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The President of the Nigeria Football Federation Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick has pledged that the Federation will continue to support the Nigeria Pitch Awards. Mr Amaju who was addressing guests at the 5th Award Ceremony of the Nigeria Pitch Awards at the Le Meridien Ogeyi Place, Port Harcourt on 28 May said the nation’s football body was very proud of the works and contributions of the organizers of the awards.
‘We are very proud of you even if we don’t tell you; we are indeed very proud of you. Organizing an award is not an easy job … we will not only associate with you, we will also do one or two things for you.’
The NFF President was voted the winner of the highly competitive Sam Okwaraji Awards for Commitment to Nigerian Football. Pinnick starved off competition from Shehu Dikko and Ifeanyi Ubah to emerge this year’s winner for the second time in three years. As he mounted the stage to receive his award, he called on the Second Vice President of the NFF, Shehu Dikko and Aisha Falode the chairperson of the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) to join him on stage. In his acceptance speech, Pinnick praised the organizers for their steadfastness and consistency noting that the awards have gone on for some time.
‘The awards have been running for the past few years and they (organizers) have been very consistent’, he said.
Also speaking on the revenue and sponsorship drive of the Federation, the Pinnick said the football body lost all its sponsors when he first came into office three years ago but through hard work and ingenuity, his team have been able to achieve about 70 per cent self- funding.
‘When we came in three years ago, we lost all our sponsors, Adidas, Glo, Peak Milk, Tom Tom etc. Today, we make ten times of what we used to have.’
The Award Ceremony attracted Chief Coach Gernot Rohr and his backroom staff. Some members of the Super Eagles team: William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Wilfred Ndidi were also present.
The Nigeria Pitch Awards is organized annually by Matchmakers Consult International to reward excellence, talent and industry among football players and officials.
