Federal Capital City Football Association(FCTFA) chairman, Mohammed Adam Mouktar, has spoken about his candidature and aspirant in the forthcoming Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) elections to be held on 30th September in Benin and he believed he has the Midas touch to turn Nigerian football around in his first major interview after picking his electoral form. MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN reports.
In the motley crowd of people jostling for the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) at the eagerly awaited September 30 elections to be held in Benin, the Edo State capital, is the Federal Capital City Football Association (FCTFA) chairman, Mohammed Adam Mouktar.
For his laudable achievements since taking over the reins of the FCTFA, Mouktar is being regarded by many as the breath of fresh air that can turn around the fortunes of Nigerian football which many believed had been battered in recent years even as curtain will be drawn to the eight-year of the Amaju Melvin Pinnick-led board.
Mouktar officially joined the race on Wednesday as he picked his electoral form and reckoned in his first major interview, that the seat of the NFF president is not for a lily-livered and not do well person, adding he’s unarguably the choice of discerning stakeholders due to his landmark achievements of the FCTFA under his watch.
“It is a major decision and I had to consult far and wide before picking the electoral form because this is not an easy decision,” Mouktar who has practically invested all his adult life to football, said in an interview with Arise TV yesterday. “ It is a huge responsibility, though it’s exciting and challenging, one must sit back and reflect and consult in order to look at how you want to build from down up.
“We have found ourselves now in a very difficult situation and the NFF is not a seat to joke around with. It’s a pressure cooker and you get a lot of sticks for poor delivery.
“So, it’s a difficult job that one must be well prepared for. Yes, it took me time to decide; but it’s the stakeholders have asked me to contest and I have accepted the challenge.”
A consummate followers of Liverpool in the English Premier League and Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga, Mouktar who first came into the conscious of Nigerians as a football intermediary ,is the owner of the modelled FC Hearts among several other investments in football and he believed he has paid his due to deservedly aspire to be the next President of NFF.
“I think it’s me (general laughter),” Mouktar said with frankly purr when pressed who is the best candidate for the job. “But in my humble opinion, and number one, it has to be somebody who is really passionate; someone who sees football as his life; and someone who has invested in football. “
He continued: “Some people find themselves in football but they’d never invested in it as such, they don’t care about it. Of course, they enjoy it and they only want to benefits from the frills and spoils of the office.
“They get to travel and show off but over time, with nothing they have truly done for the game.
“So I keep saying that at the end of the day, football must be the winner and not just somebody. We must also show the track records of performance but not rhetoric and I’ve seen a lot talking about plans and agendas but what have they done over the years to impact on the real players.
“Who are the real players other than the footballers?
“So what have you done to impact on the real players; to change their lives across the board and across the country if you are to be selected as the new leader of Nigerian football?” he asked as he dwelled on other sundry issues as it concerns Nigerian football.
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Achievements as chairman of FCT FA
Within a short period and even despite Covid pandemic, we have been able to do a lot. During my campaign (as chairman of the FCT FA), I made three promises. I said I wanted to impact on education and we have educated over 120 coaches across the six-area councils which is unprecedented. This is across the Nigeria Institute of Sports and we’ve also had Bayern Munich comes in for coaching courses and they are certified and could get jobs with those certificates. Basically, it is all about teaching the teachers and they can invariably, teach the players. Also, we talked about infrastructure and we have been able to renovate all the playing facilities within the FCT and this has attracted back almost all the teams that had hitherto left the FCT for lack of facilities. As a result, we have been able to have more competitions and scouting programmes. We have also been able to build a new stadium in Bwari which is world class and it would soon be opened; this would give the area council a sense of belonging because initially, everything is done within the Abuja metropolis which I felt was unfair. In order to develop football from the grassroots, I think we should also take the game to the area councils and local government areas outside the Abuja city. We also promised to develop players and we have been able to do that also. At the end of the day, we have met all our promises and not talking too much about it, but it’s there for everyone to see and that’s why everyone has been saying, I’m the breath of fresh air to come and take over the running of Nigerian football.
Road Map for a vibrant Nigerian football
I think once you look at the important project to do (football inclusive) and be successful at it, you have to have a plan and blueprint, action points and you must have the right people to achieve that. But I think we lack a number of things and that is why you have seen that the Honourable Minister of Youth & Sports Development , Chief Sunday Dare insisted on a 10-year-blueprint , a roadmap assignment that has been completed and submitted with far and wide recommendations which I think football wise , we would be better for it. One of the most exciting things that football lovers and stakeholders want to usually see is youth developmental programmes. Why do we have all these youth tournaments and competitions? It is because they want to see the growth of the game with each and every talents from all the crannies and corners of the country given the opportunity to showcase himself and the opportunity to be picked despite not having a link or godfather in order to get the best of the best to representing Nigeria at all levels. So even when you go to a tournament without winning, there’s satisfaction if you have the next generation of players to represent the country and that excites everyone. That is a must for football development and sports in general.
Administering football as a business
Football must be treated as a business and not only as a sport or recreation. There are different sides to it and one must have the ability to put each and every one of those parts in their rightful places. Let’s talk about football as a business and let’s use the Spanish League or the English Premier League as a brand. I think one of the greatest things we are lacking is good image and nobody would give you that sort of money without that right image to project values that once you put in a billion naira, you are going to get more than a billion naira out. The Corporate Nigeria for instance won’t want to be associated with anything that is problematic or what would not give them commensurate values from a marketing standpoint. Football in Nigeria must be able to give much values and the reputation must be there. In fact, we need a PR agency to practically redo us and represent us and we must act the apart from top to bottom and I’m talking about the NFF, the league, refereeing, coaches and even the players.
Giving football more developmental goals
We all have to agree that the bedrock of football development includes education of both the players and the coaches; education of the administrators and the infrastructure has to be put in place. You need to cater for every segment and ensure that the players are kept busy. In terms of the players which are in different categories because we have the youths, the school sports, the women’s which are also in different categories. So, you must be able to cater for everybody across board within the whole football eco system. Though we cannot compare ourselves in terms of organizations with European countries such as England, Germany or Spain but the depth of talents we have is as big as that of Brazil, so why can’t we be good as Brazil because of our population? Football contribute huge amount of money into the economy of Brazil and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), why can’t ours be the same? We have to understand the art and science of football business and I think it the eco system we need to cater for first and foremost.