The 2014 FIFA organised World Cup tournament has come
and gone and as usual, a winner has emerged among the
countries that competed for the coveted trophy. The first
place, of course, was won by Germany. Now that the curtain
is drawn on this year’s edition of the tournament,
preparations for 2018 in Russia have begun almost
immediately for countries, which are desirous of winning the
tournament or making a meaningful impact.
Sadly, in Nigeria presently, some FA Chairmen and other
football stakeholders are daggers drawn with the Aminu
Maigari-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), over so many
fundamental issues bothering on policy or administrative
wrangling, which simply do not help the growth of football in
Nigeria. Some Nigerian journalists, who ordinarily, will not
be able to function outside the sports beat, “where anything
goes,” are at it again! These groups of journalists, as
expected, are making a molehill out of a mountain over the
recent FIFA ban on Nigeria due perceived government’s
meddlesomeness in the affairs of the Nigerian Football
Federation, which is exactly not the case. Anyhow, FIFA is
free to hold whatever view it deems fit. What is however,
worrisome is the way our supposed sports writers are
blowing this incident out of proportion and in the process,
refusing deliberately to interpret the exact situation
correctly.
I am alarmed, when none of the sports journalists has come
out to state categorically, what exactly the matter is: That
the Aminu Maigari-led NFF and some FA chairmen,
alongside other stakeholders, are at war, which resulted in a
court injunction. It was the Maigari group that wrote the
Nigerian Minister of Sports, requesting for his urgent
intervention to help salvage the already bad situation. The
Nigerian government, as a matter of duty, reluctantly waded
into the crisis to ensure that law and order prevail in the
country’s football family. The primary motives for these
journalists, who are usually not the best of minds, in any
newsroom in Nigeria, in ignoring the facts of this matter, are
nothing other than financial gains. They are likely to make
lot of money, once the crisis is allowed to fester.
I have come to know, over the years, as a practicing
journalist, that most Nigerian sports writers are never
patriotic. They are simply money mongers, who usually do
anything and everything to make money off sports
administrators/officials, footballers and athletes at all costs.
This is the major reasons some of them would almost
commit suicide once they are re-assign from the sports beat.
Although, there are a few exceptions to this banditry,
majority of the people, who today go by the name of sports
journalists or writers, do not have the requisite background
in sports to begin to pontificate on sports matters. Very
many of them never get to study sports psychology or sports
administration. Neither are they really qualified as
journalists, in the strictest sense of the word. I am yet to
understand, for instance, what a man, who studies Theater
Arts, is doing in the sports beat, instead of being in
Nollywood, if not for extortion. Some of them, often argue
that they veered into sports writing because they were once
sports men and women, during their school days. But the
behaviour of these people, once they are engaged in any
newsroom, shows that they have no passion for the game.
Their character is often unsportsmanship. Most times, news
mangers have no other option than to give up on them. Their
business and interest in the Nigerian sports is simply money,
money and money. What a shame!!
I must confess that I have no personal quarrel with Aminu
Maigari, but honestly do not care if anybody is hurt in the
course of my telling the truth. While Aminu Maigari and his
incompetent group held sway, how many sports journalists
were bold enough to tell the man and his co-travellers that
international football administration has long outgrown their
competence? No sports journalist I know did the right thing
because of the crumbs they were getting from him at the
expense of the country’s football development. If not in
Nigeria, where on earth do you put the administration of
football in the hands of such man?
The Nigerian Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, is on the
right track, as far as this matter is concerned. All we need to
do now, FIFA ban or not, is to strive to put our football and
sports administration generally in a sound footing. The
minister must bear in mind, while pursuing this objective,
that true sportsmanship is the ability to win without
bragging, loose without complaining, and play while
respecting others. This is the only way the country will
become victorious, at the end of this crisis. While I
passionately appeal to the minister of sports to do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, I implore him to do
things in humility, while considering others better than him in
the country’s drive to re-direct the affairs of football
administration.
Now, therefore, is the time for the minister to co-opt
seasoned technocrat in sports administration with the
requisite international status and experience into Nigeria’s
football administration. People like the former Governor of
Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and Mike Adenuga, just to mention
a few, among a host of other qualified Nigerians, who are
known to love football with an immense passion, into the
management of the country’s football. These Nigerians have
the magic touch and the means to manage sports generally,
especially football and produce the much-desired results
over a short period of time. The minister, as a matter of
priority, should put in place structures that will continue to
discourage scavengers in sports administration. This caliber
of Nigerians cannot easily be blackmailed by our sports
journalists into making a wrong decision or taking the wrong
steps, in any given circumstance, because they are familiar
with the Nigerian sports terrain.
Fifty-four years after Nigeria’s independence, now is the
time for us, as a country, to begin to act in accordance, with
Jim Rohn’s philosophy, which says: “Profits are better than
wages. Wages makes you a living; profits make you a
fortune.” We have long come to realise that sports,
especially football, is a unifying factor in the country and the
world generally. It is therefore, not in our interest to continue
to gamble with football and other sports administration. We
must now begin to profit from our huge investment in sports
over the years. This can only happen, once, we learn how to
get the right and qualified persons to man our various sports,
especially football.
and gone and as usual, a winner has emerged among the
countries that competed for the coveted trophy. The first
place, of course, was won by Germany. Now that the curtain
is drawn on this year’s edition of the tournament,
preparations for 2018 in Russia have begun almost
immediately for countries, which are desirous of winning the
tournament or making a meaningful impact.
Sadly, in Nigeria presently, some FA Chairmen and other
football stakeholders are daggers drawn with the Aminu
Maigari-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), over so many
fundamental issues bothering on policy or administrative
wrangling, which simply do not help the growth of football in
Nigeria. Some Nigerian journalists, who ordinarily, will not
be able to function outside the sports beat, “where anything
goes,” are at it again! These groups of journalists, as
expected, are making a molehill out of a mountain over the
recent FIFA ban on Nigeria due perceived government’s
meddlesomeness in the affairs of the Nigerian Football
Federation, which is exactly not the case. Anyhow, FIFA is
free to hold whatever view it deems fit. What is however,
worrisome is the way our supposed sports writers are
blowing this incident out of proportion and in the process,
refusing deliberately to interpret the exact situation
correctly.
I am alarmed, when none of the sports journalists has come
out to state categorically, what exactly the matter is: That
the Aminu Maigari-led NFF and some FA chairmen,
alongside other stakeholders, are at war, which resulted in a
court injunction. It was the Maigari group that wrote the
Nigerian Minister of Sports, requesting for his urgent
intervention to help salvage the already bad situation. The
Nigerian government, as a matter of duty, reluctantly waded
into the crisis to ensure that law and order prevail in the
country’s football family. The primary motives for these
journalists, who are usually not the best of minds, in any
newsroom in Nigeria, in ignoring the facts of this matter, are
nothing other than financial gains. They are likely to make
lot of money, once the crisis is allowed to fester.
I have come to know, over the years, as a practicing
journalist, that most Nigerian sports writers are never
patriotic. They are simply money mongers, who usually do
anything and everything to make money off sports
administrators/officials, footballers and athletes at all costs.
This is the major reasons some of them would almost
commit suicide once they are re-assign from the sports beat.
Although, there are a few exceptions to this banditry,
majority of the people, who today go by the name of sports
journalists or writers, do not have the requisite background
in sports to begin to pontificate on sports matters. Very
many of them never get to study sports psychology or sports
administration. Neither are they really qualified as
journalists, in the strictest sense of the word. I am yet to
understand, for instance, what a man, who studies Theater
Arts, is doing in the sports beat, instead of being in
Nollywood, if not for extortion. Some of them, often argue
that they veered into sports writing because they were once
sports men and women, during their school days. But the
behaviour of these people, once they are engaged in any
newsroom, shows that they have no passion for the game.
Their character is often unsportsmanship. Most times, news
mangers have no other option than to give up on them. Their
business and interest in the Nigerian sports is simply money,
money and money. What a shame!!
I must confess that I have no personal quarrel with Aminu
Maigari, but honestly do not care if anybody is hurt in the
course of my telling the truth. While Aminu Maigari and his
incompetent group held sway, how many sports journalists
were bold enough to tell the man and his co-travellers that
international football administration has long outgrown their
competence? No sports journalist I know did the right thing
because of the crumbs they were getting from him at the
expense of the country’s football development. If not in
Nigeria, where on earth do you put the administration of
football in the hands of such man?
The Nigerian Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, is on the
right track, as far as this matter is concerned. All we need to
do now, FIFA ban or not, is to strive to put our football and
sports administration generally in a sound footing. The
minister must bear in mind, while pursuing this objective,
that true sportsmanship is the ability to win without
bragging, loose without complaining, and play while
respecting others. This is the only way the country will
become victorious, at the end of this crisis. While I
passionately appeal to the minister of sports to do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, I implore him to do
things in humility, while considering others better than him in
the country’s drive to re-direct the affairs of football
administration.
Now, therefore, is the time for the minister to co-opt
seasoned technocrat in sports administration with the
requisite international status and experience into Nigeria’s
football administration. People like the former Governor of
Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu and Mike Adenuga, just to mention
a few, among a host of other qualified Nigerians, who are
known to love football with an immense passion, into the
management of the country’s football. These Nigerians have
the magic touch and the means to manage sports generally,
especially football and produce the much-desired results
over a short period of time. The minister, as a matter of
priority, should put in place structures that will continue to
discourage scavengers in sports administration. This caliber
of Nigerians cannot easily be blackmailed by our sports
journalists into making a wrong decision or taking the wrong
steps, in any given circumstance, because they are familiar
with the Nigerian sports terrain.
Fifty-four years after Nigeria’s independence, now is the
time for us, as a country, to begin to act in accordance, with
Jim Rohn’s philosophy, which says: “Profits are better than
wages. Wages makes you a living; profits make you a
fortune.” We have long come to realise that sports,
especially football, is a unifying factor in the country and the
world generally. It is therefore, not in our interest to continue
to gamble with football and other sports administration. We
must now begin to profit from our huge investment in sports
over the years. This can only happen, once, we learn how to
get the right and qualified persons to man our various sports,
especially football.
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