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Patrick Ekeji, Director General of the National
Sports Commission (NSC) must be revelling in his new found power.After easing
out Habu Gumel as President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and
installing his former boss, Sani Ndanusa, he must be feeling very pleased with
himself; after all, power intoxicates.

The
former Green Eagles defender appears to be finally coming into his own. For the
moment he seems to be getting the better of his rival, Amos Adamu, who has a
contempt charge hanging over his head for his role in the Nigeria football
federation elections, which held on August 26.Since Adamu was moved from the
sports ministry following his life and death struggle with Abdulrahman Gimba,
the sports minister at the time of his removal, Ekeji has become the ‘Lord of
the Manor’ at the sports ministry. He has used every opportunity to consolidate
his hold on power at the ministry.

The
brazen manner he moved against the sit-tight Gumel, on September 16 showed just
how much he relishes his new position as a power broker in Nigeria’s sports
establishment. However, like every individual enthralled by power, he failed to
apply tact.

Many
will agree that it was needless holding that September 16 election particularly
as the Gumel camp had already agreed to hold an election on September 23. What
he did amount to naked show of power? It betrayed a lack of tact and an absence
of strategy on his part.

If
he wanted Gumel out by all means and the voting delegates to the elections are
largely members of the different sports federations under the control of the
sports ministry, couldn’t he have issued simple instructions to his ‘boys’ that
‘government’ wasn’t interested in Gumel’s return to office?

Everyone
knows that going by tradition, the officials in the sports federations cannot
by any stretch of the imagination even begin to summon the nerve to disobey
such directive. Effective as this option would have been, it was not attractive
to Ekeji because it would have robbed him of the opportunity to show that he is
now ‘in charge’.

Power and responsibility

For
someone who for years had chafed under the expansive influence of Adamu, known
as ‘Mr. Fix it’ for his numerous schemes, Ekeji was not going to pass up an
opportunity to show off his new found authority.

Unfortunately,
his new found authority has not improved the fortunes of Nigerian sports. In
the last one year we have been witnesses to a gradual but consistent decay of
sports and its facilities in the country. At the same time Nigerian teams
across the various sports have become cannon fodder for other national teams,
the sporting landscape in the country has become pockmarked by crises.

And
what has been Ekeji’s role? It is hard to tell. You even wonder at times
whether a Nigerian sport has leadership. Ibrahim Bio, the man who replaced the
phlegmatic Sani Ndanusa, who has managed to scheme into the leadership of the
NOC, and who appeared to be the right man for the job has been bogged down by
health concerns.

This
means that Ekeji, who has spent donkey years in the ministry and therefore
ought to understand the dynamics of Nigerian sports, should provide the needed
leadership. He has failed to do so preferring instead to solidify his power
base.

And
so it is that on the eve of a major international sporting event like the
Commonwealth Games, the Nigerian contingent is hopelessly unprepared.

It
is amazing that a sports ministry that can provide four crafty individuals with
N1billion to spend on a football tournament for which we returned empty-handed
cannot make funds available to other sports to prepare for Games we had known
we would be taking part in four years ago.

As
I write this, the World Basketball Championship for women is going on in the
Czech Republic and Nigeria is absent. The male version of the tournament ended
just a little over a week ago in Turkey with Nigeria also absent from the
event, which had Angola, Cote‘d Ivoire representing Africa.

Power
comes with a certain responsibility. It demands that the individual exercising
it fulfill basic obligations. In Ekeji’s case it demands that millions of
Nigerian youngsters who make to make sports a career be provided with the
opportunity to do so. It means that since sports in the country is still
tightly controlled by government and Ekeji, as the ministry’s chief planner
(the sports minister is a political appointee who will go at any time) should
put in place structures that would provide these youngsters a platform to
excel.

It
means that Ekeji should not as he was quoted to have said, insist that there
was nothing wrong for athletes who have no other means of livelihood to pay for
use of facilities at the National Stadium even when the reason for that
training is to represent Nigeria at international sporting competitions.

Today,
one thousand runners are expected to snake through the streets of Lagos
as the Nigeria Independence Corporate Run takes off.

The race, which is
being organised by the Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund (LSSEF), will
take off from the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, where Nigeria’s flag
was hoisted after the lowering of Britain’s Union Jack to signify
Nigeria’s independence from its colonial masters.

From there,
competitors will run through Ahmadu Bello Way and turn off under the
bridge for the final stretch of the road, which will terminate at
Atlantic City on Victory Island.

The runners, most
of whom would be Chief Executive Officers of blue chip organisations in
Lagos as well as leading government officials in Lagos State, are
rearing to go.

Tunde Bank-Anthony,
Secretary of the fund said, the race promises to be a colourful event
given the calibre of individuals who would be taking part in it.

“We have done
everything to ensure that we have a very successful race. I can assure
you that it will turn out to be one of the most interesting and
colourful races you have witnessed in Lagos in a long time. It is not
every day we see top business executives and top government officials
hitting the streets of Lagos to participate in a race,” he said.

Anthony Oni, a
retired rear admiral and chairman of the fund, who briefed journalists
during a meeting of the organisers and some agencies of the Lagos State
government on Thursday, said the reason corporate business executives
were chosen for the race is partly due to the need for them to take
time off their very busy and take matters of fitness seriously. He
added that their contribution to the development of Lagos State was
another reason for their involvement in the race.

Momentous

On the rationale for the race, Oni said fifty years in the life of a nation, requires special celebration.

“It will be 50
years since Nigeria gained her independence in 1960. For the world’s
most populous black nation…a 50th anniversary is a once in a lifetime
opportunity,” Oni said.

“The Nigeria
Independence Corporate Run is among the numerous events Lagos Sports
Endowment wants to utilise for re-engineering and charting the course
for development of sports in Lagos and Nigeria at large.”

With all the
details of the race already sorted out by the organisers, some of the
agencies of the Lagos State like Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State
Ambulance Services, LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, have indicated
their readiness to co-operate with the fund to ensure successful
conduct of the race.

One issue the
organisers are taking seriously is the provision of medical personnel
to take care of any emergencies that may arise during the race.

Akin George, a
sports medicine practitioner with the Lagos State Government who was at
the meeting on Thursday said the organisers are not likely to be
overwhelmed by any medical emergency that may arise.

“We have taken steps to ensure that response to any medical
emergency is immediate. Even though organisers are not liable for any
mishap because participants have brought signed documents from their
doctors indicating that they are fit to participate in the race, we
have still gone ahead to put facilities in place that would enable us
to respond within the shortest time possible, to any untoward
development,” George said.

Nigerian
basketball player, Solomon Alabi has a chance to impress the entire
coaching team of the Toronto Raptors ahead of the upcoming 2010/2011
National Basketball Association (NBA) season.

The Kaduna-born
Alabi got the opportunity after the Raptors’ prized rookie Ed Davis
underwent arthroscopic surgery to fix a meniscus tear to his right knee.

Davis, who was
selected out of North Carolina with the 13th pick of this year’s NBA
draft, hurt his knee while playing a pickup game not sanctioned by the
NBA side a week ago and had to undergo surgery on Monday to fix the
tear.

Canadian newspaper,
The Toronto Sun reported that the 21 year-old will be out for close to
two months before he will be able to resume basketball-related
activities.

And with the club’s
training camp all set to commence next week, there is no way the 6 foot
9 inch power forward will return in time for the Raptors’ first
pre-season game in Vancouver on October 6, or for the commencement of
the new season which gets underway on October 26.

It was however a
blessing in disguise for Alabi, who was acquired at the last NBA draft
on June 24 from the Dallas Mavericks, as he now has a chance to make an
impression with the coaching staff and become a starter ahead of his
debut season in the world’s most competitive basketball league.

Selected 50th
overall in the 2010 NBA draft, the 7 foot 1 inch Alabi is renowned for
his defensive abilities but has in the past two months added offensive
qualities to his skills’ repertoire. The 22 year-old was discovered
seven years ago in Nigeria by the Raptors’ erstwhile assistant general
manager, and former Nigerian basketball star Masai Ujiri who is now
with the Denver Nuggets.

Udoka in Chicago

News out of Chicago
has it that Nigerian basketball player Ime Udoka had a workout with the
Chicago Bulls on Wednesday at the Berto Centre.

A report in
Chicagobreakingsports.com stated that no contract offer was made, but
that it’s possible that the 32-year-old Udoka, who spent last season
with the Sacramento Kings but who had previously played for the
Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, could secure a
training camp invitation from the team that was led to six NBA titles
by the legendary Michael Jordan back in the 90s.

However out of the
start of training camp is Kelenna Azubuike of the New York Knicks who
is still recovering from patella tendon surgery in his knee from last
November.

“He’s got one of
the roughest injuries for a basketball player; the patella tendon,” New
York Knicks president of basketball operations Donnie Walsh said during
a pre-camp press conference. “He’s been here for three weeks, working
9-to-5 every day. Our trainers feel he can do it. But there’s always
the danger of a setback.

“I don’t think he’ll be ready for training camp but he could be ready for the regular season when that rolls around.”

Azubuike, a 6 foot 5 inch shooting guard, was born in London,
England to Nigerian parents but has yet to represent his country of
birth or Nigeria.

Dubbed
‘Phil the Thrill’ for his bold approach to the game, Phil Mickelson
gave his fans exactly what they wanted to see with a roller-coaster
opening round at the Tour Championship on Thursday.

The American world
number two, champion here last year, attracted the biggest galleries of
the day as he mixed two sparkling eagles with a birdie and four bogeys
on the way to a one-under-par 69.

Scoring was not
easy on a slick East Lake layout that became even firmer on a hot and
humid day and Mickelson ended the round just three strokes off the pace.

“It was a
challenging test today,” the four-times major winner told reporters
after recording two eagles on the back nine. “There were some good
scores and some high ones.

“I was able to
shoot one kind of in the middle there with one under par, and I’ll
gladly take it. It’s a better position than I started last year.”

Left-hander Mickelson holed out from 115 yards to eagle the par-four 12th before faltering with a bogey at the 13th.

He then struck a
superb three-wood to 11 feet at the par-five 15th before sinking the
eagle putt but again dropped a shot at the very next hole.

“It’s frustrating to follow eagles with bogeys,” he said. “It was an up-and-down round.

“But I had some
good fortune with those eagles, and I had some poor swings with those
bogeys. This golf course will really penalise you for missing any
shot.”

Number one ranking is sight

There is plenty on the line for Mickelson this week with FedExCup honours and the number one ranking also in his sights.

For Mickelson to
end Tiger Woods’s run of 276 weeks at the top, he needs to win the Tour
Championship or finish no worse than joint second with two other
players.

“I’d love to take
advantage of the opportunity,” said Mickelson, who for the 12th time
this year started a tournament with a chance to replace Woods as the
game’s leading player.

“I’ve had multiple opportunities for months, and I haven’t played well enough to do it. Hopefully I do this week.”

Victory at East
Lake would also earn Mickelson the FedExCup, along with the $10 million
bonus, but he accepts he made his task more difficult with erratic play
in the first three playoff events.

“If I had played
halfway decent, I would be in a position to control my own destiny,”
said Mickelson, who missed the cut at The Barclays, the first of the
four playoff events.

Mickelson needs to win the Tour Championship to land the FedExCup,
with the leading five players in the points’ standings going into this
week finishing sufficiently far back.

Rafa
Nadal is “a beast” on the court who is capable of overtaking Roger
Federer as the all-time grand slam king, Pete Sampras said Thursday.

“If he’s smart with
his schedule and the fact that he has so many at such a young age, he
could very well do it,” Sampras told reporters on a conference call.

The 24-year-old
Spaniard claimed his ninth grand slam crown by winning the U.S. Open
earlier this month and became the seventh man to complete a career
grand slam in the process.

Federer holds the record for most major titles with 16, having eclipsed the previous mark of 14 set by Sampras.

“The only question
with Rafa is physically how much his body can handle the pounding with
how hard he works for every point. You just watch him play, the kid is
relentless,” said Sampras, promoting an exhibition against his old
rival Andre Agassi at Madison Square Garden in February.

“It’s a huge goal,
it’s a lot of majors, a lot of work.” When asked whether Nadal needed
to pad his resume to cement his place among the sport’s all-time greats,

Sampras said, “Quite honestly I don’t think he needs to.” “He’s won all the majors.

He’s won the
Olympics. He’s dominated his main rival, in Roger,” Sampras said,
referring to the Spaniard’s 14-7 head-to-head edge over the Swiss
master.

“I don’t think his goal is 16, or 17 or 18, he’s just going to try to improve as a tennis player and if it happens, great.

“He could do it,
it’s a lot of work ahead and he works so hard in every match he plays.
But he’s a beast.” That does not mean Sampras is dismissing the
29-year-old Federer’s chances of adding to his own total.

“He’s a strong
favourite for every major he plays. He had two match points against
(Novak) Djokovic,” Sampras noted about Federer’s five-set loss to the
Serbian in the U.S. Open semi-finals.

“He could very well
have been in the final. He’s playing fine; I don’t see any big decline.
Other guys are playing better. The next two or three years is a
challenging time.

“But Roger is up to the task and can win more majors.” Sampras would not be drawn into a debate about the best of all time.

It
has not been the start to the season that the Red Devils would have
liked but the 3-2 win over arch-rivals, Liverpool, last Sunday has done
a lot to boost the confidence levels of the players, especially
hat-trick hero, Dimitar Berbatov. They face Bolton, also of Manchester
in Sunday’s early kick-off before embarking on the Wednesday Champions
League fixture against Valencia in Spain.

Ferguson told the
club’s official website that: “There was a lot of criticism of Dimitar
in the media last season, but there’s never been any doubt here about
the quality of the man.

“This season he’s
started off in the right fashion. His pre-season training was good, he
was very good on the pre-season tour and he’s carried that on.” But one
player who is still in the dumps is last season’s 34-goal hero, Wayne
Rooney. The England man, still suffering from a dismal showing at the
World Cup then got caught in the headlights of revelations that he had
cheated on his wife – Coleen – when she was pregnant with their son,
Kai.

United manager
understands the scrutiny that Rooney is undergoing and has lent his
young protégé the needed support. “I don’t believe he has a confidence
problem,” Ferguson told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.” “He is
realising what it means to be at the centre of media attention for
non-football-related questions,” added Ferguson.

“I don’t think the
boy can turn a corner at the moment without a camera on him. He can’t
move without the paparazzi being on him and, for a young person, that
is not what you want.

“You want to play
and enjoy your football without that attention on you, because that can
be quite exhausting. He would like to keep playing with freedom, but
the siege of the tabloids can wear out anyone.” The trip to the Reebok
Stadium will be the Red Devils’ fifth game in 16 days, and Michael
Carrick, Antonio Valencia are out injured while Owen Hargreaves has
just returned to training. Rio Ferdinand should partner Nemanja Vidic
after he successfully completed 90 minutes at Scunthorpe on Wednesday
night.

Bolton have lost
just two of their last 12 home games in all competitions and will
welcome back goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and Kevin Davies after
having served their respective suspensions.

Bolton manager,
Owen Coyle, explained in a pre-match press conference that, “Jussi has
been a fantastic servant to the Premier League, but nevertheless I’ve
still got a very tough decision to make, because Adam Bogdan has been
fantastic over the last three games.

Gary Cahill will
serve the final game of a three-match ban following his sending off at
Arsenal, and will be unavailable for selection, whilst Andy O’Brien,
Joey O’Brien and Sean Davis are sidelined with injury.

United are expected to pick the points at a stadium they have not lost at since 2008.

Yo-yo Juve face tough away trip

The up and down
fortunes for Gigi Del Neri and his re-building efforts at the Stadio
Del Alpi continued on Thursday as they lost at home to Palermo side
that needed a victory at all costs.

Where will the team go against Cagliari, who have not been easy opponents of the Bianconieri in recent times.

In the loss to Palermo, their opponents gave the home team more of the possession, and looked to hit on the counter.

Sitting
midfielders, Felipe Melo and Claudio Marchisio will have to do more
support work for the strikers as the fact was though Juve had more of
the ball, they did not get enough into dangerous areas of the Palermo
back line.

It left Juventus
with plenty of the ball, but not enough support in the final third,
either to provide chances or to capitalise on them. Milos Krasic tried
to stretch the opponent’s defence but so many times, his moves broke
down in the final third. Del Neri may have to start either Amauri or
Vincenzo Iaquinta to support Aessandro Del Piero and Krasic.

Cagliari will not be easy opponents and have made a good start to
the season. They held an impressive Sampdoria to a scoreless draw on
Wednesday. Cagliari are also unbeaten this term and in their last home,
pummelled Roma 5-1.