Any person or group that has a direct financial commitment, influence, or vested interest in sports, a team, an organization, or an event qualifies as a true sports stakeholder.
It is clear from the foregoing that an individual must have an entrusted interest, contribute significantly, or participate actively in a certain sports activity in order to be considered a stakeholder.
Hence, true stakeholders in sports are athletes, coaches and team management, fans and spectators, investors and team owners, sponsors and marketers, sports journalists, facility owners and operators, and sports agents, among others.
Unfortunately, a large number of people in Nigeria who do not fit within the aforementioned recognized groupings portray themselves as legitimate sports stakeholders and even go so far as to hold senior managerial roles in our sports administration.
They have, regrettably, taken over the system and excluded people who are real stakeholders and who genuinely care about the advancement of our individual games.
That is why sports development in the nation is still hampered by this exclusion of true stakeholders.
For instance, in football, the people who have taken over the Nigeria Football Federation are not true stakeholders because, in my view, they are gate crashers, trespassers, infiltrators, and invaders whose main objective is to further their own self-serving agendas rather than to actually improve the game of football in the nation.
As an illustration, consider the NFF. Neither the president nor any of the executive members of the committee are club owners, nor are they acknowledged as members of the actual stakeholder groups that comprise the federation.
I am unable to determine the constituency they purport to represent, as they are not, in any way, athletes, coaches, team managers, investors, sponsors, advertisers, sports journalists, facility operators, or agents.
However, they are in charge of our football matters, which explains why our leagues suffer unending setbacks and our teams struggle every time we play other African nations in a competition.
They are only interested in how they may profit from the system by making pointless trips, not in how they can actually advance it.
Their continual prudence and distrust of others stems from their shared motivation in seeking personal gains within the organizations.
This is also the reason that, in spite of several requests for reform from all angles, they have continuously refused to increase the number of members in the NFF electoral congress beyond the current 44 to a more manageable number that would actually represent all interests and stakeholders in the nation.
Because of the egotism and haughtiness of self-imposed administrators, sports journalists are still marginalized, treated disrespectfully, and denied the chance to fulfill their legitimate role in promoting our sports, despite their significant numbers and priceless contributions to the nation’s sports development.
This is unfortunate since, like other sports federations around the nation, sports journalists are not represented or included in the federation’s elective congress.
Sports writers have been purposefully marginalized by the evildoers, depriving them of any voice or influence in the very industry they are passionate about and dedicate their lives to every day.
These acts of evil and horrors are seen by many right-thinking people as nothing less than ridiculous and irrational.
That is why they have no respect or regard as we see them as overbearing leaders more obsessed with power than with meaningful action.
I recall that the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) had a broad governance structure in 2006, with sports journalists adequately represented among its twenty-two (22) board members.
The composition then included twelve (12) elected representatives—six (6) each from the Professional and Amateur Clubs—and one (1) representative each from the Nigeria National League (NNL), the Women’s League, the Referees Association and the Coaches Association
Others were the Players’ Union, the Military and Paramilitary, Sponsors, the Federal Ministry of Sports and Social Development (FMSSD), the Nigeria Association for Physical and Health Education, Recreation, Sports and Dance (NAPHER-SD), and the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) were adequately represented.
The NFA Elective Congress at that time comprised seventy-four (74) State and Federal Capital Territory Football Association (FA) Chairmen and Secretaries, twenty (20) Professional Club Chairmen, and one (1) representative each from the NNL, NWLO, Women’s League, Referees, Coaches, Military and Paramilitary, NAPHER-SD, and SWAN.
Another set of reforms in 2010 which resulted in the creation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had an eleven-member Executive Board as part of its new administrative structure which excluded SWAN.
The composition then included six (6) representatives from the six geopolitical zones and one (1) representative each from the Professional Football Clubs, the Nigeria National League (NNL), the Nigeria Women’s League (NWLO), the Women’s Football Leagues, and the Chairmen of State Football Associations, often referred to as the “Chairman of Chairmen.”
Under that new arrangement, the Congress had forty-four (44) members, comprising thirty-seven (37) State and FCT FA Chairmen and one (1) representative from each of the following groups: Coaches, Players’ Union, Professional Clubs, NNL, NWLO, Women’s League, and Referees. This structure led to the exclusion of sports journalists from the system. And why the reason SWAN remain silent at that time was what I don’t know.
Similarly, in other sports too, there are these type of madness and injustice where the National Sports Commission (NSC) structured most of the Sports Federations without sports journalists’ representation.
As of the last election held in 2021, the board membership of most federations were increased from thirteen (13) to fourteen (14).
The composition then and presently consists of six (6) representatives from the six geopolitical zones, and one (1) representative each from the Military and Paramilitary, NAPHER-SD, the Nigeria Association for Women in Sports (NAWIS), Sponsors, Players’ Representatives, Technical Representatives, and the International Representative.
Disappointingly, the Agricultural and Allied Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), which has nothing to do with sports, was recently admitted in some federations while SWAN was still excluded and ignored. Which is unacceptable.
The government’s commitment to professionalism, inclusivity, and wide stakeholder participation in the governance and administration of sports development nationwide is being undermined by the expansion without SWAN, which is incorrect and absurd in my opinion because it has excluded one of the most significant stakeholders.
But I am truly pleased that the leadership of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has finally awakened from its slumber by issuing a nationwide directive, instructing its members to withdraw from all activities of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), including the upcoming Annual General Assembly (AGA) in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The directives from the SWAN national body will serve as a clear reminder that sports journalists will no longer tolerate the injustices and disrespect imposed on them by arrogant and unqualified persons who thrive on dishonesty and other unethical practices.
The decision was conveyed in a statement jointly signed by SWAN President, Mr. Isaiah Benjamin, and Secretary-General, Amb. Ikenna Okonkwo, following the deliberate exclusion of sports media representatives from the NFF Congress.
Like me, SWAN characterized its expulsion from Congress and other federations as offensive to the sports media, unacceptable, and backward.
The association further criticized the NFF for refusing to reintegrate the media into its statutory structure, despite repeated appeals for inclusiveness.
“The media is a critical tripod in the growth of sports globally. SWAN, as the professional body coordinating sports media in Nigeria, has consistently engaged the NFF leadership on the need to restore our rightful place within its Congress.
“Unfortunately, while claiming to expand its Congress, the Federation has chosen to sideline us, a move that is both short-sighted and detrimental to Nigerian football,” the statement read.
SWAN further accused the NFF of employing “divisive and destructive approaches” in its management practices and said the leadership has remained unyielding to efforts aimed at promoting collaboration and transparency.
Citing the sustained decline in Nigerian football performance, despite significant government and private-sector investment—the association attributed the downturn to administrative inefficiencies within the Federation.
“The continued decline of Nigerian football is a direct result of maladministration. It is time to put a decisive end to this dangerous trend. Nigeria cannot afford to watch its most cherished sport deteriorate under avoidable circumstances,” SWAN stated.
I hope their members will follow SWAN’s boycott direction, which includes the creation of a task group to oversee adherence and execute the ruling in every state.
The association also pledged to initiate investigative reporting to expose what it described as the “maladministration and backward practices” within the NFF, which it blames for recent failures, including Nigeria’s back-to-back misses in FIFA World Cup qualification.
Since the NFF and other federations have been permitted to participate in dubious tactics that continue to hurt our sports, I must admit that I am happy to see that SWAN is finally rising up from its long slumber.
There was no media representation within the NFF or any of the other federations that recently had elections.
They saw no reason to include sports journalists in their fold, even though they readily accommodated others who, in my view, are far less relevant to sports development.
SWAN was completely left out of the fourteen-member structure in all the federations, which was drawn from the six geopolitical zones, the army/paramilitary, athletes, referees/coaches, NIPHARD-SD, sponsors, and others.
This is simply unacceptable because those who were given preference are not greater stakeholders than sports journalists.
In fact, sports journalists remain the most true and qualified stakeholder among all those who received undue consideration in the process.
I’m also happy that SWAN has now acknowledged the significance of being in Congress, and I hope that we all keep pushing for changes to the NFF statutes that give State Football Association chairmen an unfair advantage over other interested parties.
The way the chairmen dominate and overpopulate the NFF Elective Congress is unacceptable and should be reviewed to ensure equal opportunity and broader representation of all stakeholders.
The current arrangement only benefits State FA chairmen, as they dominate the federation with 36 out of the 44 members, including Abuja.
Since the majority of SWAN members nationwide, particularly those who are not paid well by their organizations, greatly benefit from the match commissionership they receive from the NFF, I’m not sure whether all of them will pay attention to the SWAN’s directives and follow its instructions.
However, SWAN must ensure that all members comply with the directive, and any member who fails to do so should face appropriate disciplinary action.
