He assured CE that he had taken copious notes and would be tabling some of the issues raised with the NFF.

Damunk
Reporting for Cybereagles.com

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