IT would appear, after all, that Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, does know that there is a difference between the Minister of Sports and the Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, or the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, whichever the body chooses to call itself.
Gimba
There has, by the way, been a whole lot of unnecessary hot air emitted over the simple matter of the football association changing its name to that of a federation, in the manner that other sports bodies had done ages ago, without as much as a clearing of the throat from any quarter.
Even if the football body is a full-blown parastatal, for all the good that does it, its status remains the same with the world body that has the final say about its position in world football - FIFA. That is the authority that has the final say about what it does or doesn’t, and what is says it is or isn’t.
But, to return to the theme which is Senator Lokpobiri’s stance about the running of sports, especially football, in the country, one should find it salubrious that someone so highly placed found it appropriate to his duties as a lawmaker, to project his sense of responsibility into some sensitive areas of our sports administration. And what could be more sensitive than the provision of funds for a project so investment intensive as modern sports!
All the same, facts are very important as the basis for pontificating on specialized areas like we find in sports. We would gain so much more from the eminent senator if he could be more acquainted with the true position of situations, on which he feels impelled to make pronouncements. His elevated position demands no less, for it is anchored on credibility. We have to believe in what he says; we have to believe that he knows what he is saying; and that is from where we can believe in what he is doing, or trying to do.
One of the pitfalls of the unwary newcomer to a scene is usually the mistake that his own beginning is the dawn of the entire creation. He thus unwisely sets about to re-invent the wheel without even knowing enough about the properties of a circle. He ignores the fact that others have been there before him. Senator Lokpobiri may not be aware that he is not a pioneer in any dimension of sports administration. Respectable sports administrators have been around and several of them could still put him through his paces in the development and the lore of sports in Nigeria, if he is humble and willing enough to find out the facts about the position he feels inclined to assume on particular issues of sports, like finance, for instance.
He would have found out, for instance, that the figures of the sums of money that he claimed had been paid out to some sports associations could not have been correct. No less than a former President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Mr. Dan Ngerem, says they are, in fact, fictitious. The honourable senator might also have learnt that the issue of funds in sports is rather complicated by their management, beyond their provision.
The problem with the provision is that it is generally late for the purpose for which the funds are meant. That, unfortunately, is almost “SOP’ (Standard Operational Procedure). Some events would have almost started before the funds to prepare for them were provided. And sometimes when they eventually emerged, they could be diverted into other channels. If the highly respected senator could apply the good offices of his committee to the eradication of those problems, it would be much easier to talk about funds and their uses in sports.
It is, in fact, not the fault of any Sports Minister in particular, that we have had to live with this debilitating problem from one administration to another. Rather, it is entrenched in the system, which is shaped in the image of the civil service. That goes far beyond good old bureaucracy, which is little more than a matter of stern, or limiting procedure in other climes; in Nigeria it is usually presented as a cover for the promotion of narrow interests at the expense of desirable ends.
Take the recent heartbreaking performance of the former defending champions of the U-17 FIFA World Champions, for instance. Was it the lack of funds that made our Golden Eaglets perform so woefully? Catastrophes of that nature do not just happen. It is terrible for our image as a footballing country; it is bad for the development of the game within the nation. It calls for an enquiry. But that enquiry should be made with the Sports Minister as an actor in the probe, not as a part of those who are probed. He is the Minister of Sports, all sports, not just football. The target should be the Chairman of the NFA, or NFF, whichever tickles your fancy.
That is why we felt very uncomfortable with the initial frontal attack originally directed away from Mr. Sani Lulu Abdullahi, Chairman of the NFA. He is the man at whose doorstep the problems of football should be dumped, and it is gratifying that the Chairman of the Senate Committee of Sports has now done that job, though somewhat heavily. But it is a job that has to be done, nonetheless.
But where does the Director-General of the National Sports Commission/Sports Ministry, our good friend Dr. Amos Adamu come into all this? Surely, the Senate Committee could not have entirely missed his role, or found it so entirely commendable? I believe that a lot of good results could be achieved from assessing his contributions to our sports in the past decade. Between the good, the bad, and the “not-so-beautiful” may be gathered the incentive to re-think some of the policies and practices that have held us in thrall these past years.
Right away, one can think of the practice of conferring the chairmanship of a sports association on a State Governor, an action that verged on a violation of a clause in the 1999 Constitution, which rules out the appointment of a Governor to any “executive position”. We felt it was sailing rather close to the wind when State Governors like Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State were being imposed on sports associations as Chairmen.
But, to return to the issue of funds, it cannot be enough, can it, for us to sit on our hands and keep asking the government to dish out more money, all the time? Haven’t we been chanting the mantra, “Government cannot do it alone! Government cannot do it alone!” over and over again, all these years? It behoves the organizers, in my opinion, to become a bit creative, a bit more resourceful even, in acquiring financial succour in a sustainable manner.
The issue of sponsorship, for one thing, is still wide open. But the prospective sponsors are not going to come crawling to the NSC, dragging their money-bags behind them. They have to be convinced that they are going to spend their money in a good cause. The matter of patriotism would come in somewhere in the proceedings, but the main consideration has to be what is in the venture for the effort the sponsors are willing to put in. That is where the organizers have to come in. They have to get up and get to grips with smooth salesmanship, especially since most of the prospective sponsors are businessmen. But that, apparently, is what no one is prepared to do at the moment. And, what is more, it would be counter-productive for the “salesmen” to be seen lavishing some of the funds on themselves, and feeling proud about it, as was done the last time around.
But there are yet other avenues for making good money if the NSC would advert its mind to solid entrepreneurship. It could go into jersey manufacture. Young fans are patronizing Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool (for which my grandsons would give an arm) and the shirts of other foreign clubs. They would also patronize the local clubs if our football clubs are glamorized and made more lovely and lovable.
But we refuse to publicize our leagues; we refuse to maintain our stadia; we refuse to make any effort to keep our good players within the country. We do so little to bring other sports to the notice of the fans by staging very few tournaments; we are too lazy to invent ways of exciting appreciable interest in several arms of sports by consciously and systematically promoting them. Then we cry for more money. At this very moment, the NFF Chairman, his ubiquitous Vice, and the “Chairman of Chairmen” accompanied by the Secretary-General are in England, enjoying themselves on some silly pretext of “empathizing” with some players. But we have no money, except for such junkets.
Senator Lokpobiri and his committee would be doing this country a disservice if they simply pick up the cry for more money without first satisfying themselves about where the money is going. Yes, we all saw how China used money to achieve so much, but it was how the money was used, that made all the difference - not just the huge sum spent We hope the committee would do as much for the other sports as it has done for the sake of football.
Soccer may be the most popular sport, but it definitely isn’t the only branch of sports. But where the committee may register its most profound service would be in the dismantling of the ethnic imbalance that has held the hierarchy of sports organization in thrall these years past, and which has imposed a preposterous mediocrity on the standards of our sports development. More later. You must have heard that...
Yinka Craig has passed on. That was the sportscaster who brought you the description of so many sports events from various parts of the world, on radio and television; that was the broadcaster who injected so much of his personal charm and professional expertise into his delivery and made it all sound so easy; that was a man I admired as a colleague and loved as a friend. And now the game is over, though the final whistle seems to have come a bit too soon. But, who are we to judge! The condolences of this page go to his widow, Dr. Kehinde Craig, and children. God rest him. SportsBiz.
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