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A few months ago,
specifically on September 28, 2009, the dreams of budding Nigerian
basketball player, Emmanuel Negedu, came crashing to earth after his
heart suddenly stopped beating and he collapsed while running at the
indoor football field of his school, the University of Tennessee (UT),
following a weightlifting and workout session.

The Kaduna born
player was, however, lucky as UT’s trainer, Chad Newman, and the
school’s director of sports medicine, Jason McVeigh, were both present
and, in an act of heroism, brought the 21-year-old back to life with
Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). He later underwent surgery to
have an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) implanted in his
chest to monitor his heart’s rhythm and deliver energy when an
irregularity occurs with strict orders not to do any strenuous activity
over the next three months.

“I’d go and watch
the guys practice and go to games and dress, seeing no reason why I
couldn’t be out there playing,” recalled Negedu, the youngest of eight
children, in an interview with American sports network, ESPN.

“I felt like my
life was gone. I was alive, but I was dead. I’m telling you that was
how I felt. I was dead. I was gone. I wasn’t here anymore. I was
breathing, but my life was taken away.”

Astonishingly, just
over seven months after his near-death experience, Negedu has returned
to the basketball courts to do what he loves best but it wasn’t at UT,
who didn’t want him in their basketball programme anymore or another of
his preferred institution, Indiana University, but rather at the
University of New Mexico (UNM), where he has been reunited with old
acquaintance and coach, Steve Alford.

Negedu informed The
Associated Press he has signed a scholarship offer to play with UNM’s
basketball team, and will enrol in classes in June even as he waits to
find out if he will receive a waiver from the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA), that will allow him to play in the 2010-11
college basketball season.

“I’ve got to do
what I’ve got to do,” said Negedu. “I want to chase my dreams to play
basketball. I want to do what makes me happy, and that’s what makes me
so happy.”

But opinion is
divided regarding the decision to allow the 6 feet 7 inches tall Negedu
to play college basketball, as those against it warn he stands the risk
of dying in action, even as those in favour say there is no evidence to
suggest that such a tragic fate is inevitable.

Back from the dead

“He essentially
died,” said UT’s assistant coach, Steve Forbes, in an interview with
ESPN. “I was there that day. I went to the hospital and the emergency
room. I slept there for two nights. I’ll never forget that. But I’m
going to be worried. At the end of the day, I’m comfortable with what
we did here.” So, too, was UNM
regarding their decision. UNM’s athletic director, Paul Krebs, said the
final call was left to the university’s cardiologist and medical team,
led by Dr. Chris McGrew.

“Our doctors looked
at all the records and cleared him to play,” Krebs said. “They talked
to the doctors at Indiana, too. Our doctors have fully vetted this.”
His coach at UNM, Alford, who personally called Dr. Larry Rink,
University of Indiana’s team physician and cardiologist, regarding the
matter, said: “If he had an enlarged heart, no one would have cleared
Emmanuel.

“But he has no
issues. The stress test Indiana put him on he cleared amazingly. The
cardiologists felt there was no reason not to clear him.

“That doesn’t mean
there isn’t a risk to be aware of. He has a defibrillator, so you have
to be alert and the coaches should know CPR. Everybody knows the
potential risks. But once he was cleared, the athletic director,
myself, and the president all signed off on it. Dr. Rink told me there
is no reason why he shouldn’t be able to play.”

A thorough
examination revealed that there was nothing structurally wrong with
Negedu’s heart, confirming what the big forward already knew.

“Everything had
checked out normal, my stress test, echocardiograms,” Negedu told ESPN.
“My doctor that did the surgery cleared me to play. I feel I can play.
I’m fine.

“There was no
evidence of damage to my heart. I went to Indiana, I talked to them, it
was all good and then somebody said, ‘Sorry, it’s not going to work
out.’ I was down. I didn’t want to talk to other schools. I wanted to
go to Indiana. But after that, I was open to going anywhere.”

Precedence

That next step took
Negedu in the direction of Will Kimble, who had an ICD inserted in him
back in 2002 after he collapsed on the basketball court.

“I told him that if
you’re going to do it, you have to treat yourself like you’re any other
player,” said Kimble, who went on to play with an ICD in 64 games,
covering two seasons (2004-06) at the University of Texas in El Paso
(UTEP) without incident.

Kimble went on to
reveal that UTEP trainers and doctors would put a protective cover over
his chest to help absorb any blows which were commonplace for his
position as a forward, which is also Negedu’s position.

“I told him that
you have to be comfortable out there and you should be around people
who are comfortable with you playing,” continued Kimble who then added:

“He’s probably
better off than four or five guys out there [playing basketball] that
don’t even know they have a problem [without an ICD].”

Under NCAA rules,
Negedu is expected to wait until the 2011-12 season before he can be
eligible to feature for UNM, but the school is set to meet with NCAA
officials in their bid to make him eligible for the upcoming season,
which is perfect for Negedu as he just wants to keep on playing
basketball.

“I love to play the
game, this is what I’ve been doing,” he continued. “Every morning I
woke up and they said, you can’t do this, you can’t do this. You can’t
run, you can’t jump for three months. I would go for another check-up
and if they found something wrong with me, then okay, I won’t do this
anymore.

“But they found
nothing wrong, so that’s what keeps me going,” added Negedu, who then
disclosed that he recently called home to inform his family he had been
cleared to play at New Mexico.

There was, however,
someone dear to him who was missing when he called home to share his
piece of good news, as one of his older sisters had died back in
January of malaria at the age of 39.

“I could feel them jumping through the phone,” he said. “I’m happy. I’m alive. I can’t wait to get back on the court.”

It is now clear why Nigerian football is in such a mess.

It is now apparent
why, with less three weeks to the World Cup in South Africa, our
national team, the Super Eagles, have yet to play one international
friendly match to put the squad in shape for the Mundial.

While serious
minded leaders of other football federations whose teams will be taking
part in the World Cup have been firming up strategies to ensure
successful performance of their squads, our own Sani Lulu, president of
the Nigeria Football Federation, has been busy seeking and receiving
awards.

Last week, Lulu and
his henchmen; Amanze Uchegbulam, Taiwo Ogunjobi, and Bolaji Ojo-Oba
were in Benue to receive an award from the that state’s chapter of the
Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN).

There they were
reportedly given the Tiv’s traditional weapons of war, which as the
association put it, would be used “to go to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa and conquer.”

Presiding over rot

It would have
sounded comical having an effete body like the Benue SWAN empowering an
equally lethargic quartet to go and conquer. But the situation on the
ground certainly does not permit laughter. And it is a situation that
Lulu and his men have created. The NFF president has contrived a
situation where Nigerian football has been dragged to the very nadir,
and has become the butt of jokes locally and internationally.

How has he done it?
Put simply, through mind-boggling incompetence. From the moment he took
office in 2007 till now, there has been zero progress in terms of the
development of football either at the grass roots or at the elite level
in the country. The senior national football team, the Super Eagles,
which he inherited from his predecessor, has gone from listless to near
moribund. It is thus no surprise that on the eve of the biggest global
football event, one that is taking place on our very own continent, the
faith of Nigerians in their national squad is almost nil.

From day one,
Lulu’s concern has been nothing other than taking steps to ensure that
he gets a second term as FA boss, and he has gone about it in quite a
brazen manner. The way he rushed through the amendment of the
federation’s statutes and some of the absurd provisions contained
therein speak of nothing but raw ambition. After he had craftily
manufactured ‘amendments’ to the statutes, he promptly forwarded them
to his patrons in FIFA as if that would put a seal of finality on his
return to the glass house.

Naked ambition

It is this naked
ambition of Lulu that has paralysed the activities of the NFF,
particularly its World Cup programme. Somehow, the NFF president has
managed to make an otherwise serious-minded professional like Lars
Lagerback, look like a rank amateur. Deep down, Lagerback must be
wondering what led him to do business with men like Lulu and
Uchegbulam. The only comfort he can derive from the whole sordid affair
is that he is been handsomely paid even to while away time.

It does not matter
to Lulu what Nigerian football fans who invest their time, money, and
emotions in the support of the Eagles think. Right now what gladdens
the heart of the NFF boss is that he has received the endorsement of
his lackeys in the South East, North West, North East, South West and
North Central zones. That is what is important to Lulu.

That Lagerback met
the bulk of his players for the first time two days ago in Abuja, means
nothing to Lulu. After all, the way he sees it, the development has no
direct bearing on his plans to return to office. Which is why he did
not feel a twinge of conscience that he chose for our national team’s
World cup base, a road side motel fit only for a budding amateur
football club.

But who can blame
Lulu? With fellows such as the ones in Benue who conferred an award on
him, and his cronies massaging his ego, how can he not think he is
doing good. Quite frankly, individuals like the ones in Benue SWAN give
journalists a bad name. How on earth can we be watchdogs and praise
singers in the same breath? Surely, things can’t get worse than this.

At the young age of
23, French man Rafael Nadal has achieved what players in their thirties
have not yet confirmed as a goal. Nadal, last week, in Madrid won a
record-breaking 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title as he defeated
rival Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6(5), in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 final Sunday at
the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. This was their first meeting after the
2009 Madrid final, which Federer won on the way to claiming his first
French Open.

But Nadal is back
to his best on his favourite surface. He became the first player to win
all three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay court tournaments in the
same year, having triumphed at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the
Internazionali BNL d’Italia and Madrid Masters tournaments.

With 28 tour-level
clay-court titles, the Spaniard has moved into level pegging with Ivan
Lendl in fifth place and Ilie Nastase in modern day tennis. Guillermo
Vilas, however, holds the all-time record of 45 titles on clay. If
Nadal stays fit over the next five years, he could yet eclipse Vilas’
record.

On the back of the
win over his main challenger, Federer, Nadal goes to Roland Garros
buoyed by the fact that he is about back to his clay court best.

After the win, an
elated Nadal said: “But I’m pretty happy with the way I played. I’ve
played great this week so I definitely come out of this tournament with
tons of confidence.”

Tons of confidence
aside, his record at Roland Garros is scary. He has lost just once
since he started competing at the tennis Grand Slam since 2005 and that
was to Robin Soderling at last year’s event. He lost in the fourth
round but that defeat can be ascribed to be an injury-induced one. He
had to pull out of the tour to tend his knees and the well reported
case of tendinitis.

Celebrating 30
years of French clay A premiere of the “30 years of contemporary art at
Roland Garros” exhibition was unveiled on Tuesday at the Roland Garros
gallery of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) museum. The exhibition
celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Galerie Lelong and the FFT
working together. For thirty years – since 1980, the two institutions
have commissioned this edition’s tournament poster from a popular
modern day artist. About 50 works – from the past and present, are on
display at the gallery, with the opening attended by FFT President Jean
Gachassin and a whole host of guests including Nalani Malani, who
designed the 2010 poster.

Road to glory

There were a lot of
movements in the new rankings released on Monday and that brought up
the likelihood that there could be a Federer versus Nadal final again
in France. Venus Williams meanwhile made the final in Madrid which gave
her enough points to move to No.2, behind her younger sister, Serena.
So another Williams’ final is a distinct possibility.

Wilfried Tsonga
will count himself a lucky chap with Juan Martin del Potro and Nikolay
Davydenko pulling out, the Mohammed Ali look-alike will be seeded No.8
and will not have to play a fellow top 10 player before the
quarter-finals at the earliest.

1998 winner Carlos
Moya, David Nalbandian and Ivo Karlovic have all had to withdraw
through injury and their places in the main draw have been taken by
Robby Ginepri and Taylor Dent from the US and Japanese Bollettieri
academy player Kei Nishikori.

Also in the male
draws, Fernando Verdasco of Spain seems to be back to his hitting best
after suffering a foot problem at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in
Madrid earlier in the month. He looked back to his best on Wednesday as
he brushed aside Florent Serra 6-2, 6-2 in his opening match at the
Open de Nice.

France pair of
Richard Gasquet and crowd favourite, Gael Monfils are getting precious
match time on the French Riviera as well, having also made it through
to the quarter-finals. Swedish 2009 French Open finalist Robin
Soderling and Nadal conqueror suffered a shock upset however at the
hands of Belgian Olivier Rochus.

The poster girl of
tennis is back, former world number one; Russian Maria Sharapova will
be in France after almost a year of niggling injuries. She will be at
Roland Garros after playing at the Internationaux de Strasbourg
tournament, brushing aside Bulgaria’s Dia Evtimova 6-3, 6-0.

But on current form, no player on the circuit will fancy their
chances against Nadal in the men’s tournament, this Madrid-born clay
court master is not afraid to get dirty to win.

Nigerian golfer Abdullahi Ali who died on Wednesday, has been buried in Kaduna.

Ali died in an
automobile accident 30 kilometres from Minna in Niger State. Another
Nigerian golfer, Christian Godfrey and a caddy simply identified as
Bernard also died in the crash.

Reports say the
trio were on their way to Minna to participate in the Minna Cantonment
Professional Golf Championship when one of the tyres of the vehicle in
which they were travelling burst forcing the vehicle into a head-on
collision with another vehicle.

Abdullahi Ali was one of Africa’s hottest professional golfers.

Last month, playing
in his first tour outside Nigeria this year, he blew away an
experienced field of golfers to win the Moanda Golf Championship, which
took place at Manga Golf Club in Gabon.

With him at that tournament were two other Nigerians, Basiru Bakare and Gift Willy, who jointly finished in sixth place.

Among the players Ali scalped were five-time champion and Gabon’s number one, Brice Moukagni.

The young golfer
was understandably ecstatic following his achievement, dedicating his
victory to the golf family in Nigeria which he said had been of immense
support to him.

One month after his
feat in Gabon, Ali won the Cameroon International Golf Championship. It
was a remarkable achievement for someone who turned professional in
2005.

His triumph in
Cameroon took place over a week ago. Four days after, he was dead,
throwing the golf community in Nigeria into mourning. Sam Emehelu, one
of Nigeria’s leading writers on golf who has travelled on several tours
with Ali, described his death as painful.

“News of his death
came as a shock to me. It was unbelievable because I could not imagine
that a player that I was with only a few days in Yaoundé during the
Cameroon Open had passed on. It is indeed a big blow to golf in Nigeria
because he and Godfrey were two of the leading golfers in Nigeria,”
Emehelu said.

Great professionals

Basiru Bakare, Ali’s close friend who was in Gabon and Cameroon with him is saddened by the loss.

“This is a huge
loss to me personally; he was a close friend. As a matter of fact we
shared a room in Yaoundé last week. This is a big, big blow,” he said,

With Ali’s burial,
a chapter has been closed on one of the most exciting periods in the
annals of professional golfing in Nigeria. Godfrey is yet to be buried.
Golf faithful await details of his burial from his family. Like Ali,
Godfrey who was an indigene of Edo State and an accomplished golfer.

He turned
professional in 2002 and three years later became the first Nigerian
professional golfer to feature on the European tour when he was invited
to participate in the Omega Masters tournament in Switzerland.

On the Nigeria
tour, he won a number of tournaments including the IBB Open where he
holds the course record, the ULO Consultants, the Pinnacle Open and the
President Open, which he won last in November 2009. Godfrey was a
member of the Nigerian contingent at the World Cup of Golf qualifier,
which took place in Malaysia last year.

Dominic Andrew, PGAN Nigeria Tour tournament director says Godfrey and Ali will be missed.

“We don’t know for
how long but we would have to mourn these great individuals. We
commensurate with their families and pray that the Lord grant them the
fortitude to bear this great loss. It is a great loss to the golf
family and the country at large. We will miss them a lot,” he said.

As a mark of
respect for the dead golfers, the Minna tournament, which they were
going to participate in before they died, has been postponed. In a
related development, the body of professional golfers in Nigeria, the
Professional Golfers Association, says it will organise an annual
tournament in honour of Ali.

>> 1977- The first MRI scan was performed on a human being in the United States of America.

>> 1989- Two-year ban clamped on
Nigeria, following alterations to the ages of three players at the 1988
Olympics in South Korea. The players – Dahiru Sadi, Andrew Uwe and
Samson Siasia – had previously represented Nigeria at U-20 level.

>> 2002- The Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) bans 16 players from four countries – Oman, Iran,
Bangladesh and Thailand – for fielding over aged players at the 2000
AFC U-16 Championship. An additional eight players from Pakistan and
four from Yemen are also banned at the end of the 2002 tournament.

>> 2003- CAF bans Kenya after
fielding players who were over the age of 20 for an African Youth
Championship qualifier. The secretary of the Kenyan FA, Hussein Swaleh
was banned for three years after the players insisted FA officials were
aware of their real ages and had played a role in falsifying their age
documents.

>> 2008- North Korea, Tajikistan
and Iraq lose their spots in the 2008 AFC U-16 Championship despite
making it from the qualifiers after fielding over aged players.

>> 2008- Niger gets kicked out of
Nigeria 2009 after fielding a 22-year-old player at the qualifying
tournament in Algeria, with their place taken by Malawi who went on to
make their debut at a FIFA tournament.

>> 2009- Yemen’s qualification
for Nigeria 2009 is annulled by the AFC after an MRI scan on one of
their players, Wesam Saleh Ahmed Al Worafi, revealed he was over 16
years old.

Usain Bolt returns
to China, the scene of his Beijing 2008 break out, seeking to establish
a further mark as the leading sprinter on the planet.

After destroying
the field and breaking records aplenty, the Jamaican might be forgiven
for taking it easy, but that is not his plans. There are many
established sprinters like Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell who are itching
to be the first to beat the world record holder, as well as some
younger runners who have a thirst for his scalp.

He obviously
enjoyed the attention as he luxuriated in it on his return to China on
Friday, accompanied by former champion in the 110m hurdles, Liu Xiang,
who is trying to resuscitate his athletics career.

Bolt said at the
meeting: “I am loving it; this is where I burst out. I really enjoy the
crowd here; there is a lot of support.” Bolt won the 100 and 200 meters
gold at the Beijing Olympics in world record time and will start his
grand prix season officially in Shanghai. He will run in the 200m on
Sunday in the Diamond League’s second meet of the season.

At the press
conference, he was regaled by a first meeting with the Chinese
sprinter, which left Bolt giggling. The pair was asked if they could
remember when they first met, and Xiang recalled the 2005 World
Championships in Helsinki where he watched Bolt limp off the track
injured.

Setting new records

On Wednesday, Bolt
clocked a time of 9.86 seconds in Daegu, South Korea, easily defeating
compatriot, Michael Frater, with a time that was 0.28 slower than his
world record of 9.58s.

But he was still
sprightly after the race, saying he knows he will be beaten one day. “I
have said it before, I can be beaten. I really work hard not to be,” he
said, adding that a defeat could even make the sport more interesting.
“I take everybody seriously as long as you are in the lane beside me.”
Asked if he will be trying to break the 200m record, Bolt said: “I
don’t know how close I can get. I’ll try to run hard to execute, as I
always am keen to give my fans a good show. That’s always my aim,” he
concluded.

Bolt will be
running only the 200m in China. “I do enjoy going out and doing the
200m. I’ve heard good things about this track, I’ve been told it’s very
good, so if it is as good as they say, it should be a good time. I’m
just looking forward to going out there, and executing and coming out
injury free.”

Having started the
season like he ended the last one, he is just happy to be fresh and fit
for the outdoor season. “I’m definitely proud the way I’ve started out
my season in both events,” he said, though he conceded he still has
areas in his racing technique that have to be fine-tuned.

All that his competitors can pray for is to catch the record holder on his off day in Daegu today.

Sunday saw Barcelona and Internazionale crowned champions of
Spain and Italy respectively; in my view, both clubs were worthy winners of
their league titles.

Let’s start with Barça. After a historic 2008/09 season which
saw them win an unprecedented six trophies, it was inevitable this year would
be a letdown. There would be no way Pep Guardiola could inspire his group of
players to do it all again. However, their surprising defeat in the Copa del
Rey aside, the Blaugrana actually came close to another impressive trophy haul.

They narrowly lost to Inter in the Champions League semi-finals
and made sure they would not end the season empty handed by winning La Liga on
the final day with a record points total.

At the centre of their latest contest was a duo that has to rate
as one of the best of all-time; Xavi Hernandez and Leo Messi. These two players
have an understanding which led to a large percentage of the goals netted by
Barcelona this season.

The Spanish midfielder finished the season as the king of
assists, and what can be said about Leo? Wow! 46 goals in all competitions this
season, and he is not even an out-and-out striker. Simply incredible.

I will express my sympathy for Real Madrid manager Manuel
Pellegrini. His team set new marks for points and goals scored but the
Merengues finished the season empty-handed. Even with Cristiano Ronaldo at his
best, they could not overtake Barcelona on the final stretch in the race for
the league title. The “Chilean Engineer,” as he is known, will now have to find
a new job as Jose Mourinho is expected to waltz into the Santiago Bernabeu
before the start of the new campaign.

Which leads me to Internazionale. They were the best team in
Italy this season and were worthy champions. For the good of Italian football,
I would have liked Roma to win, since it isn’t healthy for one team to claim
five straight titles.

However, the Nerazzuri were better, faster, and stronger, and
deserve to celebrate another Scudetto. Diego Milito was simply outstanding in
the last month of the season and it is fitting that he has been selected by
Diego Maradona to represent Argentina at the World Cup. Inter’s other top
performers like Walter Samuel, Lucio, and Wesley Sneijder will be there. They
will go to South Africa as treble winners since I believe Inter will beat
Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Madrid.

As far as Jose Mourinho is concerned, he has proven once more
that in the present day he is the best coach on the planet. Give him the
resources, and he will give you success. Guaranteed. He now has collected 16
trophies in 10 years in management. Statistics like these do not lie.

One final word about England’s FA Cup final. I grew up watching
these games on television and always considered them to be a showpiece of the
football season. Having watched this last weekend’s match between Chelsea and
Portsmouth from afar once more, I became disillusioned with everything this
game is supposed to represent.

There were empty seats, the fans were lethargic, and the pitch
was embarrassingly poor. It didn’t look like the home of football. It didn’t
even look like a field that should host a final of any sort.

CNN Sport correspondent
Pedro Pinto will anchor CNN International’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup in
South Africa.

He wrtes for NEXT every Monday

The football season
has come to a close around Europe, save for the Champions League final,
which comes up tomorrow. We won’t waste precious column space talking
about the finales and if that has anything to do with a certain London
club winning the English Premier League crown, then I stand guilty as
charged. One can only imagine the words that would have flowed on this
page had Manchester United retained the premiership for an
unprecedented fourth time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

One measly point separated the two sides and condemned all Manchester United supporters to a year of taunts from Blues fans.

The other Drogba

Some of this
sentiment must have contributed to the reported clash between some fans
in Maiduguri after the last games in the English Premier League. The
first emotion upon reading the article was astonishment – thousands of
miles away from the actual action, there was such high feelings as to
cause a violent disagreement! It’s not the first time this has
happened. We’ve heard of or read stories of stabbings, street scuffles
and arguments among rival supporters of European clubs. But it never
ceases to amaze. Of the two men injured in the Maiduguri conflict, one
was nicknamed Drogba. While his more famous namesake was scoring a hat
trick, he was being carted off to a clinic. Again and again, there is
proof of the worldwide appeal of the English Premier League. The
implication of this popularity is that fewer and fewer Nigerian
football enthusiasts identify with teams in our local leagues.

In a very
unscientific survey I conducted recently, I asked some football fans to
name five teams in the Nigerian League and not one could come up with
the correct answer. Yet our Nigerian Drogba feels the need to engage in
a largely meaningless scuffle with a Manchester United supporter. While
I’m not saying that there should be a clash between fans of Enyimba and
Bayelsa United, it would certainly be heart-warming to see some kind of
positive emotion associated with the local league. I repeat, I am not
advocating that Nigerian soccer fans should start widespread fighting
and stabbing in the name of supporting the Nigerian League.

Let it not be said
that I am a promoter of violence. It would be nice to see the Nigerian
League hold the same appeal as foreign leagues.

Solaja’s timely intervention

Moving away from
Maiduguri’s Drogba and his kind, I’d say it was uplifting to hear about
Kunle Solaja’s book launch. The book, “Super Eagles through the Ages,”
gives a historical record of the national football team from 1949.
There is such a paucity of information about sports in the country that
any publication aiming to fill this gap must be lauded. It is
noteworthy that the publication came from an individual and not from
the Nigerian Football Federation.

Can we say they
have made up for it in a little way by attending the launch and
purchasing numerous copies of the book? Commendable, no doubt but they
need to build on this and actually spearhead such initiatives. The NFF
ought to sponsor more efforts such as these, as opposed to relying on
the private sector and a few committed individuals.

There’s no reason
why we shouldn’t, for example, have a football museum. Not only could
entrance fees and sales of memorabilia generate revenue, but museums
also naturally serve as resource and education centres. Up to date
websites could provide much needed instant information for the general
public. And it shouldn’t stop at football.

The importance of keeping records cannot be overemphasized. It is
our responsibility to ensure that the next generation does not forget.
Only then can we have Maiduguri Odegbamis and Lokoja Okochas instead of
the Drogbas of Maiduguri.

The answer to the
above question is no, judging by the structures Bio, the sports
minister and chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), has
found himself with.

There is absolutely
no wisdom in pouring pure water into a dirty container and expect human
beings to consume such. It is criminal. Just as it is useless talking
to a wall, there is no sense in proposing fresh, proactive,
life-changing and intelligent ideas, to “demi-semi” illiterates, who
are visionless, inept and morally bankrupt – to say the least.

The truth,
therefore, is that Bio has no business doing business with majority of
those with him in the NSC, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and
the sports ministry. They must be thrown “over-board”, or advised to
resign honourably. Bio must not be allowed to swim with sharks.

Reports reaching us
from Abuja, confirm that the cool-headed, calm, media shy, but very
astute ex Federal Transport Minister, is already being perceived as an
enigma, within the sporting fraternity.

Even union leaders,
bear testimonies of his effectiveness while he was at the transport
ministry. We are made to understand that he still rides his personal
cars and goes about his duties without the usual fanfare exhibited by
his predecessors.

So, is this the
“messiah” we have been praying for? Is this the God-sent fellow to
rescue Nigerian sports? Well, only God has that answer for now, and of
course, time will tell.

The fact is that
truth is bitter, and in most cases very repulsive. Most human beings
hate it and would rather listen to and accept that which is not true.

For instance, as a
fanatic and apostle of grass roots sports development, I absolutely
agree with Bio, that he would focus, vigorously, on sports development.
Minister, you have an ally here. An organism or organization that does
not continue growing or that has stopped growing will eventually die.
No more, no less.

If this were to be
true of Nigerian sports, and of course it is true, if we are not to
continue deceiving ourselves, then, football, which is my area of
interest and specialization is “dead” in this great nation of ours. And
this is very pathetic. Did I hear you say, “but it is said that we have
the best league in Africa?” Whoever said that should not only be
sanctioned, but remanded somewhere. Why?

Last week
Wednesday, 12th of May 2010, marked 20 years of professional league
football in Nigeria. The statute that established the Football
Association to administer the league, stipulated that all the football
teams registering to partake in the league had seven years within which
to be transformed into football clubs, with all the required
paraphernalia like a club house, formation of other sports teams like
basket ball, tennis, etc as part of the club; formation of functional
Board of Trustees and so on and so forth. But alas, what do we have
today?

A crawling twenty- year old

Check very well and
you will discover the travesty, the bankruptcy we find ourselves in as
a nation. Can you imagine a twenty year old still crawling? That is the
state of the Nigerian football league.

So, one is tempted
to ask what all those who had been through the glass house in Abuja did
while there? I believe Nigerians deserve an explanation. What can
people like Taiwo Ogunjobi, Patrick Ekeji, Sani Lulu and Bolaji Ojo
Oba, and of course the big masquerade himself, the untouchable sacred
cow of Nigerian sports-the one and only Amos Adamu, say about this?
Nigerians deserve to know.

Kudos must however
be given to Adegboye Onigbinde for the efforts he made to transform
IICC Shooting Stars to 3SC. The whole idea then was to establish a
truly functional sports club. But some “alamala” politicians (apologies
to Kojo Williams), would not let him.

Are these the same set of people Nigerians will allow Bio to have around him?

By the way, I
whole-heartedly welcome the idea of the forthcoming National Sports
Summit. I believe and pray that several issues will be dealt with and
Nigerians will be able to decide how sports should be administered in
this great nation.

Let me warn once
again, Bio please tread softly. Watch out for the “banana peels.” May
the God of grace be gracious unto you, and may He rescue Nigerian
sports from the grips of the enemies of this massively blessed nation,
Amen.

The game of rugby
in Nigeria has come a long way. It has made some progress from the
period when little was known about it to the present where it has a
thriving league and has become part of the National Sports Festival.

Looking at what is
happening now, it is difficult to imagine that just under ten years
ago, the vast majority of Nigerian sports fans hadn’t the faintest idea
what the game was all about. This was due principally to the fact that
even though the game had been in existence in the country for more than
two decades, it had not been given the decisive push that would make it
visible enough to attract the attention of the public.

The efforts of
individuals like Ntiense Williams, Kayode Oguntayo and Kelechi Mbagwu
have been instrumental in giving the sport a new lease of life. Their
decision, a few years ago to come together under the auspices of the
‘Friends of Rugby’ to transform the sport, proved pivotal in attracting
the interest of young men and women who now fancy the game.

Concessioning trouble

Sadly, these modest
gains are in danger of being eroded. The ‘Friends of Rugby’ has
splintered with Oguntayo and his associates in the Racing Club pulling
away leaving Mbagwu and Williams to continue with the original idea.
Oguntayo and associates now run the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation
(NRFF) courtesy of the concessioning of the sport by the National
Sports Commission (NSC) last year.

That concessioning,
done with the aim of further improving the lot of the game, is proving
to be a double-edged sword. While it has managed to sweep away the
ineffectual board of the federation and the incompetent secretariat
whose ineptitude stank to high heavens and put in place individuals
with sufficient knowledge of the game, passion and administrative
acumen, it has caused acrimony within the rugby family.

Matters have been
made worse by the ban on Nigeria’s participation in international rugby
tournaments by the International Rugby Board following Friends of
Rugby’s protest of the process that threw up Racing Club as winners of
the concessioning move.

It is not
encouraging that the men who have the will and resources to engineer a
revolution of the sport are at each other’s throats. I have known
Williams for years and can vouch for his passion for rugby. That
Nigerian journalists have come to embrace the sport and give it more
coverage is the result of his persistence. Mbagwu for his part has
spent his personal funds to ensure that the game does not die. So has
Oguntayo.

Indeed, my first
encounter with Oguntayo and his team inspired me to think that perhaps
in the hands of these young men rugby would be safe in Nigeria. Their
awareness of issues pertaining to the sport and their technological and
organisational savvy were a welcome departure from the drab and
mediocre world of past rugby federations, to whom planning and
organisation proved to be rocket science.

Calling truce

We must move
forward. In the interest of the sport, truce must be called. The
warring parties must bury their egos and work together for the
development of the game. There is too much at stake for us to allow the
present scenario to continue to play itself out.

One of the reasons
the IRB slammed a ban on Nigeria was because it was not too convinced
that the process that brought the present board into being was wholly
transparent.

The present
leadership of the NSC should find a way to work out an arrangement that
sees the estranged comrades close ranks and take Nigerian rugby to the
level. New Sports Minister, Ibrahim Bio, has shown, in the few weeks
that he has been in office, that he is not wanting in either courage or
vision. A united rugby family will bring a breath of fresh air to the
scene and encourage former and present Nigerian rugby players in the
Diaspora, to explore ways in which they can form a synergy with their
brothers at home to propel the game forward.