Much Ado About Players’ Union CHINUA Achebe of blessed memory once said, “One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.” I find it difficult to understand what is going on in Nigerian football circles – from the grassroots to the glass house, and even to those that have quit the game actively; all had never been rosy. It is no gainsaying that a lot of our retired footballers today, are living in abject poverty and live from hand to mouth; yet, various bodies spring up everyday with the sole aim of fighting to better their lives. First was NANF – National Association of Nigerian Footballers headed by Harrison Jallah. This body succeeded in getting Nigeria enlisted in the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPRO); which is the worldwide representative organization for 65, 000 professional football players. It is made up of 55 national players’ associations. However, it is sad to note that Nigeria was expelled from this body due to the ‘Nigerian factor’ and incessant court cases was the hallmark of this body, who gave the NFA/NFF a run for their money. One wouldn’t know if the ouster of Nigeria was orchestrated by the powers that be; but it is a known fact that for about 20 years, NANF saddled itself with the responsibility of standing as the players union and were regularly getting funds from FIFPRO which was not duly accounted for. Notwithstanding, there was a man that was also at the centre of all this, his name is CVomrade Austin Popo. He was then the Secretary General of NANF. According to him, he opted out of NANF to set up APFON because he needed a ‘Structure’ and not for the ‘Players Union’ to be run as a one-man show, sensing that one day, these players would come and ask for what rightfully belongs to them. Let me quickly add here that the Players’ Union in England is the richest and most vibrant union the world over. They control businesses and have a greater stake in the administration of football in England. With the coming of APFON, now led by Dahiru Sadi having seen Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha as its former helmsman, Nigerian players playing in the league were able to an extent, to heave a sigh of relief as the body fought for an improved players’ welfare and were able to assist some players in getting their unpaid salaries, bonuses and sign-on fees from their clubsides. Don’t get me wrong, am not fronting for APFON, but the truth must be told. Still in the battle of the players’ welfare; Rasheed Yekini died and Thompson Oliha also died. Now came in another body, “The Concerned Group” The group led by Clement Temile initially came up with the objective of trying to have a unified Players’ Union, but now, the issue is that of registering the ‘Concerned Group’ with the CAC as an association. Hmmm; don’t you smell a dead fish? Reconciliation Late December, and on January 5, 2014, two marathon meetings were held and the purpose was to seek for ways to harmonize and have one Players’ Union. This peace move was brokered by a committee in the Concerned Group called the ‘Thinkers Group’. The group ably led by Hon. Tajudeen Ajide, himself an ex-player and a local government chairman of Suruelere, succeeded in bringing together Harrison Jallah and Austin Popo under one roof. It is on record that these key actors in this movie shook hands and embraced each other for the first time after seven years of their impasse and futile attempts by the high and mighty to bring about a truce between the two warring brothers. But there were clogs in the wheel that brought about a slow pace in the peace process. The first was that none of the parties involved should go to the Press until the lose ends had been tied. This was however short-changed and truncated by Harrison Jallah who sent an sms across to Godwin Enakhena on a live-show on LTV. This was greeted with admiration by the presenters, Godwin Enakhena and Emeka Nwani, but they were also skeptical and had their doubts about the move. Another clog was the refusal of the Jalla-led NANF to sign the Communiqué drafted by all parties involved in the unification. Instead, Jalla wanted another 2 years to head the Union before calling for elections, forgetting that in May 2011, he was banned from all football related activities for life alongside his cohorts when they tried to form a parallel football ruling body in Nigeria. But, it is also on record that Popo and his men were willing to relinquish power and allow for fresh elections if only there is going to be a ‘Structure’ in place. I don’t want to go into the intricacies and bottlenecks that truncated this reconciliation process, at least for now; but one thing is clear, APFON and ‘The Concerned Group’ signed the Communiqué. So, what next? Trip to Abuja Clement Temile and some other members of the Concerned Group stormed Abuja on a courtesy visit to the Sports ministry and to also rub minds with the powers that be on the lingering crisis in the union. They were able to meet with Elegbeleye who gave his love and support for their reconciliatory move and promised to call for a national players’ conference where all parties would meet and the Concerned Group would now chose who to flow with. For those of us that were aware of the Nigerian civil war, the Aburi convention was given a different interpretation by the two parties. Same also should I say applied in this case. APFON and The Concerned Group After all said and done, the leadership of APFON led by Dahiru Sadi, Austin Popo and Edema Fuludu, paid an official visit to members of the Concerned Group early May, 2014 in Lagos, in a bid to tighten all lose ends and to have a unified Players’ Union since it was clear that NANF had knocked themselves out of the picture having failed to sign the communiqué whilst every member of the Concerned Group had ‘openly agreed’ to join hands with APFON to establish a unified body. APFON’s visit was greeted with mixed reactions as Temile on one hand, felt he was not accorded due respect by Dahiru Sadi and some other members of the Concerned Group felt that what APFON presented to them, especially on the issue of membership registration was uncalled for. But the question now is, Can you become a member of a body without registration? This ‘peace meeting’ could not be concluded on same day as some members of the Concerned Group met with the APFON representatives which didn’t go down well with Clement Temile as the leader of his group. Hmmm. This is the beginning of another movie as next week, we shall look into the letters that cross-carpeted from the NFF, the Sports Ministry through APFON to the Concerned Group; the salient issues like that of ‘caucuses’ that sprang up in the Concerned Group and at the end, we shall find out if the Concerned Group is out to register another Players’ Union; not forgetting the involvement of persons like Nicholas Ukadike and his crew in the struggle for membership sustainability and the ‘Obote clan’ in the Concerned Group.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 19:30:07 +0000
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