The minister of sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung, on Tuesday, met with the chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to chart a way forward for the sport in the country.
The meeting was called by the minister to address issues that emanated from Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Gabon.
Nigeria lost 0-1 to Egypt last Tuesday which effectively put paid to the Super Eagles chances of making it to the tournament, a successive failed attempt, which prompted the minister to call the football house for a meeting.
It was a well-attended meeting that had all the officials of the NFF as well some Nigerian football stakeholders.
Members of the press were not allowed in the closed-door meeting, but certain areas discussed during the meeting was given by the minister’s special adviser on sports, Nneka Nkem-Anibeze.
One of the major talking points from the meeting was the repealing of a clause that seeks to prevent anyone who is not a member of the NFF board to contest elections into the body.
This was a major talking point for many observers who felt that the clause was not democratic and only served the wishes of the current board members. However, this was subject to ratification by the NFF congress.
The minister also reiterated his stand on the foreign coach issue, asking the NFF to prove to him why a foreign coach is needed and where the funds will come from to foot his bills and salary.
Sequel to that, Dalung advised the NFF to immediately source out funds to pay their coaches who are owed various sums, citing "an empty stomach does not hear the gospel."
It was also revealed that money released to the NFF does not include the salaries of coaches and so the body had to resort to mopping up funds from other sources to pay the coaches.
Instability, internal wrangling, funding, lack of commitment and distraction were given as reasons for the Afcon ouster but the minister also mandated the NFF to produce an in-depth technical report on the failed Afcon 2017 qualifying campaign.