by Adedeji Adegbenro

The 1999 final of Nigeria’s premier Cup competition was contested by Plateau United and Iwuanyawu Nationale (now Heartland FC), it was a colourful event with electric atmosphere befitting a Cup final. During the razzmatazz of the evening, a helicopter landed within the Stadium to deliver the FA cup trophy sending the crowd into a rapturous frenzy.

Fast forward to 2014, the final will be contested by Enyimba FC and Dolphins FC and that is where the comparison ends, the date of the final remains unknown as the NFF cancelled the initial 16th August date and are yet to fix a new date, and for the sixth consecutive year, there is no title sponsor for the Cup final and no prize money for winner.

The competition which started as Governor’s Cup in 1945 has undergone a lot metamorphosis in its 69 year history. Sadly, the glitz and glamour that accompanied the competition is long gone and why the NFF has continued to neglect its flagship competition is puzzling.

The inability of the NFF’s marketing department to secure a title sponsor for the Federation cup is an indictment on them. In context, the national federation cup is less lucrative than the Delta State Federation Cup which is sponsored by Ecobank, the final is live on TV and the winning team gets one million naira.

The only consolation for participating teams in the Federation Cup is that the winner gets to represent Nigeria in the CAF Confederations Cup.

Aside the lack of title sponsor and prize money, the competition itself has lost its glamour, Dolphins’ Coach , Stanley Eguma in a recent interview complained about the lacklustre nature of the competition in recent years.

“There needs to be an improvement because the glamour is no longer there.

“We knew how it was in the past with a lot of excitement and fun and it is no longer there now so something has to be done,” Eguma said.

With the NFF elections scheduled to hold next week, one can only hope the incoming board will improve on the organization of the competition; create more awareness, bring back the glitz and glamour of yesteryears, and most importantly, get a title sponsor and re-introduce prize money.

The Nigeria FA Cup has the potential to be the biggest cup competition on the Continent or at least in the West African sub region and anything short of that would be an epic fail.