Nigerians need to ask questions about the deal between The NFF And Aiteo.

Nigerians have kept quiet for too long and the situation surrounding football development gets from bad to worse after each passing day yet, almost everyone has kept mute like a mule.
However, the time has come for stakeholders to ask pertinent questions about the development and growth of football by matching words with action.
Nigerians must go beyond making mere noise on the media and ranting on social media space.
As a Nigerian citizen, I have every legal right to ask questions about issues of grave national concern, particularly, when I feel I do not have the true information needed to address the problems arising from these concerns.
The hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation on one hand, and the management of Aiteo Group on the other hand have to render Nigerians some reasonable explanations as to the true picture of the deal involving NFF/Aiteo about the sponsorship of Nigeria’s oldest football competition, the Football Associations Cup, now known as Aiteo cup.
We are quite aware of the fact that the NFF has regularly been shrouding its financial dealings in secrecy so that’s not new to us but recent happenings, most especially as it concerns the Aiteo Cup have left room for so many questions.
The competition has a rich and very lovely history dating back to the 1940s, with so many scintillating outings involving some of the most famous clubs in the land.
The competition in the past has also exposed some of the best players in the land to national and international stardom and some of these footballers went on to become well-known national idols.
The competition was so important that military governors of some of the regions in the good old days declare holidays so that fans can travel to watch the FA Cup, look at their favorite footballers and support their teams.
Now the competition is a complete shadow of its original self. Where did we get it wrong? How did we get here?
There are several questions that need answers but we are left in complete darkness.
The media is a major stakeholder in the business of sports in Nigeria but when important dealings of public interest are operated like secret cult activities how can we be able to make our reports with accuracy? We definitely will not be able to achieve that.
Let us know that if we truly have the interest of our football at heart, we can hold the NFF accountable for every single business they have executed in the course of their stewardship in the last eight years.
We have heard numerous stories of how Aiteo signed a contract worth 2 billion naira with the NFF and how over 1.5billion naira have been remitted already.
These figures might be wrong and that’s why we must legally request information from the NFF.
The recent scandal relating to selecting Kwara United rather than the winners of the Aiteo Cup as one of Nigeria’s representatives ahead of this year’s CAF Confederation cup is not only an eye opener to the misdeeds of the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF but also an enormous insult on our collective sensibility.
According to the constitution of the land regarding our rights as individuals to know, as provided by the Freedom of Information Act, we now have to seek a full and undiluted explanation on the terms of contracts the NFF signed with Aiteo.
Both the NFF and Aiteo have to tell us what actually transpired, how much Aiteo has remitted as part of the contract agreement to the NFF and how much is remaining for NFF to receive.
The NFF will also have to explain to us how much is given to every single club that participates in the Aiteo Cup in streams from the preliminary rounds straight to the final and what the champions get.
The NFF will also have to explain why clubs are made to pay expensive registration fees for a competition that already has a titled sponsor thereby depriving grassroots teams of participation.
We as ordinary Nigerians cannot continue to sit and close our eyes while these persons at the NFF keep treating us with disdain.
We have to invoke the rights bestowed on us by the Freedom of information Act.
The Freedom of Information Act was passed by the National Assembly on 24th May 2011 and assented by President Goodluck Jonathan on 28th May of the same year.
The Act supersedes the Official Secrets Act (OSA), originally enacted as a colonial sense of stability in 1911, which forbade the unauthorized transmission, obtaining, reproduction, or retention of any classified matter.
The Act applies not only to public institutions but also to private organizations providing public services, performing public functions, or utilizing public funds.
The underlying philosophy of Freedom of Information is that public servants are custodians of public trust on behalf of a population who have a right to know what they do.
In particular, the FOIA promises to remove the aura of mystery and exclusion with which public servants cloak the ordinary operations of government and public institutions.
It also seeks to change the manner in which public records and information are managed.
The Act builds on the presumption of openness, by placing on those who wish to keep public information away from the people, the onus of justifying why they have to do so.
We have to invoke the powers of this Act to put the NFF back on track with accountability, particularly at this time when the federation is about to transit from one regime to the other.
We have to ensure the NFF makes some explanations. It’s our right. We are entitled to some answers.
The problem with Nigerians is the fact that people are so careless with issues affecting national concerns. People only tend to solve personal issues to the detriment of the general good of the nation.
The media has to live up to its responsibility, I believe the media has failed this nation.
Stakeholders of the game cannot continue to keep quiet.