THE Commonwealth Games have been the Games for us. There were some surprises about the performance of Team Nigeria . With the minimal preparations, Nigeria was on the way to her best Commonwealth Games since her first appearance in 1950.

THERE was a sense in which it seemed that some members of the Commonwealth did not want to see Indian host the Commonwealth Games that began with a magnificent opening ceremony last Sunday.

LAST week I asked for involvement of the sports community in the politics that would produce leaders in 2011. It is obvious that sports would be neglected again if those who are its stakeholders do not prod candidates in the elections to create platforms to develop sports.

IT was exciting listening to the challenges of sports (football) at the public hearing that the Sports Committee of the House of Representatives had on the faltering fortunes of Nigerian football. So many perspectives, many ideas and in some cases outright jocularity ruled the day when I made an appearance on Thursday.

ELECTIONS rule and ruin us. Things would remain in that frame for some time. The massive hurricane of poverty sweeping across Nigeria expresses itself through several anomalies.

PEOPLE may not fully realize the importance of what the Falconets, our U-20 female football team did in Germany . The loss to the Germans in Sunday’s final does not in any way diminish the achievement of the team that has made the point that Africa has a future in female football one area Nigeria has dominated in the continent without making much impact on the global stage.

NIGERIANS are in celebration after the scintillating performance of the Falconets in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The 4-2 (penalty shoot outs) defeat of the USA in the quarter-finals of the competition is epochal, not because for the first time Nigeria would be playing in the semi-final, but the expectation that women’s football would get respect for the first time.

Olusegun Obasanjo, then President, created the illegality on the eve of his departure from office. The excuse was that government was trimming the number of Ministries.

Football is a victim. Its tormentors are the victors. The minor disagreements between the impeached Nigeria Football Association, NFA, bosses and those who have firmly grabbed the reins of football are part of the class fight for the sustenance of chaos in our football.

Let us learn from history. When GENOCIDE was being committed in Rwanda in 1994, US-led United Nations did not want to intervene and so tried to deny that genocide was taking place.

EVERY World Cup has its tall stories. Some of them take place before our eyes, years down the line others would read about them.

KAITAISIS (Kai_ta_i_sis) n. Kai*ta*i*sis 1. A new mental sickness recently discovered by neurosurgeons. It affects the victim’s ability to think right or make right judgement especially when it matters most. 2. Victims often confuse the game of football for a karate session. It is derived from the new word KAITA (Source: tlops)

I KNEW that something memorable was bound to be registered for Nigeria from the 2010 World Cup. What it would be I had no clue.

SOMEONE once said that when nothing should be done about something, the best solution was a committee. This generalisation is unfair to committees that work, but captures the Nigeria Football Association’s 14 committees for the 2010 World Cup.

THE present Board of the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, is famous for its greed and guile, but its unpatriotic bearing is the latest acquisition of a self-serving body.