THE passing year started on a sad note with the controversial death of Uche Okafor, in the USA. The former Eagles defender was found dead in his apartment. The initial impression was that he committed suicide. Investigations later vindicated those who believed that was not Uche – he was murdered.

WORLD sprint sensation Usain Bolt is leaving the opposition to catch him. While others would be content with a medal (of any shade at the Olympics), the Jamaican is focused on helping Jamaica to four gold medals at the London Olympics.

IT began like yesterday, with those sad incidents of losing loved ones, our own Richard Animam, Uche Okafor and Gideon Njoku in the early part of the year.

THERE are too many inspiring stories from Africa that we can ignore them mostly at our own risk. At a time the African Union could only raise $20 million (N3.1 b) for the famine victims in Somalia, an individual -Samuel Eto’o – is earning 20 euro (N4.2b) a year.

I have always found Bashiru Ali an interesting fellow. My main challenge has been how to place him. He is one fellow who hardly takes offence. You can call him names. Throw your allegations at him. If you are expecting answers, you will be disappointed.

I STILL consider at6hletics as one of the finest sports. Its rules are simple. Its head try to follow them to the letter. The mishap that Usain Bolt had in the 100m final is a regular occurrence. The high profile of the one involved resulted in the comments that have trailed false starts and taken the shine off the final.

THE All Africa Games, the 10th edition of which begin in Maputo, Mozambique, tomorrow, mean a lot to Nigerians, particularly those who were old enough to experience the second edition that held in Lagos 38 years ago. The Games appear to have passed the early uncertainties over future hosts, after the exceptional delays that we saw in Nairobi with the Games billed fro 1982 holding in 1987 – five years late.

FOR more than 30 minutes last week Wednesday, President Goodluck Jonathan had the time to ask players and officials of the Nigerian U-20 football team, “How are you?” The session that saw him repeating the same question after each person was identified was meant to be a pep talk ahead of the encounter against England in a FIFA competition in Columbia.

NIGERIA is participating in the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, next month. If you have not been hearing much about the Games, it might have something to do with the fact that Nigeria is out of the football events of the Games. This is one example of the dangers that football pose to our sports.

IT will be pointless counting the number of committees that have looked through Nigerian football. One more committee will not do any harm if it can proffer solutions to the viral challenges Nigerian football faces.

INJURY can devastate an athlete. The lucky one who recovers and returns to competition fails to realise what the others suffer.

STANDARDS are almost impossible to keep in Nigeria. In the instances that we opted for low standards, we are still unable to keep the marks that we have so lowly set for ourselves. The National Sports Festival is suffering the same affliction.

I CANNOT lie, I am happy about the cauldron Nigerian football has driven itself into without a possibility of escape from sanctions from FIFA, the Nigerian public and government.

I WRITE about Joseph Sepp Blatter as if he is dead. It is deliberate. Blatter has been in FIFA in the past 36 years. He inherited his iron fist from the Belgian-Brazilian Jean Marie Jo o Faustino Godefroid Havelange, who competed in water polo and swimming in the 1936 and 1952 Olympic Games. Now 95, Havelange, who ruled FIFA for 24 years, was deep in the scandals around the 1998 transmutation of Blatter from Secretary-General to President of FIFA. Other re-elections of Blatter (2002, 2007) have swirled more scandals.

SOME may not notice the gradual death of football, which will ultimately affect the health of sports. Some think the growing number of factions in the Nigeria Football Association (it insists on calling itself Nigeria Football Federation, illegal as it knows the name is) does not mean anything.

SAMSON Siasia has dangerous friends. They could ruin him. I do not know their names. He may not even know them personally, but they are those who see nothing wrong in whatever the coach does – they can explain it, and try to enforce their position on others.

WE may be getting somewhere with this issue of the age of Nigerian football players, or sports people altogether. Not too long ago, depending on your real age, Nigerian players had no reason to tamper with their age since most competitions were open – if you were good enough you weighed in. Juniors, intermediates, and seniors competed for the few opportunities.

AN organisation like the Nigeria Football Association, which excels in duplicity, cannot act differently no matter how serious a matter is or its implications for the country.

WE have spent years agonising over funding of sports. The illusion is that governments spend billions of Nigeria on sports. It is an illusion because the money is released late and the funding takes no proper account of sports timetables and the implications of the funding system.

IT was simply amazing watching the Eagles in their games against Ethiopia, then Kenya. I am not referring to the goals that have beclouded us about the team and our preparations. There are issues which we must forget, it seems, because the team won.