Ikeja Divisional FA Council Chairman, Alhaji Rafiu Alabi Taiwo popularly called Alhaji Mokan has backed Coach Dosu David Apelete to come top of his opponents ahead of the Coaches Association election which is set to take center stage on the 30th of September.
The three Contestants are David Dosu, Moses, and Hassan.
Speaking about the three contestants in an exclusive interview with sports247, Alhaji said, “Fortunately, I know all three contestants very well. Hassan as old as 1981, I also know Apelete almost the same time as a goalkeeper before I brought his brother, Dosu Joseph to my club in 1985.”
“Recently about eight to ten years ago, I came in contact with Moses as a coach. So, I know the three of them very well,” he revealed.
On his preferred candidate, “If I tell you I prefer Dosu, people will think maybe because he is from Ikeja, but you know, he has the potential to be the chairman of the coaches association. He’s humble, hard-working and he has also played the game.”
“Presently, he is the leader Ikeja coaches council, I can vouch for him as Chairman, he has the quality to lead. You can obviously see what he did in Ikeja, most of the other councils don’t have offices, but you can see ours at Ikeja, it was during his tenure.”
“I know with our support, there will be a lot of changes in Lagos State. His rapport with other coaches and the divisional FA, I have like five councils under me, I know how they perform not because they are with me here but because they know the rules and regulations of the game and they know what it takes to be a leader. You can see that we have no arguments or problems of any sort with them, they are so cooperative because they have good leaders.”
Reminiscing on past events, legal tussle which once rocked the association, Alhaji clarified, “there was the case of a contestant who took the council to court and now he’s campaigning for the same position, for me it is wrong, other people might not see it the way I’m doing but it is very wrong, I was involved because I was the chairman of that electoral committee that was taken to court. I was away at Abeokuta for a match with my team, I met the court summons when I arrived. There are a lot of things we need to observe and take note of, it’s not about shouting or showing grievances on various media platforms. We should always consider our relationships.”
“We need a relationship with the State FA and someone has to do it so that we can get to the root of Lagos State football coaches association problem, we are suffering and most of the executives don’t have what it takes to work with State FA. They are the boss, we are just part of the congress that is voted in there, you can’t fight your father.”
“Look at the referees, they know their boundaries, you can’t insult your senior but coaches do that because you are a super coach or some sort of someone higher than the rest.”
“If you do anything anywhere, you are still coming back to them because they are the only one the State recognizes as a state body. All others come from them, references and letters of recommendation for players come from them so why fight those who can help you,” he stated.
“He has what it takes to be there, because of my position or age, I know what to do and my boundaries, people voted for me but I’m responsible to a higher power. We need someone to be the voice of the coaches and he can do that well,” he concluded.
