Letter to Adokiye Amiesimaka

I have just received a request asking me to do a letter to Barrister Adokiye Amiesimaka. It reads in part “ dear sir, you must be abreast with the current news making the rounds, especially the claim by former international Adokiye Amiesimaka that certain members of the Golden Eaglets are over the 17 year age limit.

“ When the association read this, we quickly summoned an emergency meeting and arrived at some tentative decisions one of which is to consult you to do a letter to Mr Amiesimaka on the above.

“ The need to seek a professional touch is not unconnected with the fact that the competition is on- going and we have to handle this very carefully lest we become the laughing stock of the comity of world football playing nations of which we are an important part.

“ Attached is a copy of the write up. Kindly treat as urgent please even as you liaise with the undersigned for further correspondence……..”

I have not confirmed the identity of “the undersigned”. The only observation is that is it made on a Nigeria Football Association ( NFA ) letter head, so it could not have come from the current ( NFF ) board.

I have detailed my office to work on the authenticity of the letter and confirm its source. While that is going on , I have decided to do a draft of the letter , just in case, this happens to be real.

Here, it goes.

“Dear Chief Justice ( that is his football appellation)

“The attention of the Nigeria Football Association has been drawn to the weighty allegations made by you concerning the correct age of some of our players campaigning in the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.

“At first read, the reaction was that of anger. Angry that you should choose this time to make your allegations, talking about patriotism. On second thought, we said, if not now, when?

“At the meeting called to look into your claims, a member even challenged us to define patriotism, while another said, given the nature of our preparations, a lot of Nigerians were not exposed to the team, arguing that perhaps if you were, you would have reacted much earlier.

“Our initial conclusion is that given your standing in the society, a learned colleague, a man who has risen to become an attorney general and a commissioner of justice, your claim should not be swept under the carpet.

“We are very pained that most of our victories at FIFA age group competitions have been tainted by claims that the country cheated, yet no one has come out with facts to prove such wild claims.

“It appears that this may just be the first time that we will be getting nearer to putting this matter to rest once and for all.

“The board has set up a three man committee to look into this matter and submit its findings within two weeks. The committee will therefore most graciously ask you to furnish it with information at your disposal such as will help us get to the bottom of this matter. In fact we will be honoured by your physical presence, please.

RESIGNATION

“It will also interest you to note that this board has resolved to resign en mass if it is proven that any member of this team is over the age limit. This is a solemn decision that we hope will help turn our country’s football around despite all our sacrifices to install sanity.

“ Of course in doing so we will ensure that those who had a hand or even a finger in this national disgrace, go down with us.

“Apart from the MRI scan which we subjected the players to, we invited the parents to come and most of them swore on oath that their wards were clean. If we cannot trust a mother in front of her child, then there is a problem somewhere.

“Permit us to reiterate the urgency of this assignment as we leave you with very fond sentiments of your continued service to motherland.”

That is the initial draft which I have made, pending submission to whoever. Let me quickly say that the resignation portion may not be a popular one. When the idea occurred to me, I had distinguished Nigerians like Rev Moses Iloh, General Ishola Williams, Pa John Ojidoh, Chief Onigbinde in mind.

Men with principle, who will readily admit that though they did not err as individuals, but by virtue of the fact that the buck stopped on their tables, they had to carry the can.

Did I forget our very own Dudu Orumen?

I carry in my phone damning text messages of Nigerians who pity the opposition as we pound our way to another U-17 crown that does not add any value to our football development. Messrs Iwu (08052263227) and Edohoeket (08029604874) provide two of the most angry texts I received concluding that in this period of re-branding, what we do with ourselves is more important than what the world thinks of us.

I thought this year was going to be different until Amiesimaka came barging in, and I do not know what is giving me the strong feeling that Amiesimaka is not just shouting for the fun of it.
7 DAYS TO D-DAY

I have been reminded by readers that I referred to the U-17 World Cup as a “distraction”. I hope the submission will not be misinterpreted. It is only in this country that the football ruling body will set up a committee to run the world cup and turn around to organize same. I believe that Nigerians are aware that top shots of the NFF, including the chairman of the technical committee are directly in charge of U-17 World Cup centres.

What this means is that with just a week to the match that will decide our World Cup qualification fate, the only news we hear is that of Coach Amodu going off to Europe, only to release a team list that Nigerians are not very comfortable with.

The other day, I was watching Joseph Yobo and Yakubu Aiyegbeni struggling in an Everton team that was torn to shreds by Benfica, even at Goodison Park and I wondered, “….and those are our best?….those are our best….?”
Given the challenges of hosting the U-17 and with FIFA breathing down our neck, there is no doubt that we have not had enough time to strategise for this week end’s World Cup clash against Kenya.

However, I take solace in a mail sent to me, a mail that intelligently argued that if God was not a Nigerian we could not have scored that time added goal against Mozambique, that if God was not a Nigerian there was no way we could have come back after going down 0-3 against Germany in the U-17.

That same God we just have to take to Kenya.

FOR ZAKARI

I take out this space to felicitate with my very good friend and brother, the humble Alhaji Zakari Mohammed, former Chairman Kwara United FC, former Commissioner of Youth and Sports who has moved on to the more challenging position of Energy Commissioner in the Dr. Bukola Saraki administration.

Congratulations sir, even as I salute his Excellency for the confidence he has reposed on the youth in his state, and pray the Almighty endows you with knowledge and wisdom needed to discharge your duties effectively to the benefit of mankind and to the glory of God.

FUNNY SIDE OF LIFE.

This is the story of a lady who is eager to make an impression with the kids on her first day as a school teacher. Walking near the school football field one afternoon, she notices one boy standing all by himself, while the rest of the boys were playing soccer in the middle of the field.

“ Are you alright?” she asks the boy.
“ I’m fine,” the boy replies with a smile.
“ Would you like me to stay here and be your friend?”

“OK” the boy replied with a shrug
“ Why is a nice kid like you standing here all alone while others are playing?”
“ Because I am the goalkeeper” the boy replied.

See you after Kenya.