BY Bisi Lawrence
In all of my thirty years as a football official at the national level, I never got to know Goodluck Jonathan as a football expert. His knowledge of  the rules and regulations  of  FIFA   would be hardly more than modest, in my estimate.

I say that, with due respect to him personally, but even more to his position as the President of  the Federal Republic of  Nigeria, in which office  he has so far  won  the  approbation of  so many people. But then, he is not supposed  to be an authority on every subject on the strength of  his being the  President. No one ever ·is. That is why Presidents are enabled  to  tackle any issue by the appointment of  Ministers, and Advisers, and Aides, and what-have-you, who are experts in specialized fields, to guide their principals from committing slip-ups.

The decision to keep Nigeria away from football for a period of two years may have been sound. As we all know, Cameroun built her phenomenal development on a similar decision for even a longer period. But there are ways of doing so, one of which is first to consult with FIFA and obtain the necessary consent before announcing the decision.

The announcement made by the presidency was precipitate and ill-advised. It was, in effect, intended to play to the gallery, for it obviously had no plan to support it. It was not based on any consideration or information about the existing terrain of our football practice. The President  made the announcement  in good faith, based, without a doubt, on the advice of his “experts”. And, of course, he takes the responsibility.

However, there is hardly any need to cover up. The boo-boo has been made, but it should serve as an object lesson for the appointment of the right people, especially for’ sensitive areas. Football is an international. pre-occupation, a fact  which  seems to have escaped this nation since the departure of the military.

That is by way of setting a time-frame –  not to advocate their return. But with the constraints of political considerations, which have an exalted place now in sports appointments as in other “zone-governed” areas, little care is taken to align the dictates of politics with the effectiveness of  ability.

For an illustration, consider the recent sports ministers we have been having; only one of them appeared to know whether it’s Tuesday or raining, when we are talking about sports. And, of course, they have to come from the Northern part of  the country, just like’ the Chairman of football. That is “zoning” in activation.

And there  we have the key to our problem. President Jonathan did the unusual when he made a State Governor the Head of the Presidential Task Force on Football. But even then, any State Governor  who .really has the time out for such a pastime deserves to be out of office. But that is not what is unusual about that appointment. After all, Lucky Igbinedion, erstwhile Governor of   Edo State, was made the Chairman  of  the Nigerian Amateur Boxing Association, though definitely for worse, not for better.

What was unusual in the appointment of  the PTF Chairman was really that he was  not a Northerner. However, the motivation might have been the USUAL one: he is from the same geo-political zone as the President. And that is not a bad thing in itself.

What one has a complaint against is that sports positions are usually filled by those who are not knowledgeable about sports, but solely in consideration of  their ethnic origin or sectional character. That is why our football has not moved ahead; and our track-and-field has floundered; and our table tennis is now sprawled on the floor before Egypt.

Please understand that the problem is not necessarily that the officials favoured, or “zoned”, for these positions are from a particular  area, but that they are preferred solely because they are from the area, not minding their level of incompetence.

There are Northerners of sterling and tested qualities in sports administration. For instance, there is Sanni Toro, who was  actually trained as a football administrator. There is “T.J” too, who distinguished himself as the head of  the National Sport Institute. There is a host of them. If we must zone, can’t we zone competence along?

The President needs to bring the real  sports  technocrats close to him to save himself and his country from further embarrassment. I have .read some statements credited to some people whom I personally like and respect in sports – and winced. I mean, what is so difficult in saying the President has committed a faux   pas – especially since he has had the grace to reverse himself openly and unashamedly? And these are people who even have a name in football administration.

Now, we must stop here. After all, we don’t even write sports any more.

We probably need not wonder any more about whether President Goodluck Jonathan will run for office or not. The indications are that he would. He has done very well and brought an appreciable measure of credibility back to Aso Rock. His impeccable conduct has tremendously enhanced the respect of  the nation before the world community. He has summed for himself  the description of a “cool guy”, unflappable by circumstances of any kind whether pleasant or unpleasant (that is, forgetting the World Cup which is very forgettable).

In the midst of itchy challenges, he avoids the luxury of scratching in public. He tries to be all things to all people. He has to be .running from office.

That position would naturally attract hordes of advisers in two different camps – those who like him to run, and others who think differently. Then there are the “fence-sitters” who look one way and then the other without any apparent preference for either direction, until after the event when they can claim to have been there on the side of  the victorious, all along.

But let us consider the “pros” of  the issue. The first point they usually raise is that the Ptesident has the right, as a law-abiding citizen of  the country, to run for any elective office. That, in fact, has never been in dispute. Then they attempt to equate that point with a justification of democratic principles. That is really on shaky grounds because the much-quoted definition of democracy rests on the dominance of  the will of  the majority of the people.

The weakness there lies in the possibility of that will being unhealthy and yet retaining its supremacy. But we must not get contentious here. Let us accept it as it should be – that the will of the people would always be benevolent and focused on the good of  the people. The “pros” are therefore at daggers drawn with the very idea of zoning, especially since it seems it might be used to slam the gate at the prospect of   Jonathan entering the lists for the elections next year.

Those who are on the “con” side, as can be imagined, hold high the banner of  the zoning principle. They believe that the North should be granted the concession of  having the exclusive right to the next presidential term, as a natural succession to the frrst term interrupted by  the demise of President Umar Ya’ Adua. And they cite the case of   President Olusegun Obasanjo who enjoyed the full complement of two terms as a Southerner, with the connivance of  the North.

That position, of course, equates the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with the North, true or false. It looks more true than false, anyway.

There are two factors that may  be considered in this issue. Talking about identification, are the interests of the military on all fours with those of the North? It may not be unrealistic to wonder about that, since the spate of the military take-over that once bedeviled the country was led by Northerners.

But it would be uncharitable to feel that way any longer, since the military have shown a marked inclination towards their professional and traditional calling, without the slightest  tendency towards any undue interference in civilian governance.

They deserved every bit of the encomiums which President Jonathan recently showered on them. They have become defenders of democracy and protectors of our  nationhood. So, if  the Northern interests suffer, there should be no fears about the military returning to shore them up.

And then there is the perennial aspect of  a free and fair election. Only that will see Jonathan, or any deserving candidate, into Aso Rock next year. The fear of rigging- is real and present. There are people who believe that those who would oppose the President, should he decide to run, are adepts. Others believe that, as a matter of fact, only with such “performance enhancing” facilities could he win.

Taking a total view, I am of the opinion that the North will not quietly release the claim they believe they have on the presidency next year. The formula of presidential elections always swinging the way of the North will not be changed either. With the reputation of the INEC he has appointed, President Jonathan must be sure of having the support of the North, if he still wants to run for president – or it may be that he may not wish to run after all.
Time out.

African Milestones This Month
July 13, 1934 – Wole Soyinka, Nigerian writer and Nobel Laureate was born