Ganduje Sacks Kano Pillars FC Board

By Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has dissolved the board of Kano Pillars Football Club, headed by Kabir Baita, describing it as a terrible disappointment.
The four-time Nigeria champions Kano Pillars finished a disappointing seventh this past season despite huge financial support from the government.

The governor has directed the Chairman of the State Sports Commission, Ibrahim Galadima, to draft a proposal on a new proactive board that would work towards restoring the glory of the club.

Ganduje gave the directive yesterday when he received players of Kano Pillars Basketball team who visited him in his office. He recalled that when he was deputy governor, he was overseeing the affairs of the club which made the Mai Masugida to become one of the best clubs in the continent.

“I made sure they got what they wanted and I even went to the extent of investing my personal resources in the club to ensure that they succeeded. Now that I am the governor, the most shameful thing is that despite putting somebody whom I know has the capacity to succeed to head the board, Kano Pillars is in disarray and has failed horribly,” the governor lamented.

Ganduje who is pained by the dwindling fortunes of Kano Pillars said: “I advised them on the strategy to adopt to remain on top of the league and I told them we (government) was ready to follow their plans. Unfortunately, the issue of money became more important to them than performance. They pursued personal and monetary interests and could not maintain their position on the NPFL.”

The governor however assured fans of the club that he was going to put in place a new board for the team for Pillars to regain its pride of place amongst NPFL clubs in the country.

Turning to Kano Pillars Basketball Club, the governor, who recalled his exploits as a first team player during his secondary school days promised to support the team to retain its position as the best team in West Africa with quality preparation for the sub-regional basketball championship coming up in the next few days.

On his part, Galadima assured the governor that the players would use the power of sports to project the image of Kano and the state government.

“We are now number one in basketball, number one in taekwondo and number three in handball. Very soon, we shall dominate all sports in appreciation of your remarkable interest in the development of the sector,” Galadima who is a former chairman of the then Nigeria Football Association (NFA) concluded.

Before the announcement yesterday, there were reports of infighting on the management of Pillars with some members of the board up in arms with Baita whom was alleged to be running a one-man show.

The sack of the management means the hiring of a new coach will now have to be delayed as well.