Nigeria Football Federation : As Gusau marks two years in office, my chronicle of his towering strides and giant achievements – Malikawa
A recount of the milestone achievements of the Nigeria Football Federation Board led by President Ibrahim Musa Gusau (MON) two years in office should be scripted for record purposes. I strongly believed.
Today 30th September marks exactly two years in office with the inauguration of the present board of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, under the stewardship of Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau (MON).
It could be recalled that Gusau and his Board Members on 30th September 2022 in Benin, the capital city of Edo state were given the mandate , in what could be best described as a keenly contested election, the quantity and quality of the contestants at the polls was a glaring indicator and testimony that only the best of the best could have emerged at the time.
After the election, the board swung into action by reuniting the almost torn apart football family in the country, Gusau stallion on to reviving the glory of football and creating new innovations for the way forward.
Prominent amongst the achievements of Nigeria ‘s football Generalismo to mention but a few are, includes :
Gusau succeeded in getting Nigeria to qualify for the 2024 AFCON held in Cote d’Iviore , with the federation’s commitment, our darling Super Eagles reached the finals , losing narrowly 2-1 to the host country , Nigeria finished in the second position, in Africa’s most prestigious football fiesta.
The Gusau led Board scored a pass mark in the last two years under review by further empowering officiating officials with the hybrid capacity to handle matches at all levels , whilst also promoting the welfare of match officials, which is the bedrock for improving the round leather game in the country.
Gusau introduced the policy of honouring retirees that served the federation, for so many years, which is the first of its kind in the history of the football administrative family in the country.
The Zamfara state born football technocrat used his vast experience to unite the football family and ended the Godfatherism that had gained unwelcomed prominence amongst clubs owners.
His administration invested massively in ensuring that Nigerian National teams qualified and participated in virtually all key international tournaments ,which include, All African Games (Male –U23), Olympic Games in Paris (Super Falcons), women under 20 world cup (Falconet) in Colombia , where Nigeria registered a quarter final finish .
Gusau’s open door policy in the last two years surmount the previous experiences , where football key stakeholders were bitter over ineptitude, today Nigeria’s football secretariat is a beehive of activities, he is punctual in office at the federation secretariat in Abuja except , when he travels outside the country.
He has created a very conducive atmosphere for service to thrive at the federation, while working closely with all states football associations without bias.
The name of president Ibrahim Gusau would be written in Gold being the first federation president to come up with the policy of finishing the leagues on time and presenting the league winners with the trophy accompanied with all prizes attached.
Adding to his arrays of achievement is the starting and ending the league within the stipulated time..
Pursuit of Technical efficiency form part of the cornerstone of the present Nigerian football administration under the football watchman called Gusau, thank you sir , for reviving the coaches training and introducing the D. License coaching course with the aim of giving our younger coaches the opportunity to build their carrier , this is another plus for the Ibrahim Gusau’s led Board.
Ensuring that all sub committees set up by his Board were inaugurated and all the members of the committees were given free hand to discharge their duties, as well as settling their inauguration allowances, which hitherto was not the case whereby committees would be set up and their tenure will end without inauguration.
In the two years under review, the Nigeria Football Federation , NFF under the leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau (MON) has revived the glory of the federation cup (AKA President Cup) by making it more competitive among the participating teams , without any fear or favour
Must win at home syndrome has ended in the Nigeria leagues, in the last two years under the present Board of the Federation.
Resolving the crises among the Nigerian Supporters club deserved to be mentioned as part of the achievement by his leadership.
Transparency, dedication and commitments of Ibrahim’s board are the engine room that magnet and brought the private sector on board to work closely with the present board in partnering and sponsoring of some programs of the Board.
Maintaining the country’s four slots in the prestigious CAF Champions league and CAF Confederation Cup is another huge success of the present board in its two years in Office.
In the two years under review, Gusau led administration initiated a lots of grass root soccer programs with the aim of producing young talents that would become the future players in various stages of our national football .
The incumbent NFF board , which parade crème de la crème of Nigerian football administration is working with all football stakeholders and carrying everyone on board in the spirit of equity and justice .
In two years, NFF board led by the Zamfara born football administrator has made a giant stride by making efforts to conquer Africa, which saw the General Secretary of the Board, Dr. Sunusi Muhammad becoming chairman of the African football federation secretaries forum.
Maintaining Good and cordial relationship with the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports and other football bodies within and outside the country is worthy of mention on the queue of the remarkable achievements recorded in the two years under review of the Gusau’s administration.
Indeed, Ibrahim Musa Gusau has proved his mettle in the last two years of successfully piloting the affairs of the Nigeria Football Federation Board.
The Sky should be the limit as the saying goes; more grease to your elbow, Mr. President.
E-Signed by..
Lurwanu Idris Malikawa Garu,
NFF Media and Publicity Committee Member.
