Why it took me five months to go to CAS – Sani Lulu
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- Category: Sports
- Written by Ismaila Lere
- Hits: 617
Since your impeachment some five months ago, you have been so quiet, but just this week, we heard that you have taken the case to the Court of Arbitration on Sports (CAS), what may have informed this?
First and foremost I would want to say that I thank God for the opportunity given to me by Nigeria stakeholders in the game of football to serve them between 2006 and 2010 and I am sure I have done my best within this short period, using the statutes endorsed by government and supported by the relevant stakeholders in the game. It is quite obvious that the procedures for impeachment are very clear, and the procedures for seeking redress are also clear. We all know what transpired immediately we came back from the World Cup and I was impeached without any offence, which was three days after we had held an executive committee meeting where a vote of confidence was passed on me. In a civilized society like Nigeria, there are very clear ways of seeking redress in various issues. That is what we have just done. When this came, it was a shocker to us, we say we are not going to fight anybody, and we had to look at what the statutes says, and it is very clear, and that is to go to our football court, which is CAS, and we have just done exactly that. So we have quietly done that, despite the high level of intimidation, harassment and the corruption charges that have been leveled against us. We now say that the best way to seek redress in a democratize setting is to seek redress through the football court which is CAS. That is exactly what we have just done.Looking at it critically, do you think you have a case in CAS?
I would want to tell you that we are aggrieved, we are disturbed, for we felt that something has not be done correctly because we were in leadership positions and were booted out, we would no doubt have to seek redress. That is what we have done, and those who know what CAS does, they ask questions before they accept your claims, which is just the story. I want to believe that they would do what is absolutely right to all parties involved in this case. We are confident that what happened did not follow due process before we were impeached.
So, if CAS annul the present board and say Lulu and his co-travellers should come back, are you willing to do that?
Well, the issue is not between Sani Lulu and CAS, nor between Sani Lulu and the entire people of this country. Certainly, we are seeking redress over the injustice meted on us and by the special grace of God, the judgment is going to be in our favour, and I know, I love my country, and I came to the position because I have the desire to serve my country in that capacity, but we would not pre-empt the decision of the court, we have to wait till then. Even if Nigerians say they don’t want me, but they must give me my respect for the service I have rendered to this great country, that is all I am out to prove. I can say emphatically, that it is not Nigerians that don’t want me, but few individuals who are using the mercenaries of government to push me out. I think I still deserve my respect for serving this country.
Why did it take you five months to take this decision?
I never went to sleep, I was conscious of the mandate given to me by Nigerians, and I have always done my best to protect the statutes. It is the statutes that I am protecting, and the statutes makes provision for a procedural way to pursue the matter which is exactly what we have just done. What I did when the rumour was on was to write to the ultimate organization of the game, which is FIFA. I did write to them, but it took them three months and we found out that they were not going to respond, and the election was going to hold, then we had to take the case to CAS whose response you have just heard. It is not that we wasted time, but had to wait patiently to serve those in relevant authorities with what we are going through. It is the procedure that led to this terminal stage in CAS.
Many critics still believed that Lulu’s administration did not leave any legacy for football development in the country, do you subscribe to this?
Obviously I am now at the receiving end, and when I was in the office I was also at the receiving end, but I have worked tirelessly to achieve these results, but I know that history would vindicate us. I would not blow my trumpet now. You all remembered I had a mandate, and we came with a programme, and work tirelessly towards achieving that. Very fundamentally we ensured full participations of all our national teams in their various international competitions because we know that was not what was on ground before we came. So our aspirations despite the financial constraints, we said we must vigorously pursue it , and we took part in all FIFA competitions. We now have them at a tender age of 12-14 years. Earlier, we don’t have a structure under the technical crew, as relates to the coaches, and when we came, I said I want to redefine that structure, and I want to tell you that the coaches have been graded with categories as it is done in other places. We now have Grade A-D in our coaches. The idea is to ensure that we identify the best at every point in time that can easily be utilized by the national teams. Instead of going to pick anybody who has godfathers. Another most important aspect which many have been talking about is this age grade tournaments, where we find it difficult to identify the right category of kids, and what we realized this when we came in and decided to go back to the grassroots to get the real talents from primary and junior schools. This has been on ground since 2007, and before I left office, we had a pool of players from U-13 to U-15, and the concept is just to ensure that at every age grade competition, you have a group of players you can utilize. It was not surprising when the U-13 boys went to England recently and overwhelmed others there to win a international invitational tournament.
The climax of your removal from office was as a result the poor performance of the Super Eagles at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. From your point, what do you think was the remote causes of Nigeria’s shambolic performance in the tournament?
In leadership position, you should expect support, you should expect opposition. But I know that over 90 percent Nigerians supported us that we can make it at the World Cup, and that was the assurance I gave to Nigerians. Though there are those who did not rate us high, but I told myself that God can give us strength. While many Nigerians were hopeful, there were few negligible others who were working for our downfall. Some of these people could be in power, and others are outside it. But I want to tell you that I had some constraints, but I refused to be distracted. But along the line these details would come out. Some of these constraints were very obvious. Everybody knew that we left Nigeria immediately Mr. President held a sent forth party for the boys on 20th of May 2010. We went through London to South Africa. While, we were already there, I was been ordered to change the election date which had nothing to do with the World Cup. This letter came on the 3rd of June and was written by the Director General of the NSC, and based on the day this letter came, the NFF statute says no change can be effected without the congress of the federation. The election date was fixed four years ago, the exact date I was sworn into office. Electoral process that had already been endorsed six months earlier and someone somewhere is saying I should change the date because I was to be distracted, but I refused to be distracted. So I responded that the date cannot be changed because we were already at the World Cup and the electoral committee was independent. Yes, in the first match we didn’t do well, but Mr President gave us all the maximum support, saying that we can do better. But someone was there plotting how we would be distracted. Everybody knew what happened in the second match. While we were motivating the boys on the need to win the last match, which could mean a qualification for the second round, the match is to be played on 21st of June, and on the 20th of June the Minister of Sports wrote a letter to FIFA telling them not to have any financial dealings with us. But the message had already gone to the team, and the boys know very well that 25 percent of the FIFA money is due to them at the World Cup. You should know what the reaction would be. Only God knows if that really contributed to the failure we experienced. As at that time, I was recognized by FIFA as the number one football man in the country, and I should be given the maximum environment to deliver that mandate. Why this distractions at that point? Maybe at the appropriate time, you people would go and find out. People are accusing me of been corrupt, you gave money for the World Cup preparation on 1st of June, and on the 20th of June you are already writing to FIFA that I’m corrupt, and all through the four years I have been serving, nobody had ever queried me on corruption. While we were already in the World Cup, someone is saying that I’m corrupt. I cannot accept that. So it was quite obvious that at this period of whole four years that I have served this great country, some people were neck bent on drawing me down.
Articles
Why it took me five months to go to CAS – Sani Lulu
Category: Sports Written by Ismaila Lere Hits: 617
Since your impeachment some five months ago, you have been so quiet, but just this week, we heard that you have taken the case to the Court of Arbitration on Sports (CAS), what may have informed this?
First and foremost I would want to say that I thank God for the opportunity given to me by Nigeria stakeholders in the game of football to serve them between 2006 and 2010 and I am sure I have done my best within this short period, using the statutes endorsed by government and supported by the relevant stakeholders in the game. It is quite obvious that the procedures for impeachment are very clear, and the procedures for seeking redress are also clear. We all know what transpired immediately we came back from the World Cup and I was impeached without any offence, which was three days after we had held an executive committee meeting where a vote of confidence was passed on me. In a civilized society like Nigeria, there are very clear ways of seeking redress in various issues. That is what we have just done. When this came, it was a shocker to us, we say we are not going to fight anybody, and we had to look at what the statutes says, and it is very clear, and that is to go to our football court, which is CAS, and we have just done exactly that. So we have quietly done that, despite the high level of intimidation, harassment and the corruption charges that have been leveled against us. We now say that the best way to seek redress in a democratize setting is to seek redress through the football court which is CAS. That is exactly what we have just done.Looking at it critically, do you think you have a case in CAS?
I would want to tell you that we are aggrieved, we are disturbed, for we felt that something has not be done correctly because we were in leadership positions and were booted out, we would no doubt have to seek redress. That is what we have done, and those who know what CAS does, they ask questions before they accept your claims, which is just the story. I want to believe that they would do what is absolutely right to all parties involved in this case. We are confident that what happened did not follow due process before we were impeached.
So, if CAS annul the present board and say Lulu and his co-travellers should come back, are you willing to do that?
Well, the issue is not between Sani Lulu and CAS, nor between Sani Lulu and the entire people of this country. Certainly, we are seeking redress over the injustice meted on us and by the special grace of God, the judgment is going to be in our favour, and I know, I love my country, and I came to the position because I have the desire to serve my country in that capacity, but we would not pre-empt the decision of the court, we have to wait till then. Even if Nigerians say they don’t want me, but they must give me my respect for the service I have rendered to this great country, that is all I am out to prove. I can say emphatically, that it is not Nigerians that don’t want me, but few individuals who are using the mercenaries of government to push me out. I think I still deserve my respect for serving this country.
Why did it take you five months to take this decision?
I never went to sleep, I was conscious of the mandate given to me by Nigerians, and I have always done my best to protect the statutes. It is the statutes that I am protecting, and the statutes makes provision for a procedural way to pursue the matter which is exactly what we have just done. What I did when the rumour was on was to write to the ultimate organization of the game, which is FIFA. I did write to them, but it took them three months and we found out that they were not going to respond, and the election was going to hold, then we had to take the case to CAS whose response you have just heard. It is not that we wasted time, but had to wait patiently to serve those in relevant authorities with what we are going through. It is the procedure that led to this terminal stage in CAS.
Many critics still believed that Lulu’s administration did not leave any legacy for football development in the country, do you subscribe to this?
Obviously I am now at the receiving end, and when I was in the office I was also at the receiving end, but I have worked tirelessly to achieve these results, but I know that history would vindicate us. I would not blow my trumpet now. You all remembered I had a mandate, and we came with a programme, and work tirelessly towards achieving that. Very fundamentally we ensured full participations of all our national teams in their various international competitions because we know that was not what was on ground before we came. So our aspirations despite the financial constraints, we said we must vigorously pursue it , and we took part in all FIFA competitions. We now have them at a tender age of 12-14 years. Earlier, we don’t have a structure under the technical crew, as relates to the coaches, and when we came, I said I want to redefine that structure, and I want to tell you that the coaches have been graded with categories as it is done in other places. We now have Grade A-D in our coaches. The idea is to ensure that we identify the best at every point in time that can easily be utilized by the national teams. Instead of going to pick anybody who has godfathers. Another most important aspect which many have been talking about is this age grade tournaments, where we find it difficult to identify the right category of kids, and what we realized this when we came in and decided to go back to the grassroots to get the real talents from primary and junior schools. This has been on ground since 2007, and before I left office, we had a pool of players from U-13 to U-15, and the concept is just to ensure that at every age grade competition, you have a group of players you can utilize. It was not surprising when the U-13 boys went to England recently and overwhelmed others there to win a international invitational tournament.
The climax of your removal from office was as a result the poor performance of the Super Eagles at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. From your point, what do you think was the remote causes of Nigeria’s shambolic performance in the tournament?
In leadership position, you should expect support, you should expect opposition. But I know that over 90 percent Nigerians supported us that we can make it at the World Cup, and that was the assurance I gave to Nigerians. Though there are those who did not rate us high, but I told myself that God can give us strength. While many Nigerians were hopeful, there were few negligible others who were working for our downfall. Some of these people could be in power, and others are outside it. But I want to tell you that I had some constraints, but I refused to be distracted. But along the line these details would come out. Some of these constraints were very obvious. Everybody knew that we left Nigeria immediately Mr. President held a sent forth party for the boys on 20th of May 2010. We went through London to South Africa. While, we were already there, I was been ordered to change the election date which had nothing to do with the World Cup. This letter came on the 3rd of June and was written by the Director General of the NSC, and based on the day this letter came, the NFF statute says no change can be effected without the congress of the federation. The election date was fixed four years ago, the exact date I was sworn into office. Electoral process that had already been endorsed six months earlier and someone somewhere is saying I should change the date because I was to be distracted, but I refused to be distracted. So I responded that the date cannot be changed because we were already at the World Cup and the electoral committee was independent. Yes, in the first match we didn’t do well, but Mr President gave us all the maximum support, saying that we can do better. But someone was there plotting how we would be distracted. Everybody knew what happened in the second match. While we were motivating the boys on the need to win the last match, which could mean a qualification for the second round, the match is to be played on 21st of June, and on the 20th of June the Minister of Sports wrote a letter to FIFA telling them not to have any financial dealings with us. But the message had already gone to the team, and the boys know very well that 25 percent of the FIFA money is due to them at the World Cup. You should know what the reaction would be. Only God knows if that really contributed to the failure we experienced. As at that time, I was recognized by FIFA as the number one football man in the country, and I should be given the maximum environment to deliver that mandate. Why this distractions at that point? Maybe at the appropriate time, you people would go and find out. People are accusing me of been corrupt, you gave money for the World Cup preparation on 1st of June, and on the 20th of June you are already writing to FIFA that I’m corrupt, and all through the four years I have been serving, nobody had ever queried me on corruption. While we were already in the World Cup, someone is saying that I’m corrupt. I cannot accept that. So it was quite obvious that at this period of whole four years that I have served this great country, some people were neck bent on drawing me down.