Exclusive: Amaju Pinnick Recounts His One Year In Office As NFF President

The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, has said that the federation will soon move to their new office complex at the Abuja national stadium.

In an exclusive interview with naij.com sports in Abuja, the 43-year-old football administrator explained that the federation is putting all efforts together to improve women’s football in Nigeria and take them back to the glory days. He also added that six-months-long conflicts distracted him just when he started the job.

Read the full interview below:

Amaju Pinnick

Naij.com: You have been in the office for a year now; how has it been?

Pinnick: This is like a one year anniversary thing, it is like an oath. I’m just trying to make you understand where we are coming from and where we are going to.

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Naij.com: It is another key period with the Nike contract, is it not?

Pinnick: If you look at the Nike contract, we have been able to persuade them and they have come out to say; ok, don’t worry we are doing this. And now Nike has gone a step further by giving us one of the best kits that any country would have wished to have. The best kit, as from next year. The kit that Nigeria will be wearing, that is the next step. So everything we’re doing is strategically tactical in achieving our goal. Now, they said ok, give us any jersey that you have whatever. And as you know, Nike is quality, they’ve given us a quality jersey.

Naij.com: What about the NFF secretariat inside the national stadium?

Pinnick: It is indeed a priority. Ermm… and I’m not going to go back on that you know. We thought we could just come in and move into the Sunday Dankaro house, but unfortunately, on getting there, we noticed there were some issues regarding mechanical and electrical you know, the house is very well built but we needed other things, because if you’re talking about creating a structure, whereby, one of the things in creating a structure is attracting corporate Nigerians, is to modernise and give the office a facelift. And to now modernise it you just need to put panels and do a lot of things, which of course we did. The board meeting that we had in January, we got companies in order to go through due process. About four companies came, they made presentations and at the end of the day, we say that this is the company that we needed. The finance committee, the chairman of the committee, the vice president, and, of course, I was in Malibu. But when I came back, I noticed there were some things that were wrong. I noticed that, you know, not fundamentally wrong, but they didn’t follow a process we wanted them to follow, especially in line with the Nigerian process and I said ‘no’. Another board meeting came, and I said no, let us do it the right way, so that at the end of the day, everybody will be protected and we have a befitting secretariat, and that’s why we decided to and say let us have that done.

Naij.com: What about the budget for this project? Has it been expended and how much is left?

Pinnick: Yes, they gave us N50 million, it is still there in the account, nobody has touched it. Of course, it goes beyond that. We are talking about a complex that has 32 offices, even if it’s an average office, you know what it is today to buy good furniture, what it is to do drapes and those things. It is not very easy, so based on that, I want something befitting. If you go to football offices all over the world, small countries like Rwanda, Kenya, if you see their federation, Egypt, not to talk of UEFA or FIFA, it’s highly befitting. In a situation whereby you have the sponsors, you have Nike president worldwide coming to visit Nigeria, Nigeria is the biggest black nation in the world. And come to the office and see something oh, you know, but we are talking about the money. If Nike comes to the office and see a very lavishly and tastefully furnished office, of course they will have more regard for you. It is clear, it’s all marketing strategies.

Naij.com: When do we expect the federation to move to the secretariat?

Pinnick: In line with the due process, the procurement for contractors to bid, and just to satisfy everybody, I requested it to be extended for another two weeks, so that people will not say there’s anything sinister about it. So by Wednesday, Thursday, a contract will be awarded and they have three months to deliver, and of course they will do.

Naij.com: How did the rancour that went on for the first five months of your administration impact on football and your set agendas and goals for the FA?

Pinnick: Well, like I said, coming into governance, you inherit liabilities and you inherit assets. I can assure you, naturally, the conflicts we had in the past, that first six months or actually nine months, because it was in nine months we got the appeal against, assuming it was like standing on one leg in and one leg out, so that is why the NFF should be given kudos. With all those you develop a thick skin. We came in, ordained by God to succeed, we should continue. Now we have a young enterprising coach that is really professional and is ready to deliver. I want to create the indulgence of Nigeria, we always want to win, that is the perception. We’ll keep winning, by God’s grace, but we should keep supporting the administration and the coaching crew, so we get that little encouragement. It is a very tough call because those of us running football in Nigeria, we should know that at any point in time we are under pressure because of Nigerians.

Naij.com: Nigeria is actually at an all-time low. Is the morale of the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons affected by the rigmarole of the last year? Is there a fallout?

Pinnick: Now, when we came in, the Super Falcons were trained by Edwin Okon and Danjuma and of course we gave them all the support they needed. But of course, our dream in the federation is not just to female football but to create an identity for female football, a tangible identity that you can feel and say, yes I have done it, like what obtains worldwide. And we said, okay lets give them a try, let us give them support which of course we did. Under our time, we won the African Nations Cup, the African Championship. There’s something lacking, but in terms of the players we are high up, but we are looking at appointing a world-class coach, I can announce to you. I think it’s been published that everybody can apply and we’ll look at the best  brain from all over the world. The committee will seat and appoint within the next two weeks maximum. A coach that will not just coach the Super Falcons, a coach that will bring an enduring legacy to female football in Nigeria. A coach that can go round the country, scouting and building new players, a coach that will not be sentimental about selections, a coach that will give us that vibe we need for female football.

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