The Justice of Nigeria football and former Ex- Green Eagles winger, Adokiye Amiesemeka has called on the sports authority to professionalize football in the country.
Justice Adokiye Amiesemeka (MON) said this while giving a key note lecture in the Rivers State Swan Award and Dinner Night last December, 2011.
According to the experienced football administrator, what Nigeria needs is to allow national sports commission to run sports in Nigeria. Unfortunately this has not been so, he stated.
Zeroing down on football, he said football in the country has been politicized and that, this was not good for the country. He also revealed that in the 1999 Nigerian constitution, there is no mention of sports in the constitution.
The ever vocal ex-Green star urged the Nigerian federation to go strictly for school age, if Nigeria will develop its football grade, stating that if Nigeria must strive forward in world football in 2014, age grade football should be Nigeria’s answer.
However, he stated that if the football authority will do the right thing, Keshi will not fail to attend world football successfully in 2022. Giving some insight that the successful 1980 Eagles squad that first lifted the Nations cup for Nigeria, was built from 1974; he pointed out that the collapse of Nigeria football was due to the failure of the system, adding that if the structure was solid, anyone could come and key into it and produce results which he said is lacking for now.
The former Green Eagles winger lamented on the age cheat rate going on in Nigeria, and said the Nigerian football federation should as a matter of seriousness stop this ugly trend before Nigeria faces another global embarrassment.
Barrister Christopher Green, the chairman of Nigeria Football Federation Technical Committee was present when Adokiye Amiesimaka made the statement, and said age cheat in the future will be history in Nigeria. ####
Allanso Jonathan Allanso
