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Fire Brigades!
By Toyin | July 4, 2009
The above title aptly captures our administrators approach to doing things. As the noun content of the topic indicates, you don’t see them until there’s fire or a house is burning! While they do their best to prevent total destruction, often times than not, the result of their effort usually leave little of note left.
Most sports fans in Nigeria are used to hearing the statement ‘fire brigade approach’. The incurable penchant of our officials to leave things till the last minute before making any serious move made this cliché a major part of our grammatical compositions and not the least, sporting reality.
On Thursday this week, I heard FIFA president Joseph Blatter said on Brila FM that on a scale of 10, he would score South Africa 7.5 for the job done so far on the hosting of the world football elites come 2010. He went further to say that crossing the 8th point signals full readiness and that he’s so happy that his desire to see the big event take place in Africa has been positively rewarded by the speed of thought and execution of the South Africa 2010 Local Organizing Committee headed by the urbane and highly cerebral Daniel Jordan.
Let us note that what we are talking about here is a massive sporting event that is second to none! A lot of people will disagree with me on this and claim that the Olympics is definitely bigger than the World Cup. However, the former is a multi sports event while the latter is a single sport event. And when one considers the coverage and the interest generated in any World Cup year; then we can understand the place that South Africa 2010 is going to hold in history.
Indeed, the very good verdict given by Blatter to the LOC of SA 2010 should be a jolt to the backs of our own football administrators on knowing how it can and should be done. They are almost there with a whole 12 months to go. What’s more? On the back of just concluding a successful and highly attended Confederations, the LOC is not resting as it identified transportation as a major hiccup and indicated well thought out plans to solve the problem before the main tournament proper.
With just three months to go in hosting the FIFA under 17 competition in Nigeria, only two stadium are ready and meet the basic requirements for such right. The remaining four other facilities are being put in shape for the final inspection of the Jack Warner led group of inspectors. Did I hear you say ‘what a shame’?
It took the Vice President’s intervention for FIFA not to take away the hosting right from Nigeria. We had to give FIFA a national ‘guarantee’ that everything would be ready before October when hostilities begin. And this is a competition we knew we would be hosting two years ago!
Why is it so difficult for us to do simple things that are done with stress less accuracy in other climes? While I have often struggled to find answers to our present situation that’s not limited to sports but pervades the totality of our national life, one thing that’s been consistent is sacrificing merit on the altar of politics, tribalism and nepotism.
While our counterparts in South Africa see the hosting right for the FIFA world cup in their country rightly as a great opportunity for economic and socio political development as well as positive portrayal of the former apartheid enclave to the world, our brothers back home conversely see the Under 17 tournament as a good opportunity to make money, make a fool of the country and generally confirm the notion that’s very pervasive all over the world concerning Nigeria that: We are a bunch of corrupt and unserious people.
And for how long shall we continue to tolerate this unfortunate reality when I know (as ‘am sure most of us do) that we are one of the most gifted country in the world. This is not in terms of mineral resources alone (most of our natural resources seem to bring us pain and sorrow) but in human capital that’s second to none anywhere in the world.
If I don’t know anything at all, I’m at least conversant with the fact that Philip Emeagwali, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Oby Ezekwezili, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Adichie, Akin Kekere Ekun, Charles Soludo, Mike Adenuga, Tayo Aderinokun, Nduka Obaigbena, Jim Ovia, Erastus Akingbola etc are Nigerians. What these people have in common is the spirit of excellence they exhibit in all their endeavours and the high level of success they have recorded.
It’s also a foregone conclusion that there are millions of these people scattered all over the country. They are available, ready and willing to serve their fatherland in all areas of national development but the wicked and heartless ruling cabal that has held this country in a vice like retrogressive grip all over the years won’t let go. The result is what we’ve been seeing in every aspect of our nation.
What does it take to host a successful competition? Simple things like proper planning, commitment, selflessness and accountability would do the trick. But we like to make things difficult and bogus so as to confuse ourselves that whatever it is we are doing will not be easy to achieve. Like a friend always tell me when we engage in our numerous conversations on Nigeria; there is enough to make the country great but not enough to satisfy the greed of our rulers.
How can we hold our head high among the comity of nations when we fail woefully to honour agreements and falter embarrassingly in hosting teenagers in a football competition? Yet, a fellow African country that we helped to overcome the darkest period of her national existence has become the toast of the world at large because of the commitment shown in development and meeting the basic requirements of the expectations placed on it.
Our administrators must know (borrowing the words of General Maximus of the Roman Empire in the film Gladiators) that whatever we do today echoes in eternity. When they think the opportunity given to them to serve Nigeria is a gateway to sleaze and corruption, they are forgetting that the chicken, one day, will come home to roost. They should and must be aware that there’s no other country that they can call theirs more than Nigeria; even if they purchase America with stolen money! With this reality, they must set out to achieve national targets and goals with the required determination, single mindedness, commitment and fear of God.
Presently, it may seem that there’s nothing the average Nigerian can do when our leaders mismanage our national resources and privileges. But this, as ‘am sure that there would always be daylight won’t continue forever. A time is coming when questions would be asked and answers must be given concerning the conduct of our leaders. This is even truer when sport is concerned.
We will ask to know one day, how much was released for the hosting of the FIFA under 17 competition, who executed what contract, who collected what and all the other questions. I hope that when that time comes, people would be ready to demand their right: A right to national pride through sporting events as being witnessed in South Africa. God bless Nigeria!
Topics: Biz Football, Nigerian Football, Success Pills |
July 5th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I really hope our administrators read this! It’s such a shame that we are entangled with the kind of leaders that we have. When the time comes, we will be rid of them and Nigeria will be free indeed!
Great article once again!
July 7th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Wonderful piece again! Nigeria will only be ok when we have patriots and visionaries in places of responsibilities. The time is coming when questions would be asked and answers WILL be given otherwise……….