𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐃: 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐅𝐅, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 — 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 𝐎𝐅 𝟐

𝐁𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐎𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐮

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

In Part One of this broader series, I worked directly from the 𝐍𝐅𝐅’𝐬 existing management model — the structure through which the federation currently operates, inherited from the outgoing administration of 𝐈𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐆𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐮 and 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐢 — to show how budgeting, delegation, professional support and management tools such as 𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈 and 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐃 can function within that system.

Part Two continues from that same real-world model.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐅𝐅 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲.

A newly elected president would not walk into an empty office. The NFF does not disappear when a president leaves. Department leaders and professional staff remain in place across Finance, Competitions, Technical matters, Legal Services, Media, Protocol and other areas, continuing the federation’s day-to-day work.

Finance still functions. Competitions still functions. Technical, Legal, Media, Protocol and the other departments continue doing their jobs.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞.

The president works through those professionals, receives briefings, asks questions, sets direction, delegates responsibility, monitors performance and holds people accountable.

Like any executive entering an established organization, he must learn the institution.

That does not mean learning how to lead.

It means learning the organization he has been entrusted to lead.

I understand why, from a distance, some people may think former Nigerian players cannot successfully run the NFF as president. Management can sound complicated when expressed in technical language.

But the principle is straightforward:

𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫.

𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞.

𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩.

Management is not easy. It requires education, discipline, judgment, emotional control and the ability to manage pressure.

But when the right people are already in place, leadership becomes clearer: lead by example, respect professional boundaries, treat employees properly and hold everyone — including leadership — accountable.

𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐎𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐮
FIFA Legend | CAF Silver Medalist | Former Nigerian Super Eagles & Flying Eagles International | Former Olympic Qualifying Team Member | Football Historian | Football Analyst | Investigative Football Writer | Journalist-at-Large | Founder & CEO, Greater Tomorrow Children’s Fund (GTCF)