The youth committee of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is set to make public its strategy for a revival of effective developmental strides in the round leather game.
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This was revealed at the weekend by chairman of the committee and NFF board member, Alhaji Ganiyu Majekodunmi, who hinted at a return to ‘the way things used to be done.’
He admitted that Nigeria’s pedigree in youth football across Africa and the world is at its lowest ebb, which has now spurred his committee into the hunt for immediate solutions.
He recalled how a properly outlined and progressive approach of developing young players from secondary schools helped Nigeria emerge as winner of the maiden FIFA U16 World Cup in China.
Nigeria then won silver two years later, when the competition was upgraded to the U17 level in 1987, and the country has clinched the trophy a record five times – 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015.
Sadly, Nigeria failed to qualify for both the Cadet Mundial and U20 World Cup this year, thereby raising grave concern among lovers of youth football and the NFF youth committee’s egg heads are now frantically seeking answers.
Majekodunmi, who is also the chairman of Ogun State Football Association, admitted that the situation has become quite critical, and declared that all hands must be on deck to change the narrative.
He added, “There’s no going back. We must move our youth football forward, and we must return to where we belong.
“Nigeria was the first country to win the under-16 World Cup back then in China, now under-17.
“There is a way we used to do it. We developed our football from the schools. We invited students, and we kept them in camp, playing series of friendlies, even before the qualifiers began. That is what we want to bring back.
“We have put our heads together, and that’s what we now want to do. The changes will soon start reflecting, and everybody will see it.
“We must do it differently, make a change from the way we have been doing it. To make it work, everyone needs to put hands together. We must all work together for us to return there.”
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