Nigeria's failure to make it beyond the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World cup was a rude shock to millions of football fans who trusted in the ability of the team to deliver from a group that had two time champions, Argentina, emerging European superpowers Croatia and giant killers, Iceland.
Despite beating Iceland to bury the disappointment of losing to Croatia, the Super Eagles still needed a point off Argentina to stay in contention for one of two tickets in group D, but they failed to hold on till the end, as the South Americans, complete with the mercurial Lionel Messi, stole victory and left a nation in tears.
The shock of that painful defeat has thrown the NFF and and all key stakeholders into mourning and has left the players and technical crew totally devastated, knowing the hard work, dedication, passion and finance invested into this project.
Unfortunately, the journey ended too soon than planned and the board members will now have to gather the pieces of their broken hearts and return, to plan ahead of a better tomorrow.
While sane minds are putting heads together, thinking of how to come out of the woods, a former NFA general secretary who was sponsored and fully catered for by the Amaju Pinnick led board during his brief sojourn in Russia has returned too soon, to spread tales of woes all in a bid to create tension and cause unnecessary confusion.
For those who really don't know him, Fanny Amun was head coach of the Japan 93 Golden Eaglets team but a few years after that exploit, he has dropped drastically from the enviable height of a respected football coach to a bag carrying messenger of a billionaire business man and proprietor of a top NPFL clubside, based in Anambra state.
Just recently, he was ridiculed, disgraced and sent away from his food bank after he was allegedly accused of fraud.
Despite his obvious inadequacies, he was included in the NFF delegation to Russia but returned too early to spread rumours just to cause confusion and commotion.
Perhaps we forget too early as a people that the same man failed woefully as National team coach of the Under 20 team, in 1995.
A very poor Flying Eagles team was sent packing in the quarter final stage by Mali at Nigeria 99 and the man, Fanny has lived with the dirty tag of WOBBLING AND FUMBLING coach ever since that shameful performance that is better forgotten.
Fanny Amun was also Assistant coach to Adegboye Onigbinde in 2002, when the Super Eagles failed to qualify from the group stage and didn’t even win a single match
Apart from the U17 World Cup he won in 1993, what else has Fanny Amun achieved as a coach or administrator? Why has he refused to coach a local club side to show the world that his little achievements at the National level was no fluke?
He was once the NFF Technical director, NFF General Secretary, Assistant Director in the Sports ministry and lots more but in all of these, he has nothing to show as credential.
Perhaps, if he has done his job well our football and sports won’t be grappling with the problems the current board is trying to solve, therefore, he has no moral right to condemn anyone in authority now as he had his chance to right the wrongs but failed woefully.
Backed by his coup plotter friend, he ventured into football politics a few years later and soon became the general secretary of the then NFA under Kano state born, NFA president, Ibrahim Galadima.
Nigerians can still remember the role he played as general secretary in taking that all important penultimate World cup qualifier with Angola to Kano and how we failed to beat Angola on home soil, putting an end to our World cup dreams.
When the former sports minister, Samaila Sambawa championed the campaign to remove Galadima from office, Fanny was seen at the forefront of the palace coup that saw to the exit of Galadima, a man who vested so much trust and love in him. It tells you how petty this man can be on his day.
From 1994 till date, 2006 was the only year, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have failed to pick a world cup ticket, no thanks to the administrative ineptitude of this Edo state born football administrator.
Now, how do you place side by side, the story of a man who could not secure Nigeria a world cup ticket on home soil in 2006 and that of a board who did so with one match to spare in the qualifiers, gave the players and coaches all their outstanding allowances and bonuses, gave the team a five star treatment in the buildup to the world cup, equipped them with quality friendly games and got Nike to brand our ambassadors with an attire adjudged by many as the best National team kit on display in Russia.
To imagine that a learned Nigerian complete with his thinking faculty can condescend so low to embark on a campaign of calumny against people who took very good care of him in the last two weeks, when it was obvious he could not pay his way to Russia for the World cup, leaves many baffled and amazed.
Rumours also have it that ambassador Amun had only recently put in an application, to be general secretary of the Chris Giwa led NFF board (in dreamland) and that perhaps explains this latest campaign aimed at tarnishing rich reputations and spreading false rumours.
Nigerians have not forgotten how he vehemently kicked against Amaju Pinnick's CAF ambition but turned around in shame to accept and celebrate him after victory was achieved in Addis Ababa..
In setting the records straight, Fanny said the reason why Nigeria failed to make the round of 16 at the World cup was because the team was distracted by NFF election politics. That is the height of fallacy as the Super Eagles camp is hundred of miles away from where the NFF delegates were lodged and there was no way they would have been distracted by any form of election campaigns if really there was anything of such in Russia.
Apart from this, NFF 2nd Vice president and LMC chairman, Shehu Dikko was with the team from start to finish, while the NFF president Amaju Pinnick was always available on the eve of every match to provide some pep talk to the team.
NFF technical committee chairman, Ahmed Yusuf Fresh was always in constant touch with the team and the line of communication was not at anytime broken.
There is no denying the fact that one or two persons with ambition, went about their campaigns in the quiet of the night, but that did not in anyway distract the team's performance or led to Nigeria's failure to advance beyond the group stage.
Apart from the unfortunate loss to Argentina which effectively curtailed the Super Eagles progress at the global football fiesta, the story of Nigeria's overall participation will go down in history as one of the best planned, best organised and well rehearsed outing.
2022 in Qatar, will provide this board and players, adequate opportunity to better their Russian experience.
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