It is no more hidden that there is a serious crisis that is brewing between the chairman and management committee of Kano Pillars Football Club which if not handled with care, will hamper and jeopardize the club’s plans to daze and perform well in the forthcoming Nigeria Premier Football League.
It is really sad and unfortunate that the calamity is coming at this time which to my understanding is coming at the wrong time because the new football season (even though has been shifted to an undisclosed time) is only few days away and unless the authorities concern and well-meaning people in the sector acted fast and do something needful to douse the burning fire within the team, Kano Pillars FC is finished.
The crisis was said to be brewed immediately after the Kano Pillars Management Committee was inaugurated by Dr. Baffa Bichi, the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), some months ago where the chairman Alhaji Babangida Little began to act like a Sole Administrator, by doing things alone without the consent or approval of the committee, an action which did not go down well with some of the committee members.
The chairman was accused by the committee for not listening to them anytime they approached him for any urgent matter that affected the club. In many cases, he was said to be telling the committee that he has no time for them anytime they confronted him with any issue.
It was gathered that every effort made by some of the committee members to make the chairman to see reason and change his leadership style, work in harmony with the committee proved abortive as the chairman was said to be taken decision solely without consulting them which irked them and started looking for the way of crippling his wings and call him to order.
Even the secretary of the management board, according to my findings, was said to be sidelined by the chairman, another dangerous act which added salt to the wound.
The committee was shocked and sad at the way and manner the chairman was announcing various appointments without their knowledge, consultations and inputs.
It was these and many other pressing issues that forced the committee members to unite and organized an urgent board meeting last Sunday at the Conference Hall of the Kano State Sports Commission.
It was gathered that all of the committee members according to my findings except the chairman and one other were in attendance and they deliberated on various matters of utmost importance at the meeting.
It was revealed that during the meeting the secretary of the club brought out some draft working documents for the smooth running of the team and distributed them to every member present.
They were said to be happy and quickly adopted all the resolutions contained in the draft and ordered for its distribution to the press and the general public without delay.
That same Sunday evening, a member of the management committee who is also the chairman of the Media and Marketing Sub-Committee of the club, Alhaji Naziru Wapa aka Naziru Pillars confirmed all the news about the rift between the chairman, Alhaji Babangida Little and the committee members in a live Radio Nasara Evening Sports Program “Taskar Labarai”.
It was during that interview we were told that the chairman did not accord any respect to the committee and that was why he used to behave like a SOLAD forgetting that they were appointed together by the government to manage the team together.
Alhaji Naziru confirmed that all the borrowed money for the team upkeeps and trips were spent by the chairman without retiring anything or any word to the committee on how the money was spent or how the trip was made.
Alhaji Naziru further stated that the chairman has made so many appointments for Junior Kano Pillars, Kano Pillars Under 15 and Kano Pillars Under-13 without the input of the committee which was unaccepted to the committee members.
He then disclosed that they are not and will not support all appointments made by the chairman solely without their inputs as demanded by the law and that is why they are all going to be reviewed.
Alhaji Naziru then begged for supporters and other stakeholders understanding for support and assured them things will be reverted God willing to its normal condition.
Honestly, it is really sad hearing all the negative and unpardonable actions of the chairman of Kano Pillars FC, Alhaji Babagida Little towards his committee members. And I don’t know why he decided to act that way.
And I am of the view that the government needs to act quickly and call the chairman to order before he wreaks havoc to the team and its dream of winning the league or getting a CAF Cup tickets.at the end of the season.
I want to appeal to the government once more to put a sort of a retreat(s) for its new appointees so that they can know their limits and how to manage any place they found themselves.
In doing so, they should be told to work in accordance with the ethics, rules and regulation of the MDAs they are assigned to work.
I am sure if such are organized for the newly appointees, this kind of embarrassment will be avoided as both will be familiar with the tasks before them.
I am happy the Kano Pillars FC management committee secretary used his wealth of experience and knowledge in solving the problem that lack of proper awareness from the side of the chairman put into the team.
I am also happy hearing from the same Naziru Wapa on Wednesday night during an interview in the Nasara Radio live Sports programme (Taskar Labarai) that the chairman has seen reason and appeared before the committee and begged for forgiveness and understanding of the committee last Tuesday and promised not to act outside the confined of the laws anymore.
Therefore, with this development I remembered telling and warning Babangida Little in one of my previous write-ups that the management committee he is heading is a committee full of people with wisdom, integrity, interest in sports, interest in Kano Pillars and knowledge in sports and its politics in the country. As the chairman all he needs is to coordinate and work with them.
I also remembered telling him to be honest and transparent to the committee members and carry all of them along.
The vast experiences of people like Naziru Aminu Abubakar Wapa, a staunch supporter of the club, Ali Nayara Mai Samba, a big time supporter of Kwankwasiyya, Sabo Chokalinka, former scribe of the team and others together with the secretary of the board, Coach Sani if harnessed together will bring more positive results to the team.
I urged him to listen to them and never see himself as a boss or on a mission to get rich but as a leader so that Kano Pillars FC will triumph and secure a continental ticket at the end of the season.
I also asked Little not to see himself as superior to the rest of the members but see them as colleagues working to move Kano Pillars to a victorious season while the members too must cooperate with the chairman and work hard and take Pillars to promising land.
He should rather work with the new committee to identify and block all the leakages of Kano Pillars finances so as to reduce its over-dependence on the government.
They should find out about an estate belonging to Kano Pillars which was named after Col. Dominic Oneya situated opposite Kano Pillars Stadium, the committee must find out where the money for the rent of that estate is going.
Kano Pillars can get a lot of money through the sales and buying of players, the committee must be vigilant because that is another place the team is losing a lot of money. It is another way used to defraud and mismanage the club’s finances.
On getting players on loan, the management committee must stop getting players on loan from academies or other teams with immediate effect because I see it as another good way of defrauding the team of a lot of money because it is the academies or teams that benefited most leaving Kano Pillars with nothing.
But I don’t see any problem with the sale of players locally or internationally, only that there must be transparency in doing it so that the money realized either Naira or Dollars must be accrued to government coppers, the sole owner and financier of the team.
The era of selling Kano Pillars player(s) and pocketing the money must be stopped. The committee must do something to reduce the team’s overdependence on the government for money.
And now that sanity is restored back, the committee must unite and go to the government for funds to pay back all the debts they incurred during their trips and other logistics.
They should also source money to buy all the necessary kits and other things needed by the club.