A presidential aspirant in next month’s election for various positions of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mr Segun Solanke, has revealed a strong manifesto, which he believes will help him overcome all challenges facing current administrators of the round leather game.
Solanke revealed his gameplan for a better NFF while speaking during ‘Hot Seat’ segment of Sports247’s weekly television programme, Inside Naija Sports, which is broadcast on NTA News24 and streams on YouTube.
The aspirant added that he is never afraid to confront challenges or face politics of football and went on to outline various progressive ideas that he will eventually put into practise once he becomes president of the NFF.
“I’m not particularly worried about challenges,” Solanke began. “Of course, we know there’s a bit of politics involved in football. Whether at the state level or national stage, politics is normal in football.
“We can even look at what’s going on in FIFA, and you’ll get to realise that there’s always politics going on at every level. Politics is everywhere, and challenges are bound to come.
“However, when people like us come into this level of the game and we believe we can do better than what the present administration is doing, it’s because we have a strong blueprint that we want to bring into the tenure.
“That’s why we say it’s time for us to take over the baton and take care of Nigerian football in the best way possible. Let’s bring in new ideas to make things better.”
The flamboyant football zealot, who is the chief executive officer of Olumo United FC of Abeokuta and Provazios Sports Academy, continued by reeling out various steps he will take to revive the dwindling fortunes in Nigerian football, among which are sponsorship deals and upgrade of infrastructure.
He concluded by admitting that government’s role in the running of Nigerian football can never be pushed aside, especially as he would want to make the task of hosting international competitions a priority once he becomes NFF president.
“We are going to make sure we have good partnerships with the private sector as well as with the federal government. We cannot keep government completely out of football matters.
“With good partnerships and proper understanding of government’s roles, we can do better. We also need to have good infrastructure in place for us to get better results.
“Part of the manifesto we have outlined is that we are looking at hosting world events in Nigeria. That’s one of the major things that we’ll be doing.
“Another major focus for us will be adequate welfare for our players. It’s not just about us expecting them to play. We should ask, ‘What happens after they finish playing a game?’
“We must be able to see them happy, appreciate them, acknowledge them and celebrate them for whatever they’ve done for Nigeria,” Solanke submitted.
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