Nike deal will galvanise Nigeria'

It was a chance telephone call to NFF media man, Ademola Olajire, that presented me with the chance to ask if I could have audience with the Ppesident of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick. It was a long shot as I did not think the man will agree and Olajire was leaving London the following day. As it happened I was asked to come to the Maida Vale area and I merrily went along.

I  eventually met with the man at his London apartment for a quick chat that touched on a number of subjects especially the new kit deal with US sportswear giants, Nike. Predictably Pinnick was quite pleased with the deal, "we were very discrete with the negotiations and wanted to make sure the deal was sealed before anyone got wind of it." Did our failure to make the last Afcom tournament affect the negotiations in anyway?

"We were in a very disadvantaged position not just because of the non-qualification of Afcon but also we had gone down in the Fifa rankings, and there were also the then internal wrangling in the football house that seemed to have made would be sponsors worried about what to expect from us" says Pinnick earnestly. "We however made a strong case for our brand, doing a lot more work than we might have done otherwise."

Since the deal was announced the question Nigerians have been asking has been what the monetary value. "The deal is more of Value In Kind (VIK) meaning that most of the money is valued in how much kits all the various national teams will get during the period of the contract into 2018. Initial value to this is $750 million per year. There are also bonuses for qualifying for tournaments for all the teams."

The deal starts immediately which means that all the national teams cannot even in training wear kits of former sponsor, Adidas.

The NFF president was at pains to explain the importance of honouring contractual agreements especially on this. "We have a very good deal and we want to make sure we do not break or violate the terms of the deal. Our legal department will inform all the players invited to our national teams on what to do or wear when in their camps."

How do we ensure that the furore that happened over the colour/design of the previous jersey will not happen again? "Oh we are going to get Nigerian people involved in the design process. The women's world Cup team and the under-20s will have to use quick kits that are available now because their tournaments are happening soon. By next year we hope to have authentic and team specific design for Nigeria; we aim to even ask people to send in their designs which we hope to do via our communications department so that when we agree on any, the whole country will know they had been involved in the process," Pinnick said. That sounds great theoretically but we know a lot about 'best-laid plans' - but as a plan it is quite good.

What comes across as the interview progresses is a man with a long-term vision of almost everything he wants done at the football federation. He says: "Our executive board is united in the long-term vision of making sure that whatever we do for our football should be long-lasting and endure even after we have left. It is the best way to focus on things for the country."

The federation president has been accused in the press of spending so much time outside the country and seems to have little or no plans for the local league. "we have a League Management Company (LMC) who are working hard to improve the local league. I am a big fan on the improvement of our league because we need a strong league. The LMC have not had it easy since inception three years ago but in due course we shall see the fruits of their hard work. Let no one even think I have no interest in the local league - I used to be chairman of Warri Wolves," he responded.

So how come you were quoted as saying that players in the reserve teams of clubs in Europe are better qualified to play for our national teams than first-team players in our local clubs? First time his face hardened a little. "I never said any such thing. On the contrary, I believe strongly that those who play regularly at our clubs should never be passed up by national team selectors for players in the reserves abroad," he said. The NFF president is an administrator so I do not pursue vigorously the line of on-field matters.

Nigerian football cannot be separated from the Nigerian politics and the Nigerian economy. "First, the fact that a peaceful transition after elections is a great situation, before the Presidential elections things were at a standstill, but since the announcement of the winner things have picked up. We are now going to tap into these good situation; we cannot depend solely on the government for our funding of the many football teams," remarked Pinnick.

At the moment Nigeria has 12 national football teams - one of the highest in the world. Should we really have so many? Can we sustain all of them? Pinnick smiled before answering: "That's important that we are actually evaluating all of them to see what we can keep and which we can lease out to corporate bodies to run on our behalf - like the beach soccer side (the Sand Eagles). We are looking into these areas because we know we do not have limitless funds."

Speaking of national teams, finally the post of the head coach of Super Eagles was filled last week with Stephen Keshi signing a new contract. The start of this board was during the ultimately futile attempt to qualify for the 2015 Afcon with Pinnick himself declaring openly that he thought Keshi was not good enough again for the job. How come the turn around to offer him a new contract?

"True at a point I was sceptical about Keshi. I felt he needed to build his capacity but we need to be objective with regards to the man. He has played under every national team coach we have had since 1980, he is one of two Africans to have won the Afcon as a player and coach so he deserves the respect. Furthermore, one of the things that make him special is his belief on local talent, I was a witness to how he selected Sunday Mba for the squad that won the Afcon two years ago. However, he needed or needs to also improve his knowledge as the game moves quickly and if one is not careful you will be left behind," the NFF chief said.

So the delay was not because you did not want to hire him? "A lot of factors are at play, we needed to sort out the legal framework of the contract and everyone agree to them before they are signed so as to avoid the situation we have found ourselves with Sylvanus Okpala where we are now paying him money he won as judgment at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). What we have now suits everybody and we know who is responsible for what. I trust him. We are going to provide him with the most recent of tools to work with including the Pro Zone software and whatever else he lists. We will give Nigerians reasons to celebrate again," Pinnick said confidently.

Pinnick is confident and comfortable in his role as the NFF president and really believes there will be good things happening soon. "NIKE kits a lot of champions and world champions in many sports, I believe we will be world champions too," he said.

It will be churlish on my part to argue with such optimism.

He is also a man who supports Arsenal and a keen follower of the way the Barclays Premier League is run and how deals and contracts are tied over long periods for sustainable progresses. "I remember when Adam Crozier became FA head as a young man. He laid solid foundations that are still yielding fruits today in England. I hope to be able to do same for Nigerian football," Pinnick concluded.