The Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led Board of the Nigeria Football Federation, on Tuesday, 20th June, 2023, inaugurated a five-man Normalization Committee for the Nasarawa State Football Association.
At a short ceremony held at the mini hall of De 1st Crown Luxury Hotel, Lafia, Nigeria Football Federation’s Secretary General, Dr. Muhammad Sanusi, represented by his Special Assistant, Ameenu Mohammed, disclosed that the decision to set up a Normalization Committee was necessitated by recent happenings within the football space in Nasarawa State with a view to creating a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere for football to thrive in the State.
“Nasarawa State Football Association is a critical stakeholder in the structure of administration of football in Nigeria and the President of the NFF is firm against anything or anyone that will destabilize its proper functioning.
“This is why the President said there should be an independent Committee to treat all the wranglings within the State Football Association to enable it function properly.”
Sanusi said the tasks of the Committee, among others, would be to administer football for the next three months which includes shouldering the duties, responsibilities as well as obligations of Football Association, beginning from the date of inauguration, conduct fresh elections into the thirteen Local Council Areas and the State in general to usher in new leaderships and board that would be people and football-oriented.”
He listed members of the Normalization Committee to include, Hon. Aliyu Bello(Chairman); Hon. Kwanta Yakubu(Vice Chairman); Hon. Othman Bala Adam(Member); Adamu Ibrahim Shigafarta(Member) and Sule Ishaku Yepwi(Member) while the Secretary of the Committee will be nominated from the State’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
The NFF General Secretary, accompanied by the Head, Member Association and Special Duties, and Secretary, FA Elections Monitoring Committee, 2023, Ali Abubakar, delegated the duty of inauguration to the newly appointed Permanent Secretary of the Nasarawa State Ministry Of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Barr. Isaac Danladi, to perform, a task he carried out gladdingly.
Danladi congratulated the Committee Members and charged them to give their best to actualize the mandate.
He pledged the support of the Government to the Committee and the Nigeria Football Federation to ensure the smooth completion of the task.
In his acceptance speech, Chairman of the Normalization Committee and Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Nasarawa State, Hon. Aliyu Bello, thanked the Government and good people of the State for nominating them.
He also appreciated the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led Board of the NFF for deeming them worthy for the task of stabilizing the State’s Football Association, promising to exhaust all avenues to deliver on the huge responsibility.
Chairman of the APC in Nasarawa State, Hon. John Mamman, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Garba Rosha alongside critical football stakeholders in the State attended the event.
Shortly after the inauguration, the Committee Members were led to the Deputy Governor’s Office by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Barr. Isaac Danladi, where he made a formal presentation of the members to the State’s number two citizen, Dr. Emmanuel Agbadu Akabe.
On his part, the State’s Deputy Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Agbadu Akabe, congratulated the Members for their recognition to serve in the Committee.
He said the task is enormous but believed in the vast experiences of the Committee Members to deliver on the mandate, describing them as veterans of the game.
He called on them to use the opportunity to transform football in the State by creating platforms that would aid talents discovery for podium appearance, job creation and revenue generation.
Akabe assured of Government’s support to the Committee to succeed.
/Eche Amos
