Harrison Jalla is a man who was grossly misunderstood. And that was a tragedy for him and the very laudable plan he had to establish and run an organisation that brought hope and succour to footballers whether they were retired or still playing.
As one who had played the game and studied the system, he knew he could do something to help the country's football in a different capacity other than being a coach, a football agent, pundit or administrator.
Jalla charted his own course and established a players' union to serve as a pressure group and an umbrella body to unify footballers -- retired or still in active service -- to ensure their welfare and general wellbeing.
He had a great vision. This was why explored every opportunity he got to legitimise his pet project, getting it registered and making sure he got it affiliated with FIFpro, the renowned FIFA sanctioned players body worldwide.
Not many people knew that Jalla was the first person to bring FIFpro to Africa or are they aware that Nigeria was the first country to be affiliated with FIFPro.
The overall objective, according to Jalla, was to find a voice for footballers who were sometimes shortchanged on all sides by agents, clubsides, or as alleged in some unproven cases in the national teams.
"The need to set up a structure to cater for the welfare of retired and active footballers inspired the creation of the football players union in the 1980s," Jalla said in a recent interview.
"It was a novel arrangement, something that had never been done anywhere on the African continent. I was convinced that our players could better be taken care of if there was a body that was specifically put in place to ensure their welfare.
"So, we did all we could to register with FIFpro so we could be entitled to some privileges that would better enable us to carry out these noble objectives," he added.
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