By Jacob Ajom
President General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club(worldwide), Dr Rafiu Ladipo has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tell the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF to leave the club alone to run its affairs.
Ladipo accused the NFF of balkanising the club, a situation he said, had resulted in the creation of several splinter groups under different names.
He said the dwindling fortunes of the various national teams, particularly the Super Eagles could be traced to the dwindling fan base. “The Nigeria Football Supporters Club has been part of the success stories of the various national teams for the past 70 years.
“The Supporters Club was the pillar and the twelfth player in the achievements recorded by the Super Eagles, U17, the Super Falcons, etc,” Ladipo said, adding, “but the coming of the former President of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick marked the dismantling of the once happy family.”
He accused Pinnick of ‘killing’ the Supporters Club for reasons best known to himself. “Pinnick told reporters that he endorsed the proliferation of supporters club, because, in his words,’the more the merrier.”
But this, the President General said, has created a situation where “there are only 3 members of the club in Morocco, because the National Sports Commission asked each group to send three members. On the whole, there are 18 members representing six groups in Morocco.
At the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations,” a sharp contrast to what used to be in the past,” Ladipo recalled. He observed that the club could no longer get spnsors because of the numerous splinter groups.
On a final note, he called on President Tinubu to order the NFF to leave them alone. “We were making genuine efforts to reunite before they set up an interim management committee. It’s not working. The only thing I can say is for the President to intervene.”
Notwithstanding, Dr Ladipo affirmed his support for the Super Eagles at the ongoing AFCON in Morocco, saying, “We are praying for their success in Morocco.”
