In 2018, Aminu Kurfi who was then the Chairman of Katsina United Football Club in the Nigeria Professional Football League, singlehandedly fought against the marauders and rescued Nigeria football from an impending doom.
On the eve of the NFF Election in Katsina, the workaholic Dan Arewa was moving from pillar to posts, ensuring that everything needed to be done, was perfectly done.
As host, Kurfi wanted to make history as the brain behind one of football’s best conducted elective congress ever. but on D-day, the enemies showed up from the blues, with a court order stopping the election.
Unknowingly to them, the congress was better equipped for such eventualities and managed to conduct one of the best NFF Elections ever in the history of Nigeria football.
An election that got the blessings of the Emir of Daura and had the endorsement of the people and government of Katsina State.
That day, will remain indelible in the hearts of true stakeholders of the beautiful game.
Balele as he is fondly called by admirers is a man of truth and Fair play, a promoter of justice and tranquility, a man who stands for fairness at all time. He will go to any length to get the right thing done and done very well.
Four years after that glorious outing in Katsina State, four years after he stood for the right thing to be done, Balele is back, trying to rewrite history.
For him, the struggle this time is not for any form of personal gains but to set the records straight.
Coincidentally, some of those men he frustrated four years ago are now his meanest pals in this new struggle. Their mission, they say is to liberate Nigeria football.
They have been at the sidelines for eight years as a few friends, operating under the umbrella of Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation juggle around with our passion and our joy. They have watched with utmost patience as Nigeria football struggled to live up to expectation and to worsen matters, the nation came to a standstill as Ghana booted our dear Super Eagles out of the 2022 World Cup race.
For these men, that was the highpoint of many years of doom and gloom, many years of frustration and failures and now they say, enough is enough!
Aware that members of the present Executive Committee are hiding under the umbrella of a pending court order, to prolong their stay in office, Alhaji Aminu Kurfi, met with a few friends, to seek a way out of the logjam and after several meetings, they have decided to give the NFF Executive Committee an ultimatum to find a way around the existing court case and set in motion, modalities for fresh NFF Election.
Balele has no secret ambitions, he is on the threshold of history after winning the APC primaries in his constituency and now look set to become a representative of Kuffi South constituency in the Federal House of Representatives.
Even as he looks ahead to this amazing future, he is not ready to allow a few individuals rubbish the name this great country has made in football. That explains his decision to team up with other FA Chairmen in this fresh agitation to drag Nigeria football out of the mud.
At their very first meeting held at the popular Reno Hotel in Abuja, 17 FA chairmen signed an undertaking to stay committed to their vows. That was followed by two other meetings which focused on just one agenda.
They are appealing to the NFF Executive Committee to immediately set in motion, modalities to get the existing court case in a Federal High Court in Bayelsa State, stopping the congress of the NFF from calling an extraordinary meeting that would have announced an electoral committee for the forthcoming NFF Elections and fixed a date for fresh election. All they seek is a way out of the logjam.
Coincidentally, this plea has a federal backing as the Presidency earlier on Monday, directed the NFF to immediately put in place an electoral committee and set in motion modalities for fresh NFF elections on September 30, 2022.
The Balele Clamour is now yielding fruits and in a matter of days, the dust hovering around Nigeria football will get clearer and the picture of what tomorrow will look like will be unveiled. All thanks to Alhaji Aminu Kurfi (Balele).
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