By Jacob Ajom
First Nigerian captain to lift the Africa Cup of Nations trophy, Christian Chukwu has decried the gradual, but overbearing influence of politicians in the administration of football in the country.
In a retrospective view at the problems associated with Nigerian football in the outgoing year, Chukwu said, “the year has been good and bad, but the bad far outweighs the good. The year was like a dry season as the returns were low.”
Continuing, Chukwu, who spoke through our hotline, said, “although the Falcons won the African Women Championship, the Eagles could not qualify for the 2015 Afcon and the crisis in the Nigeria Football Federation made it worse.”
Chukwu, who captained the Eagles to their first AFCON win in 1980 tasked the leadership of the NFF to ensure the crisis did not escalate. “If they survive this, they should ensure anything concerning elections should be handled properly. Let elections start from the local governments, the states then the national level. That is how it should be. If it starts from the ground up then the foundation will be solid.”
The former national team handler would not say much on the fate of out-of-contract head coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi. “I will like to leave that matter for the NFF to deal with. But I believe that results determine the fate of coach. When they allow politics to creep in, it won’t augur well for our football. Many coaches have come and gone and their stay have been largely determined by their results.”
