The sorry state of Nigerian sports

Prior to the ceremony on July 27 when Globacom Telecommunications Limited gave the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) the sum of USD 2 million for the sponsorship of an international Half Marathon race, all was quiet in the athletics family.

But things fell apart between the bigwigs at the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the AFN the moment the Globacom deal was sealed. Probably, things may not have fallen apart if AFN had signed the same kind of deal it did with the last sponsor.

The last sponsor paid between N10 million to N11 million (USD 79,000 to USD 87,000) for each of the five marathons the Federation organised for five years. But to the new deal, Globacom will be paying about N52 million yearly, excluding the money for an additional six regional marathons.

Suddenly, the Lagos International Half Marathon has moved from a poor distant cousin to other marathons across the world to a competition that cannot be left in the hands of AFN by the NSC bigwigs. And so, it needed a top official of the NSC not only to manage the funds, but also to organise the marathon and even head the LOC.

On the day of the cheque presentation, NSC officials clearly told the AFN President, Violet Odogwu-Nwajei, that the total sum for the Marathon must not be revealed at the press conference. But Odogwu-Nwajei stood her ground and insisted that the amount be made public.

Battle for control of LOC
Soon after, the second war began, this is over who will head the LOC. While the AFN favours a well-grounded former athlete with local and international contacts, who can get things done at lightning speed, the NSC wants Elias Gora, a deputy director in the NSC for the job.

Gora, the AFN believes, does not have what it takes to organise a marathon of that magnitude, while combining it with his daily job at the NSC. Many believe that allowing NSC to control the marathon will turn it into just another poorly organised games, like the Abuja 2003 All Africa Games, in which Gora was a major actor.

Other school of thought argues that the main reason the NSC wants to hijack the marathon from AFN is because of the money involved. They wondered why the NSC is so concerned at Lagos International Half Marathon, a promotional event, while its primary assignment of sports development is ignored.

NSC, they argued, should be concerned that Fatimah Muhammed, a Nigerian middle distance runner based in the U.S. has decided to dump Nigeria for Liberia. Mohammed's argument was that the Liberian Sports Commission would provide her with facilities and nurture her into a world-beater.

Officials of the NSC ought to be concerned that ten years ago, a Nigerian female long jumper, Chioma

Ajunwa, was the best long jumper in the world. At the Atlanta' '96 Olympic Games, Ajunwa won the Olympics gold medal, making her the first African woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics Games field event.

But today, no Nigerian female long jumper is ranked among the top ten in the world. There is not even one that jumps over 7.00m, talk less of getting near Ajunwa's mark of 7.12m, which was an African record.

It is shocking that officials of NSC are not concerned that about a decade ago, for every eight lanes in the women 400m at either the European circuit or the IAAF Grand Prix, it was certain that four of the athlete would be Nigerians.

Then we had three consistent 49.00 secs runners in Falilat Ogunkoya-Omotayo, Charity Opara and Fatimah Yusuf. The last of the four, Bisi Afolabi was then a consistent 50.00 secs runner.

But officials of NSC are not bothered by any of the above. Nor are they bothered that a few years ago,

Nigerian female sprinters like Mary Onyali, Gloria Alozie, Christy Okpara, Beatrice Utondu, Ajunwa, Mary Tombiri etc. rivalled the likes of Gwen Torrence, Gail Devers and others for honours in major games and championships.

They have forgotten that not too long ago Olapade Adeniken, the Ezinwa twin brothers, Davidson and

Osmond, Daniel Effiong. Francis Obikwelu, Seun Ogunkoya, Sunday Bada, Clement Chukwu, etc. were among the best sprinters and quartermilers in the world. They also don't seem to remember that apart from the Americans, Nigeria's relay teams were the most dreaded in the world not too long ago. NSC officials do not realise that unless they go back to organising monthly classics and other developmental programmes and the American school system, we will never get back to where we were before, talk less of surpassing it.

It was local developmental programmes that led to the discovery of such phenomenal talents like Ajunwa, Bada, Afolabi, Ogunkoya, Obikwelu, Alozie, Nduka Awazie, Angela Atede, Rosa Collins, Innocent Asonze, Opara, Deji Aliu and others too numerous to mention.

While the American school system gave as the likes of Ogunkoya-Omotayo, Onyali, Chidi, Imoh, the Ezinwa Brothers, Pat Itanyi, Fatimah Yusuf, Innocent Egbunike, Adewale Olukoju, Chima Ugwu, Vivian Chukwuemeka and others.

NSC top shots have not thought it wise to revive the programmes of the past, which worked so well. What appears paramount to them is a promotional event, and obviously the megabucks that goes with it.

Crisis in Nigerian football
But it is not only in athletics that money triggers crisis, football too has not been a haven of peace since Globacom, this telecommunication company, again, changed the face of the local league.

Prior to Globacom's decision to up its sponsorship to N600 millions (USD 4.73 million), the local league run by the Nigerian Football League (NFL) was treated with disdain by the officials of NSC. If football mattered at all, it was the national teams managed by the Nigeria Football Association (NFA).

But from the day the Globacom money landed, NFL lost its obscurity and became the darling of NSC officials. When the cheque was handed over to them, the NSC demanded for it, but NFL said no. They then instructed NFA, whose leadership was installed by NSC, to collect the cheque from NFL.

But the focused Oyiuki Obaseki, will have none of it. The NFA claimed that it was the controlling body of football in Nigeria, therefore the NFL should hand-over the cheque. But Obaseki told Sanni Lulu, the chairman of NFA and other members of the board that he was a moving train, and anybody that attempted to stand on his way would be crushed.

The media was awash with dirty exchanges between NFL and NFA top shots on one hand and NFL and NSC big wigs on the other. When Obaseki did not yield, the NSC decided to let go.

But they were not done yet, a top aide of the then NSC chairman, Bala Ka'Oje, Abba Yola, wrote a letter to NFL instructing them to pay PADMOZI, a marketing company, which the NSC claimed brokered the deal, N60 million, being its commission.

Amos Adamu, a CAF and FIFA executive member, and director general of NSC is alleged to have an interest in PADMOZI. Adamu's close and intimate relationship with PADMOZI's director is public knowledge.

Again, Obaseki said no. His argument then was very simple. He said that PADMOZI could not have been consulting for Globacom and at the same time for NFL. "A lawyer cannot be prosecuting and at the same time be defending the accused person."

Obaseki revealed that NFL had a consultant, Shehu Dikko, and that they had paid him his commission. This again led to another round of media war, but at the end of the day, Obaseki and NFL won.

Recently, too, controversy, crisis and NFA have been synonymous. The most prominent one is between the board and the German coach of the Super Eagles, Berti Vogts. Many in the general public see the crisis from the point of view of Vogts' arrogance, but discerning observers of Nigerian football see politics as the deeper cause.

They argued that when foreign managers are contracted by other countries, such managers are not paid sign on fee. Nigeria, they argued, is the only country where managers are paid such fee in the world.

Such sign on fees, according to members of the football family, which ranges between USD 300,000 to USD 500,000 was usually shared among members of the NSC to make everybody happy. But in Vogts' case, his salary is paid directly into his account by Globacom, which volunteered to pick the bill.

With this arrangement, it is a winner takes all for Herr Vogts, a development that has not gone down well the hierarchy of the NFA and NSC. That is why efforts are being made to frustrate Vogts so that he could resign, just as prayers are being offered daily so that he could stumble on the field and get sacked.

If he had lost the match against Niger last month, he would have been sacked immediately after. That was why most newspapers ran the headline Eagles saves Vogts job, after the 3-1 defeat of Niger.

Vogts' sack would have paved way for the return of the old order, where government will be paying the wages of the technical adviser. Since it is government, they can build there cut into it.

Board members of NFA are best of friends whenever there is a kill in international matches and other engagements. But the moment there are matches and only a groove of favoured ones like Taiwo Ogunjobi, Bola Jegede, Amanze Ugbegbulam and Sani Lulu are leaders of delegation.

Interestingly, when things don't favour some members like Maigari and Peter Singabele, they will hastily summon the press to accuse Lulu of running a one-man show and employing 25 staff from Kogi State since July last year when he became chairman. Their complaints no doubt are genuine, but their intentions may not be. This is because once they are given trips abroad, they keep quite.

So our sports administrators have shown by acts and deeds that they are only interested in money. Whenever there is money in a particular sports, they flock to it the way bees take to honey, but the moment there is drought, they leave the dessert and start looking forother green pasture, while the core things are neglected.

Football, the sports with more followerships than Christianity and Islam, seem to be thriving today not because the Lulus and Obasekis of this world are doing the right thing.

In fact, the Globacom Premier League, the Coca-Cola FA Cup and other competitions organised by Lulu and Obaseki are in terrible shapes. Football only thrives at the academy and grassroots level and the reason for this is because football agents and managers are using it to scout for talents.

Such talents abound in Nigeria. So many kids, who see football as the escape route from poverty, flock this academies and grassroots football units. They see playing in the local league as a cause, where only the unlucky ones and those without talents end.

Sport neglected by government and business
Today, sports like boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, basketball, volleyball, cycling and others are neglected not because there are no talents to be developed, but because government or corporate organisations have not moved into fund them. The movement they do that, the hawks in NSC will start scrambling for the partitioning of the money.

Facilities and equipment are not left out. Yearly millions are spent on stadium maintenance, but there is nothing to show for it. The National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was once the envy of the whole world. It was once known as the Sports City, but today it is now called a Garbage City.

Heaps and heaps of garbage litter the city. The situation in other stadiums across the country is not different. Management and administration of sports in Nigeria is way behind many Third World countries, talk less of Europe and America, while the coaching skills of most of our coaches are appalling.

The only thing that can save and revive Nigerian sports is for the new administration to declare a state of emergency in sports. It should look at how the administrators have managed the sector over the years with a view to restructuring it. Sports is too important to Nigeria's existence to be left at the hands of corrupt individuals, who hardly think of what is best for the country.