At Nigeria Pitch Awards, Our Watchwords Are Integrity and Transparency, Says Shina Phillip

OLATUNBOSUN BABAJIDE JOSEPH

 Shina Phillips, President of Nigeria Pitch Awards

 

President of Nigeria Pitch Awards, Mr. Shina Phillips has declared that the football awards platform has been able to stand out among others because since inception, it has not derailed from its two cardinal pillars, integrity and transparency.

Phillips said in an interview with a United Kingdom-based News Website, www.alternativeafrica.com that the Nigeria Pitch Awards has never deviated from its tradition, character and philosophy of its existence.

The first edition of the Nigeria Pitch Awards was held in Calabar, Cross River State and the 6^th edition was staged in Asaba, Delta State on 8 June, 2019.

“The two characters of Nigeria Pitch Awards are credibility and transparency. These we have sustained and maintained since the first edition. Nigeria Pitch Awards is not an award ceremony where the panel of two to five people will decide who win the awards, Can a panel of this nature know the performance of Nigerian players around the world? The answer is no. We put in place painstaking process. The ingenuity and methodology of Nigeria Pitch Awards make it stands out from others,” he said in the interview.

Phillips noted that because of what Nigeria Pitch Awards stands for, it has gained recognition across the world, adding: “Nigeria Pitch Awards has been rated one of the ten best awards in Nigeria on Google Search and it has also been quoted on world online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia.com. The Nigeria Pitch Awards is arguably the only audited awards in Nigeria. From the first edition to the 6^th edition, we have the records of the voters and how they voted. These can be checked and are there for verification. We started with a British accounting firm and now with the SIAO Partners, a wholly owned Nigerian accounting firm, which has been in charge of independently collation of votes,” Phillips said.

According to Phillips who was once a footballer and a former Nollywood actor, though there  have been some challenges, the organisers and partners in the organisation of the awards have never been influenced or assisted financially by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“I showed the NFF the blueprint and I made it clear to the NFF that the body won’t have inputs in the organisation of the awards. These are inputs relating to the choice of voters, the choice of who wins and never to influence the voters. The only role the NFF played was the endorsement and I also told the NFF that they can only recommend for recognition any outstanding official.

“I am happy to say that the NFF has not in any way influence us in the organisation of Nigeria Pitch Awards since inception. I have also received no financial assistance to package the awards since the first edition. The Nigeria Pitch Awards is independent of the NFF. I thank the NFF for their understanding since inception,” Phillips told Alternative Africa.

The FIFA licenced football agent revealed that his company, Matchmakers Consult International only midwives the process that leads to the emergence of the winners in all categories of the awards, but not have any influence on who wins. He said that the Media (men and women), who are the voters and the SIAO Partners, the auditing firms, are majorly responsible for how winners emerged since inception.

“The college of voters consists of reputable names, seasoned journalists and editors who are not willing to compromise and our auditing firm that will do the right thing and ready to take responsibility should there be any error in any of the categories,” he said.