WITH all the noise about the Federal Government’s posture on corruption, there is no doubt that some forms of corruptions are tolerable while others have to be dealt with decisively. Those who claim that the fight against corruption is selective would have a point if we take football as an example.

After the World Cup the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC, moved against officials of the Nigeria Football Association. A list of charges stretching as long as the River Niger was produced. The case is in court.

Last November, the Federal Government decided to investigate the finances and the Local Organisation Committee of the FIFA U-17 FIFA World Cup that Nigeria hosted to embarrassing distinction. Nigerians applauded the decision as one in the right direction.

There could be the usual penchant to concentrate on the disbursement of funds in the search for the facades that the organisers threw around the hosting of the competition. Nigeria 2009, as the competition is also known, did Nigeria ’s image lasting damage. The facts were public even before the event.

Has anyone forgotten the Ministry of Information and Communication insisting on importing unsuitable broadcast equipment for the Nigerian Television Authority when it had been proven the equipment would arrive late for the competition and would not meet the required standard? Months back, Minister of Information and Communication Professor Dorothy Nkemdilim Akunyili told startled House of Representatives she knew nothing about the equipment which has not arrived, almost a year after the event.

The Ministry of Information and Communication went on with the exercise against expert advice about the futility of upgrading NTA outside broadcast vans. The N8.2 billion expenditure should interest government.

It is a single expenditure that is well above the billions that the NFA officials charged to court reportedly misused.

Broadcasting was just one of the areas where government involvement in the U-17 FIFA World Cup could have been a waste. The entire budget for the competition was controversial. From a request of N35 billion, the LOC accepted the N10 billion government approved. To date, it remains uncertain what informed this huge demand on public funds and the final details of what was spent.

Government should probe the details of how the NTA upgrade request that was originally N15 billion came to N8.2 billion. After government’s initial anger and insistence on N10 billion, government still released an extra N3 billion to the LOC.

These form some of the gray areas that an investigation could clear. There are also issues with the quality of the work that was done in facilities for the competition.

It was disgraceful stopping play for hours because the pitches in Abuja, Enugu, and Calabar flooded. Surprisingly, Warri was not picked as a centre because its pitch flooded during FIFA’s inspection.
Ambulances borrowed from the unpicked Warri centre rescued the competition’s medical services. There was blackout in Kano and security people had to tear gas the crowd in Kaduna. These situations are alien to FIFA competitions.

Media centres in almost all the venues worked in fits and concerns about adequate protocol when teams arrived, unpaid allowances for volunteers form other areas that call for government attention.
Perhaps, more important is the slur on Nigeria’s image from the cases of over-aged players. The NFA pretends the matter is settled. It is fraudulent, an act of corruption, and possibly sabotage of the nation’s efforts for anyone who knew the age of those players to have fielded them. No excuses are acceptable here.

Investigations are important to determine the extent of the damage that the competition did to Nigeria and determine appropriate sanctions for those involved, especially with the new drive to cleanse sports of corruption.

Has government any reasons for refusing to go on with the probe of the FIFA U-17 World Cup? Have Nigerians not waited long enough? EFCC should show some interest in this.