May Pinnick never happen to our football again and again

Buffeted by corruption allegations and on-the-pitch failures, the controversial and disastrous tenure of Amaju Pinnick as NFF president ended without fanfare on September 20. Olukayode Thomas reports that the intellectually idle sports administrator just lost his third opportunity to leave an enduring legacy in sports in the last two decades.

Introduction

Without a shred of doubt, Amaju Pinnick has done well for himself in the last two decades. 

From his humble beginning as a young sports administrator, calling sports reporters and editors when he was with Delta FA with his trademark introduction ‘this is Amaju from Warri’, he now screens reporters’ and editors’ calls before deciding which call to pick or snub.

Pinnick no longer goes around looking for mention in the media or for his photographs to be used in the newspapers; rather, it’s the media that need his stories and images to sell their medium.

After all, Pinnick is now a big sports administrator, mixing with the elite of global football as a member of the FIFA and CAF executive council.

From Warri to Ikoyi

Pinnick’s business address has also changed. It’s no longer Warri but Ikoyi. Even the show that gave him and his city so much leverage in the entertainment industry, ‘Warri Again’, which held at his Bronxville Club in Warri, is terminally ill.  

At a point, he moved the show to Lagos, precisely Eko Hotels, robbing his community of gains that came with the show which includes but was not limited to boosting tourism, boosting local trade and business, especially the hospitality business, inspiring a new generation of entertainers, engaging and empowering the youth and many more. 

Pinnick’s rise to the top in any industry, even business, cannot be divulged from the leverage that he got from the sports; but how as he paid sports back? 

Over a decade in Delta State without legacy

Since he left as chairman of Delta FA, there is practically nothing to show today in Delta that he was once the FA chairman. Not a single programme.

 He did not think it wise to start a football development programme at the primary, high school or community level; no football development centre; no tertiary institutions football championships and the state FA Cup under Pinnick was without glamour and fanfare.

As Executive Chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission, Pinnick had the backing of the then State Governor, who is his in-law, but he never took Delta sports to the next level.

Apart from participation in the moribund National Sports Festival and other rituals, he didn’t really bring any other thing to the table.

In Delta State Pinnick showed he lacked the intellectual capacity to turn sports into a huge industry that will empower and engage many youths in a state where they are passionate about sports and have talents in virtually every sport.

He did not leave a legacy of a league in any sports; from football to athletics, basketball, tennis, boxing, cycling and others sports that are lucrative and can put food on the table for our children.

As head of Warri Wolves, his city club, Pinnick did not turn the club into a national or continental champion. He did not introduce modern management that would have ensured Warri Wolves have a proper youth development programme and under-age teams in the following categories U-21, U-18, U-16, U-14 and others. Pinnick just did the rituals for eight years: garbage in and garbage out like an average civil servant. 

One cannot but wonder why Pinnick, an exposed University graduate, did not know he could have used sports to solve so many social-economic problems in Delta State. What was the quality of thinking then? Who were the men and women around him or was it a clear case of lack of capacity? Or how does one explain that a young man was at the helm of affairs of sports in Delta State and he didn’t leave a tangible legacy.

Garbage in Garbage out from Asaba to Abuja

But God in his mercy gave Pinnick another opportunity, this time to head the most important office in Nigeria after the President of Nigeria, president of NFF.

His ascension was not without shenanigans but he managed to survive Chris Giwa. The court of law will determine a plethora of allegations of corruption against him and his cabal, but in the eight years that he was NFF president, it was the same garbage in and garbage out that he brought from Asaba to Abuja. 

After eight years, one can confidently say all that interested Pinnick was using the NFF presidency as a ladder to become an executive member of CAF and FIFA. After that, nothing else mattered.

While Pinnick has moved up to the highest level in football administration in the world, the NFF and Nigeria football that he used to climb to the top is today at the bottom of the valley.

Apart from preparations for CAF and FIFA programmes, Pinnick did not initiate any tangible programme in eight years. 

Before he became NFF president, our FA Cup has already lost its glamour. Instead of bringing back its glory day, he completely killed the oldest club competition in Nigeria.

Under Pinnick, that FA Cup winners and participants were not being paid was no longer news. It was like telling your neighbour that PHCN took the light.

Pinnick had Ahmed Fresh, who ordinarily should not be a technical officer in any FA in the world, as the Technical Committee Chairman because he needed Fresh’s political clout and votes to sustain his hegemony; same with Austin Eguavoen as Technical Director.

With the duo who don’t have the know-how or the acumen to run the Technical Department of an FA, Pinnick and one football agent, Tunde Adelakun became the de-facto heads of the Technical Department.

They hired and fired coaches, especially those that were not at their becks and calls. That Pinnick retained Mohammed Sanusi as NFF Secretary General showed his love for men who are incompetent, an alibi he used to take over their functions.

Under Pinnick, making protocol and other arrangements for team travel became rocket science.

Pettiness and boot licking became the order of the day in NFF. Woe betides staff who dared cross the path of almighty Pinnick. As NFF President, Pinnick was so petty that he sacrificed the Super Eagles’ psychologist, a PHD holder whose positive input into the national teams was acknowledged by players and the media, because of office gossip.

Football Development is not in Pinnick’s DNA

Developing football in Nigeria at the youth and league level was not in Pinnick’s or Adelakun’s DNA. Their speciality is traversing Europe and other parts of the world looking for average talents who ordinarily could not make the teams of their countries of birth to play for Nigeria.

As a result, they turned the national teams into rehabilitation grounds for the average player who does not deserve to wear the green/white/green. The result has been disastrous. 

Sycophants around him talked about myriads of sponsors he brought into Nigerian football; but the truth is that the staff, the players and even our football never saw the money they claimed he brought into our football.

Before every event, the NFF would go cap in hand to beg for money from the government in spite of the fact that most of the football programmes are sponsored by FIFA and CAF.

Footballers, in the senior and junior teams, male and female, protesting non-payment of allowances, bonuses and ticket refunds, especially while participating in international championships became the norm under Pinnick.

At home, contract staff and others regularly complain about non-payment of salaries, bonuses, allowances and other entitlements. So what happened to the billions that Pinnick’s lapdogs claimed he injected into football when football house could not do the basics under him? 

Pinnick and colleagues in FIFA Executive Council

Sometimes one wonders what Pinnick discusses with colleagues at FIFA meetings during tea break. While a Spanish member will proudly talk about La Liga and the productive football academies across Spain, an Italian will talk about winning many world cups and Serie A, Englishman will talk proudly about the English Premier League, and the Brazilian will talk about the country’s youth development programmes and the league which enable it to export the most talented and expensive footballers to the world.

The Egyptian will talk about her dominance of African club football and her working league, South African will talk about how they have been able to turn football into a big business despite the paucity of talents. 

The Croatia guy will definitely talk about its fantastic youth development programme which ensured its players are in the best football clubs in the world and playing in the finals of the last FIFA World Cup.

So what will Pinnick talk about with FIFA Executive members during tea break? Would it be distant memories of USA’94 or his support for Arsenal? Definitely, he won’t talk about how he took Warri Wolves from somewhere to nowhere or how he recruited rejects from these countries to his Super Eagles. 

He won’t talk about the dead FA Cup, our hugely disorganized NPFL that has no definite start or finish date, dearth of football in schools, communities and other levels.  

If others are wearing the jerseys of iconic clubs in their countries, will Pinnick wear an Arsenal jersey or Warri Wolves jersey?

Despite his glaring failures in every department, Pinnick wanted a third term contrary to what he told the media. He wanted to repeat badly. We salute the courage of the men and women that stopped him.

Finally, Pinnick did not just fail himself by wasting the third opportunity (all the three opportunities came on a platter of gold) to leave an enduring legacy but he has also failed millions of Nigerians at home and abroad who get joy from Super Eagles’ glowing performances by turning our teams into a pathetic team. 

He also deprived Nigeria of international diplomacy, public relations and the good feeling we get worldwide when doing well in international football.

By killing youth development and the local league, Pinnick has killed the future chances of millions of youth, denying them opportunities for engagement, empowerment and employment through football.

He destroyed billions of Naira of trade and investment that could come into football. The cost of Pinnick’s failure is enormous. May Pinnick never happen to our football again.

PULL QUOTES: 

So what will Pinnick talk about with Executive Board Members during tea break, distant memories of USA’94 or his support for Arsenal? Definitely, if he has any shame he won’t talk about how he took Warri Wolves zero to minus zero

 

He did not think it wise to start a football development programme at the primary, high school or community level; no football development centre, no tertiary institutions football championships, and the state FA Cup under Pinnick was without glamour and fanfare.