With Nigeria’s chances of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup hanging by a thread after picking three points from four matches, former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Pinnick opens up on factors behind the choice of Finidi George as Super Eagles’ gaffer, Nigeria’s bumpy road in the qualifiers, as well as his dream in the 2025 FIFA executive elections in this exclusive interview with David Meshioye.
You started your journey into sports administration with Delta Sports Commission, after which you went on to become the state FA Chairman while keeping tabs on Warri Wolves. You emerged as NFF president on 30 September 2013 and was re-elected for another term four years later. On January 19, 2017, you were appointed a member of the Organising Committee, FIFA competition and you have never looked back since then. What would you say has been key to success?
Godliness. I can tell you that everything back then was backed up with prayers. We were very resilient and hardworking in our dealings, but the main key to my success story as NFF president was godliness. Godliness teaches you to be prayerful and resilient, it teaches you to be focused in life. Godliness teaches things you would ordinarily not think of. Honestly, prayer is an important tool in becoming a success.
Talking about success, one of your success stories is the ability to turn the Super Eagles into a brand every corporate body wants to identify with. That saw the coming of Guinness, AITEO, airlines as well as the banking sector. While I quite accept the place of prayers and godliness, what did NFF do right under your supervision to attract those juicy offers?
I cannot disassociate my success from godliness, it is no joke and I am not playing to the gallery. We could not get to our most desired level but we were able to get to where we could raise our heads high. We took sponsorship from zero per cent to 80 per cent self-funding. Many people did not even know to date that no dime was given to NFF by the Nigerian government to prosecute our 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Black Stars of Ghana for both legs while Ghana got $3.5m from their country. (Laughs).
(Cuts in) What was responsible for that?
Lack of funds of course! It was a lot of sacrifice. We sacrificed for Nigerian football for eight years, and even though I can boldly say that Nigerian football gave me a pedestal where people can still see and appreciate what we have done and brought me to the limelight, I thank the Nigeria Football Federation for that. It was a difficult moment but we put in so much sacrifice even though there were lots of distractions, but thank God we were able to do what we did by turning the senior national team into a brand like you rightly said. We brought in sponsors and re-enacted the image of Nigeria as one of the most respected football nations in the World. We have won the Nations Cup three times and played in six finals. We have won U-17 five times while the girls are not doing badly, so when we talk, we talk with so much authority because Nigeria is one of the best footballing nations in the world today.
Super Eagles are currently running through troubled waters in the World Cup qualifiers, and the current NFF board can be likened to a man who is between the devil and the deep blue sea. Where did it all go wrong?
(Pause) I don’t think the current board is doing badly because you cannot isolate the economic situation of the country from the way the board is being run now. The situation in Nigeria is not easy. You can see the government is making every concerted effort to right many wrongs and has taken many difficult decisions to correct a lot of things. Football is not run by naira but by dollars, how much is the exchange right now compared to when I was in office? When I was president, Super Eagles were spending around N300 million naira for one game, and how much was our annual budget from the government back then; N900 million, so that would probably be enough for just three games. That is just for home matches, but if you’re to play away from home it means you will require a chartered flight at a time a dollar was going for N700. Now compare that to now where dollars is about N1350 to a dollar, then you will see that it has not been easy for the board, but they’re doing everything to complement. The new government is doing its best to solve those economic problems first then football can come in.
Newspapers are awash with the news that you single-handedly brought in Finidi George to take over from Jose Peseiro. Is that true?
I read from different newspapers that Amaju brought in Finidi to lead Super Eagles, how? You see, I and Ibrahim Gusau are quite close and it is on record that my tenure happened to be the only tenure where the ex-president and the current president enjoyed a cordial relationship because there is always this rivalry between ex and the incumbent president. Gusau, after several consultations, decided that Finidi should lead the team and I also decided that it should be so. I can still contribute immensely given my experience as former NFF president. If he calls upon me I will be there for him. We just need to have this realistic support from stakeholders and everybody. The sports minister has been exceptional. I heard he summoned the NFF, I believe he just wants to ask questions on the way forward. I would have won the World Cup if I had him during my tenure.
You know I have always been an advocate of a foreign coach and I have no single regret over that. I am coming out with a book soon where I plan to dedicate a page to why I prefer a foreign coach for our national team, which will be backed up with facts. I have nothing against our coaches but there are some salient issues and technical issues that will always pop up. Right now, I’m not going to burst any bubbles, God keeping us alive, we will come up with our book and a chapter will be dedicated to it. Talking about Peseiro, I expected NFF to continue with him because there is no way that a coach, after almost winning the AFCON, would be allowed to go after just two months.
The NFF wanted him but the underlying truth is that NFF did not have the funds to pay even though they wanted him. Peseiro believes he has been to AFCON finals, which in turn makes him a better brand and saleable material. Of course, he increased what he was earning, and if the government had come to say hey we would support you with his salary, then he would have stayed back and Nigeria would have won these two matches.
In the absence of Peseiro, why I said I supported Finidi, which I don’t have any regret over is that Finidi was an integral part of Peseiro’s backroom staff just like Arteta was to Pep Guardiola and you can see his level of success as Arsenal’s manager. There is what we call seamlessness of transition but whether the player would play for him or not is another kettle of fish. I would have done the same thing if Amuneke had been in the same position. What counted for Finidi was the ability to win the league and his experience in Spain, not forgetting that Enyimba was still doing well by the time he left.
That is what we considered before giving him the job but people are quick to castigate him. It is always about destiny, Nigeria can win all its last matches and still qualify. I didn’t want to start calculating because I tried as much as possible to avoid it during my period. I wanted to win every game, and I had sleepless nights because I wanted to win every game. We did everything and discussed with each player and Ibrahim was part of it. If there is anybody who wants to win every game it is the NFF, and I can categorically say that the NFF president is the worst hit at the moment as well as the Sports Commission. The World Cup ticket is not yet out of our reach.
The issue of Daniel Amokachi’s absence from the team’s camp came as a huge distraction to the team 72 hours before the game against South Africa. It was reported that Da Bull pulled out based on NFF’s no-show over his contract. Is it not appalling that a coach of his calibre was placed on payment by invitation?
Amokachi is a great guy any day and he is my dear brother. If NFF has money to pay him, they will. You cannot keep listening to criticism where people will say: “Why did you sign him when you know you can’t pay him? You are owing coaches and all of that. That is why the current government is doing everything humanly possible to put the economy on the right pedestal so that sports can enjoy more support.
Critics believe NFF had set up Finidi to fail, hence his inability to get the right. Don’t you think his recent resignation laid credence to that fact?
Any Nigerian coach needs valuable staff around him to succeed, I mean get a good goalkeeper trainer, defender expert, midfielder trainer, match reader as well as other departments required to achieve collective success. With 5000 US Dollars per month as take-home, you will have them working for you. This is necessary because football now is beyond just one man
Nigeria was at the back seat of African football politics until you came on board. How much support are you getting from the Nigerian government ahead of the 2025 FIFA Executive election?
The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken it to another level and the minister has been in front of it, he is indeed my chief campaigner. He was in Bangkok with the State governor who I will say has been exceptional, and I will always be thankful to him. Governor Duoye Diri is one person who has attended most FIFA events. Diri attended the World Cup finals, he attended the FIFA Award, and he is somebody who is highly recognised by FIFA.
Diri’s name is always on FIFA’s portal and he has been exceptional in terms of support. The minister is another wonderful person who understands the dynamics and importance of football politics. He believes Nigeria is a great football nation and should be represented at the highest level. NFF President as well as NFF Scribe, Dr. Sanusi, as well as the board, are in full support. But like I said it is not a do-or-die for me, if the lord says yes then it will come to pass. The beauty of this one is that there is harmony from the Villa to the ministry and the NFF in my support.
Your critics still believe that you did not do enough to change the fortune of NFF and Nigerian football, hence your decision to bow to external pressure and quit the stage. In retrospect, the issue of accountability as NFF president was regarded as one of your sins by your critics. What are your takes on these allegations?
In life, there’s always a time for everything. I decided to quit the stage even though I had a lot of pressure to carry on, but it has been my doctrine that someone else can perform better, hence my decision to move on. I had to weigh the pros and cons; my wife, family, and fleets of business as well. I decided that it was time to go, I have done eight years and nobody has done four years successfully as NFF president. I would have still won my election if I had decided otherwise because I know how to win the election which is only by God’s grace. God has blessed me so much before coming to NFF because I came from Escravos where there is oil presence. Ugborodo is Mum’s village while my dad is from Okpeki which also has an oil presence. We have embraced the local content possibilities since 1999 and we set up our company Brownhill which we have been using to provide services. You can’t pull down a versatile man who is hardworking and determined to succeed. I have lots of business around the globe and more are still coming.
Our technology-driven farming in Iseyin is massive; all thanks to Governor Seyi Makinde who keyed into our vision because he knows what he wants. I sacrificed my everything for Nigerian football; time, and money while I was the president of the Nigeria Football Federation. There was lots of self-funding to ensure Super Eagles honour matches, but people did not know about this. I worked hard with board members to make marketing department of NFF vibrant. No corporate bodies wanted to identify with the Super Eagles, but all of that changed with several companies longing to identify with our national team because we have a brand that everybody wanted to identify with.
