Sports Guard

By Patrick Omoridon
I have never shown any interest in the way sports is run in Edo State, incidentally my State of origin until last week when I saw a story in a Nigerian daily quoting Edo State commissioner of Sports, Miss Anita Evbuomwan, scoring the Adams Oshiomhole regime high in sports, especially football.

Yes Comrade Adams Oshiomhole did himself a world of good when he led the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and his achievements as a fighter for the people spoke loudly for him when he mounted the rostrum to campaign as governor for Edo state.

I remember some friends saying that he belittled himself by going for the position of governor. They argued that as a former number one labour leader in the country, he should have aspired to govern Nigeria instead of stooping low to run for governorship.

I had disagreed with them saying that as an indigene of Edo state, we were proud to have him as our governor because we believe he should start from home to show the stuff he was made of, especially at a time the state was being misgoverned by selfish politicians who are unperturbed about how the citizens felt.

We had expected that as someone who led the NLC successfully, Comrade Oshiomhole would have assembled the best hands to help him in the process of reviving the state from the abyss which his predecessors left it.

Edo, carved out from the old Bendel state was known better for sports, and one expected that the foundation laid by then military governor, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia would be built upon, especially with the relegation of the pride of the state, Insurance football club of Benin from the Premier League under Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor who was sacked by the election tribunal.

Surprisingly, the governor danced to the tune of his friends or those who supposedly sponsored his election, so it seems, by accepting nominations from them as commissioners to help him steer the ship of governance and give the people the dividend of democracy. In a state where some of the best sportsmen and women who have served Nigeria come from, I felt disturbed that one novice by the name Miss Anita Evbuomwan, may be the daughter of one political heavy weight in the state, could be appointed to head the sports ministry.

One, apart from not even understanding the politics of sports in the country, the commissioner does not understand what it takes to truly run a sports ministry and this showed in her handling of the state’s participation at the National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last June.

The state’s athletes did not only go to the festival in batches, but participated in the march past with variegated colours of jersey different from their traditional red colours with white stripes. As if that was not disgraceful enough, the athletes arrived the festival venue with hired rickety buses which left for Benin almost immediately after dropping them. As a result, movement of athletes to venues of their events which was scattered all over Port Harcourt became a problem, leading to lateness on their part or outright missing of their events in some cases. The commissioner was also not available to give the athletes and their coaches moral support at the venues as did her colleagues from other states. That the state managed a third place was as a result of the sheer determination of the athletes to excel and improve their personal profile.

The athletes lacked the required equipment either to prepare or take part in their various sports and were shocked by the kind of kits and equipment their counterparts from other states were exposed to before and during the competition.

Months after the National Sports Festival ended, the athletes are yet to be rewarded for doing the state proud. Miss Evbuomwan was quoted in the said interview that she has asked a committee to work out the sharing formula for the paltry N5 million approved for medal winners at the festival. And you want to ask, how long will take for the ministry to give out this money and how much will each of them get from that?

It was once rumoured that Governor Oshiomhole was not impressed by her performance so far and wanted to boot her out or better still, transfer her to another ministry but pressure from high political quarters made him change his mind and she has remained in her position till date.

So when my boss, Onochie Anibeze, Group Sports Editor of Vanguard newspapers called from Benin on Saturday, Novermber 12, 2011 to say that Governor Oshiomhole stole the show before the friendly match between the Super Eagles and Botswana’s Zebras, as he was hailed while jogging round the pitch, I was not impressed one bit.

It is not enough to sponsor Eagles matches and be hailed by fans while sports is dying in the state. Edo used to be the yardstick to measure other states but her sister state, Delta pushed her to second position. At the Garden City Sports Festival, she was further pushed to third. When Lagos will host the festival in 2012, the fourth position may be a dream if things remain the way they are now.

On assumption of office three years ago, the Comrade governor vowed to take the state back to the pinnacle of sports in the country but the appointment of the wrong personnel who can neither offer sound advice nor fashion out ways to revamp the sports sector has not helped him realise the dream.

So if Governor Oshiomhole is to be assessed by other areas of governance, like the Information Commissioner, Loius Odion enumerated last week, he will score high. However, if his assessment is based on sports and the promises he made three years ago, his score sheet will be soiled with very low marks and he will be adjudged to have failed.

Miss Evbuomwan may be retained in order not to offend his godfathers (I thought he said no more god-fatherism in Edo) or his supposed political sponsors but for God’s sake let her be moved to another ministry, where the people’s passion is not tied to. We need a viable sports ministry to take Edo back to the top and I dare say the current commissioner cannot help in this regard.