BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria football governing body, the NFF is 91 years today and just nine years to clock a century. Unfortunately, the body does not believe in its age, but hold on to a faulty belief that it is 79 years old, but with no actual birthday.
Founded 1945 is gleefully displayed on the crest of the NFF. Yet, it is not possible to pin point which date in 1945 the body was founded in 1945. Sports Village Square’s research unveils documented as well as verifiable evidences that what is today’s NFF was founded in Lagos as NFA on 21 August 1933.
No official of the NFF has come forward to defend their claim of the body being ‘founded in 1945’.
Their assumption emanates from the fact that the national cup competition, now called President Federation Cup, began in 1945 as ‘Governor’s Cup’.
This itself is a distortion of historical fact on Nigerian football as the first three editions of the competition was not even organised by the then NFA but by the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is now Lagos Football Association.
Verified archival materials have confirmed that the Nigerian football governing body was founded on Monday 21 August 1933 at house number 42, Broad Street Lagos. The building still exist, even with the same address.
Also, all the facts on the actual foundation date of the football governing body still exist and verifiable at the Nigeria National Archives at the University of Ibadan and also at The FA offices in London.
Despite overwhelming and documented evidences, it has been very hard, if not impossible, to get official recognition for the foundation date of the NFF.
The foundation meeting was held that day at the 42 Broad Street, in Lagos. The building which still exists today was then known as Health Office.
The founding officials were: Henry A. Porter as President while three Vice Presidents were appointed.
They were: Frederick Baron Mulford, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Dr. Isaac Oluwole. The Secretary/Treasurer was James Mead who worked at UAC in Lagos.
The report of the foundation was published in the 25 August 1933 edition of the Daily Times.
Their first Annual General Meeting, as reported by the Daily Times of February 22 1934, took place in Lagos on Monday 19 February 1934.
The meeting decided to seek affiliation with The FA in England. A check by the Sports Village Square at the offices of The FA in London was very revealing. The minutes of meeting of The FA on 4 June 1934 shows under item 10 that: “The Nigeria Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of the Rules of Association.”
The affiliation was also reported in the Nigerian Daily Times edition of 14 September 1934. Reputable FA in England could not have registered a non-existing body.
The various regimes of the NFA/NFF since 2003 have found it difficult to accept and effect the actual foundation date of the body. They are more concerned about a perceived global backlash they could receive for just realising the actual birth date of the Nigerian football governing body.
Regarding the assumption that the national competition started in 1945 and linking that to the foundation of the football governing body is an assumption based on fallacy.
Documented evidences discovered by Sports Village Square point to the fact that the Governor’s Cup was not a product of the then NFA but that of the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is today known as the Lagos FA, the oldest football association in Nigeria having been established in 1932 by Henry A. Potter, the same man who founded the NFA the following year.
One day, it shall come to pass when the true foundation date will be acknowledged.
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