Nigerian Football
RIBADU RESUMES ANTI GRAFT WAR, THIS TIME IN NFF
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Former anti-graft czar, Nuhu Ribadu is to carry on the cleansing of the society in another sector of Nigeria’s national life.
The former police officer has been conscripted into the football governing body of Nigeria as the chairman of the NFF Committee for Ethics and Fair Play.
He was the pioneer chairman of Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He is joined in the NFF’s Committee for Ethics and Fair Play by Felix Awogu, the General Manager of Supersport.
That is the high point of the re-composition of the previously dissolved standing committees of the NFF.
The reconstitution of the 18 standing committees and two ad-hoc committees were announced by the Media Department of the NFF. But only the chairmen and vice chairmen have been revealed. They are:
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande – Chairman
Ibrahim Musa Gusau – Vice Chairman
INTERNAL AUDIT COMMITTEE
Sunday Dele-Ajayi – Chairman
Mohammed Alkali – Vice Chairman
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Seyi Akinwunmi – Chairman
Shehu Dikko – Vice Chairman
TECHNICAL AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Yusuf Ahmed Fresh – Chairman
Chidi Ofo Okenwa – Vice Chairman
REFEREES COMMITTEE
Sharif Rabiu Inuwa – Chairman
Yusuf Ahmed Fresh – Vice Chairman
LEGAL COMMITTEE
Seyi Akinwunmi – Chairman
Chris Green – Vice Chairman
COMMITTEE ON WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
Ayo Omidiran – Chairman
Aisha Falode – Vice Chairman
YOUTH FOOTBALL COMMITTEE
Seyi Akinwunmi – Chairman
Emmanuel Iba – Vice Chairman
FUTSAL AND BEACH SOCCER COMMITTEE
Felix Anyansi-Agwu – Chairman
Samson Adamu – Vice Chairman
COMMITTEE ON SPORTS MEDICINE
Dr. Muazu Abdulkadir – Chairman
Dr. James Omietimi – Vice Chairman
PLAYERS STATUS COMMITTEE
Chris Green – Chairman
Owoicho Adejo-Ogiri – Vice Chairman
COMMITTEE FOR ETHICS AND FAIR PLAY
Nuhu Ribadu – Chairman
Felix Awogu – Vice Chairman
MEDIA AND PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande – Chairman
Aisha Falode – Vice Chairman
FOOTBALL COMMITTEE
Seyi Akinwunmi – Chairman
Shehu Dikko – Vice Chairman
STRATEGIC STUDIES COMMITTEE
Shehu Dikko – Chairman
Yusuf Ahmed Fresh – Vice Chairman
PROTOCOL AND CEREMONIAL COMMITTEE
Musa Duhu – Chairman
Sharif Rabiu Inuwa – Vice Chairman
MARKETING, SPONSORSHIP AND TELEVISION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Shehu Dikko – Chairman
Emeka Inyama – Vice Chairman
SECURITY COMMITTEE
Ibrahim Musa Gusau – Chairman
Oswald Atuake – Vice Chairman
AD-HOC COMMITTEES
MATCH COMMISSIONERS’ APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE
Babagana Kalli – Chairman
Sunday Dele-Ajayi – Vice Chairman
TECHNICAL STUDY GROUP
Abba Yola – Chairman
Taribo West – Vice Chairman
Nigerian Football
Remo Stars close to winning their first Nigeria Premier League title
Remo Stars on Friday inch closer to achieving their first ever title in the Nigeria elite division league after beating visiting Niger Tornadoes 3-0 to move second on the log and just a point behind league leaders, Enugu Rangers.
Remo Stars are now with 53 points and still have an outstanding home game to play.
Friday’s win which comes on the eve of the proprietor’s birthday has put the team back into contention for the title.
They have progressively become prominent in the Nigerian premier league having placed third two seasons ago and second last season.
Top finish this season will confirm their progression and also a third consecutive continental outing.
Top scorer, Sikiru Alimi launched them of victory path as his 28th minute penalty kick heralded their return to high scoring ways.
It has been a while since they scored high in the league. Barely three minutes later, Sikiru, a contender for the top scorer award increased the tally to two.
Ahmed Akinyele completed the route in the 75th minute.
Nigerian Football
Nigeria face tough defence as Burkina Faso lie in wait at U17 WAFU B AFCON qualifiers
Defending champions Nigeria have been handed a difficult path to the 2025 U17 Africa Cup of Nations finals after being drawn in the same group as Burkina Faso for next month’s WAFU B qualifying tournament in Ghana.
The Golden Eaglets, who won the last edition of the regional championship in 2022, will also face Togo and Niger in Group B of the competition which runs from 15-28 May.
Hosts Ghana find themselves in Group A alongside Cote d’Ivoire and Benin in a tough-looking section of the competition to be played in Accra.
The draw was conducted by 1970s Ivorian football legends Kobenan Kouman and Die Foneye at the Ivorian FA headquarters in Abidjan on Friday.
Nigeria claimed their WAFU B U17 AFCON title by defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the regional final in Ghana two years ago.
However, they will need to overcome some familiar foes if they are to defend their crown and with the Burkina Faso finishing third at the last TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations, some exciting matches are expected.
Arch-rivals Nigeria and Ghana are among the two favourites and could meet in the final in Accra on 28 May, should they top their respective groups and make it through the semi-finals.
Ghana also have pedigree at this level, having the World Cup in 1991 and 1995 as they bid to reach the U17 AFCON finals on home soil.
The top two teams from the WAFU B tournament will qualify for next year’s U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Groups:
Group A: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin
Group B: Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Niger.
Nigerian Football
Former Nigeria international, Onye recommends Amuneke-Siasia combo for Super Eagles
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Kingsley Onye, the left sided defender who was a member of the first Flying Eagles side to have a podium finish at the U-20 World Cup has suggested the employment of Emmanuel Amuneke as the coach of the Super Eagles.
He wants him to be assisted by Samson Siasia when the ban on the latter lapses in August. Alternatively, Onye pointed to Sylvanus Okpala as alternative to Siasia.
The Super Eagles are in dare need for a head coach as the clock ticks down to the Match day 4 and 5 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in which the team is trailing at the third position.
The two matches in early June are crucial for the Super Eagles to bounce back into reckoning as the team can not afford to drop any of the available six points in the duels with South Africa at home and away to Benin.
From this Monday, it is 41 days to the potentially challenging tie with South Africa, but the Nigerian national team has been without a coach since the expiration of the contract of Portugal’s Jose Peseiro shortly after the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Without mincing words, Onye remarked: “Emmanuel Amuneke is the right man for the job of the coach of Super Eagles. He has been there before.
“He tasted it and had been fantastic with the Nigeria youth team, the U-17 by assisting Manu Garba to win the U17 World Cup in 2013 and as head coach, led the Golden Eaglets to win the cup again in 2015.”
Onye who played for the Enugu Rangers in Nigeria before venturing to the UK but had his career scuppered by freak injury pointed out that the solution to Super Eagles’ technical deficiency is the appointment of an indigenous coach and that Amuneke is the man.
In buttressing his assertion, he declared: “As a senior team coach, Amuneke qualified a long standing absentee team, Tanzania for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
“His record as a player is also very impressive. He played and won with the Super Eagles, the AFCON 1994. He played at the Olympic Games and was also the first Nigerian to score two goals at the World Cup.
“He has played at the African Games and also for top clubs in the continent as he was a member of the Egyptian giants, Zamalek. In Europe, he played for Sporting Clube de Portugal and then Barcelona before injury ended his playing career.”
Onye also looked at the personality of Amuneke in recommending him for the Super Eagles job.
His record as a player is also very impressive. He played and won with the Super Eagles, the AFCON 1994. He played at the Olympic Games and was also the first Nigerian to score two goals at the World Cup.
He has played at the African Games and also for top clubs in the continent as he was a member of the Egyptian giants, Zamalek. In Europe, he played for Sporting Clube de Portugal and then Barcelona before injury ended his playing career.
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