Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC) chairman Ambassador Samuel Ikpea has thrown his full weight behind the move by the chieftains of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to bring all the various factions of Supporters Club under one umbrella in the country.
Few weeks ago, NSC’s chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko and director-general, Hon. Bukola Olopade reiterated the need for the Supporters Club to be unified and be on the same page for the interest of the nation.
Hon. Olopade emphasized the importance of uniting all factions of the Nigeria Supporters Club under one umbrella for greater impact when hosting the leadership of the Authentic Nigeria Football and Allied Sports Supporters Club, led by its President, Abayomi Ogunjimi in his office in Abuja.
“This is why I am urging all the various Supporters Groups to come together in one voice, so that you can all be on the same page, singing the same song at the stadium. I also want to see the Supporters Club extend its support not only to football but to all sports, as other disciplines besides football also deserve such backing,” he added.
Reacting to the development, Ikpea told Blueprint Sport that “it’s a welcome development. We should put Nigeria first in all the thing we’re doing. This is paramount. We should shelve all personal interest for the sake of the nation. We cannot be working at cross-purposes”
NFSC boss insisted that the for the country to continue winning in football, we need strong Supporters Club. We know the song to sing when things are tough. We know what to sing when starting a match or in any particular situation. We are the 12th players on the field of play whenever the Super Eagles sees us they are always motivated to win.
“They should do the unification with genuine interest not to please any particular group at the detriment of others. Fairness and equity should be their watchword that’s how we can have genuine reconciliation and unity.
Blueprint can report that the fractionalization of the Supporters’ Club started after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with the nation’s top brass already brainstorming on how to bring the splinters group under one umbrella as early as possible.
