Pinnick reiterated the position of the NFF on Tuesday via Twitter and the federation’s website as he defended some decisions of the FA that had taken public scrutiny.
He said, “We have no regrets appointing Sunday Oliseh. Other African countries were gunning for him, but he opted for his country. Oliseh’s stock in international football is high because apart from his work with FIFA, he has a company that trains and grades coaches all over the world.
What the NFF, Oliseh, the League Management Company and other aspects of Nigerian football need is support from everyone, and patience, so that we can put in place our developmental programmes that will take the country’s game to a new height.”
Former Eagles coach Stephen Keshi had said many times that he was wanted by many African countries.
In response to the regular criticisms of Oliseh due to his lack of experience, Pinnick responded that his national team playing career, which saw him winning the Africa Cup of Nations’ gold, silver and bronze, Olympic gold and working with the FIFA Technical Study Group, would take care of that area.
“Experience is accumulation of knowledge over time to be used in a given situation. Technology provides immediate solution.
“Oliseh won’t be only a coach; he will be manager of the Super Eagles.”
The NFF president added that Nigeria had the quality, population, and the wherewithal to be a strong voice internationally.
Pinnick then urged critics of Nigerian football to be constructive and not destructive, and to cultivate the habit of proffering alternative solutions whenever they feel that the federation’s decisions were not good enough.
“Instead of simply castigating those at the helm of affairs, we should have tendency to offer what we believe are better solutions for specific issues. It is not about one person; it is about our dear country, Nigeria.
“When I and other persons at the helm of Nigerian football travel out of the country, we go out there to project the Nigerian game, to seek for partners for Nigerian football so that we can actualise our developmental plans.”
The NFF boss expressed delight at the impact of the federation’s capacity-building programmes, which has seen referees and coaches going to the United Kingdom for training.
“We can all see the impact of the new orientation in our referees who handle league matches, and everyone is now talking about the league again. We will soon begin to see the impact of the coaches’ training in match analysis, and we also have plans to send some administrators for similar programmes.”
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