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Can Nigerian football survive the present throes of crises it is embroiled in? Will there be light at the end of the tunnel once the whole crisis blows over, if indeed it will?

These are tough times for the beautiful game. From every side football in the country is buffeted by crisis.

In the last one week members of the football fraternity have been treated to the spectacle of the court annulling an election that should not have held in the first place as well as an appeal against that decision. More importantly, there have been witnesses to shocking revelations of how the former leadership of Nigeria’s football governing body, the Nigeria Football Federation under impeached president, Sani Lulu, allegedly played Father Christmas with the funds of the federation.

To squander public funds on family members, cronies and friends, as these men are alleged to have done, is very unfortunate. To think that all these purportedly took place at a time funds were desperately needed to develop the game gives serious cause for worry.

It is fitting that they have been made to face the law. They will have an opportunity to defend themselves and prove to Nigerians that these grievous charges are not true. For, if indeed they are true, then we must question the state of mind of individuals we entrust with public property. We will question what would drive individuals to connive and pass off repainted buses as new ones and pocket millions in taxpayers’ funds or even to lavish $259, 080 as allowances on 68 individuals not entitled to such allowances.

The whole saga raises fundamental issues, one of which is the need for checks on individuals who hold public office. I recall that years ago when former chairman of the Nigeria Football Association devised statutes for the association, Abdulmumini Alao one of Nigeria’s most brilliant and forthright journalists had warned that the statutes were a potential time bomb in that it conferred too much power on the chairman of the association. He advised that something be done to whittle down his powers so that in future no individual could hold the game to ransom. His plea was not heeded and the result is what we are seeing today.

The charges against Lulu, Amanze Uchegbulam, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Bolaji Ojo-Oba by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the ongoing battle in the courts over the August 26 elections into the executive committee of the NFF are results of the failure to heed that advice.

If the NFF congress had done the right thing at the time, Lulu would not have been presented with an opportunity to tinker with the statutes to the extent that he has; he would not have manipulated the system to prune the number of voting delegates at NFF executive committee elections to 44 from 101 in the hope that majority of those delegates 37 of them who happen to chairmen of the 37 state football associations and Abuja (who he is alleged to have bought over by sponsoring them to the World Cup in South Africa) would return him to power.

As it is, his plan backfired but we are left to pick the pieces. We are presented with a situation where erstwhile comrades have become sworn enemies because rather than pursue the growth of Nigerian football for which they congregated in Abuja in the first place, they pursued private agendas.

It would be foolhardy of us to think that sole responsibility for the rot in our game should rest squarely with Lulu and his associates now facing the law. In varying degrees we are all culpable – from board members who looked the other when Lulu drunk on power ran the federation like his private company; journalists who benefitting one way or the other from the federation glossed over glaring inconsistencies between the mandate given to the federation and their actual performance, and the Ministry of Sports which is statutorily empowered to supervise the NFF shirked its responsibility.

That said, we must find a way out of the present situation we have found ourselves in.

One way to begin is to take a critical look at legislation regulating sports in the country and determine whether they need revision or outright abrogation. The Decree 101 of 1992, which in 2004 transmuted into NFA Act of 2004 remains the document giving government control over the NFF or NFA as it rightly ought to be called given the fact that Lulu’s unilateral change of body’s name has not been backed up by law.

If the law must continue to be in existence, and it appears that the men who have run football in the last four years are not interested in its abrogation, then they must be willing to be bound by its provisions. It does not make sense to receive public funding under the law and then refuse to be accountable for such funds when the time comes.

Our football administrators have played a double game in this regard. They have tried to play Nigeria off against FIFA. They profess loyalty to government in order to induce it to finance their activities while at the same giving FIFA the impression that they are legally an independent entity in whose affairs the Nigerian government is meddling in. Clearly, this cannot continue to go on.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters held off a gritty challenge from fifth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur,

surviving an error-filled three-set battle on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open.

With both players
struggling to hold serve in tricky winds on Arthur Ashe centre court,
the second-seeded Belgian steadied herself at the end to complete a 6-4
5-7 6-3 win that set up a showdown against American Venus Williams.

“This whole 10 days
has been really tough to get used to the weather conditions,” said
Clijsters, referencing the severe heat earlier in the tournament and
the gusting winds of late.

Mental battle

“Every match is
just a battle and mentally you just have to try and beat it.” Clijsters
stopped a string of six successive service breaks at the start of the
final set to seize a 4-3 lead before breaking Stosur again and then
holding serve to end the match.

The victory was the 19th in a row for Clijsters at Flushing Meadows, including her championship run in 2005.

Injury and then a
temporary retirement to begin a family kept her away from the
tournament until her triumphant return last year.

Williams, like
Clijsters a two-time U.S. Open winner, was a straight-sets winner over
French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the day’s other women’s
quarter-final.

French Open
finalist Stosur, who saved four match points in defeating Russian Elena
Dementieva in the fourth round, rose up again to force a third set,
ending the last two games of the second set with forehand volleys to
win her first set ever against Clijsters after three previous career
defeats.

Stosur held serve
to end the set after three successive service breaks in winds that made
tosses difficult to manage. Clijsters made eight double faults in the
114-minute match.

The spate of
service breaks to start the third set made for nine service breaks in a
10-game span before Clijsters righted the ship.

“I was just able to be a little more aggressive in that third set,” the Belgian said.

“Although my serve wasn’t going as well as I would like it to go, I
ended up winning.” Clijsters made 43 unforced errors and Stosur, who
was up an early break in each of the sets, committed 36 in the
mistake-filled, wind-tossed match.

Nigeria’s sole
surviving representative in the CAF Champions League, Heartland FC left
for Egypt on Wednesday ahead of Sunday’s crucial tie against Al-Ahly in
Cairo. Heartland will be aiming for a win to keep their hopes of
advancing to the semi-finals of the competition alive.

Having secured
their first win of the group stage in their 2-1 win over another
Egyptian side, Ismaily, in Owerri, on August 30, Heartland know
anything less than a win against the six-time Champions League winners
will knock them out of the competition.

With Algeria’s JS
Kabylie already assured of a place in the semi-finals, with three wins
and a draw (ten points), the Naze Millionaires have to claim the second
spot to make the next round from Group B.

Free for all

The situation in
the group is dicey as a win for either Al-Ahly or Heartland on Sunday
will see the victors claiming second place, until the final round of
matches, to be held in a fortnight, when Heartland play hosts to JS
Kabylie while Ismaily take on Al-Ahly in an all Egyptian derby.

A win for Al-Ahly,
who are currently second with five points, and a loss for Ismaily on
Friday in their game against JS Kabylie, will guarantee Al-Ahly a spot
in the competition’s last four as Heartland, at present are in third
spot with four points.

An away win for the
Naze Millionaires and a loss for Ismaily, will see Heartland requiring
just a draw in their next match to secure second place. With these
scenarios at the back of their minds, Heartland’s preparations have
been in top gear ahead of Sunday’s game which the club’s assistant
coach, Emeka Ezeugo believes will not be a stroll in the park.

“We are going into
their own territory and they are not just going to sit down and watch
us win. They will try everything they can to keep us from winning. They
would be utilising every opportunity they get so we know we are in for
a tough game and therefore we should not relax,” said the former Super
Eagles midfielder.

With the team
travelling almost 4,000 kilometers from Nigeria to Egypt, jetlag and
other factors could come into play which is why the club’s management
opted to travel to Egypt on Wednesday, four days ahead of the match in
order to get the best performance out of the players.

“It is sure that travel would have its effects on them as they would
be moving to an entirely different environment. That is why they are
moving to Egypt (Wednesday) so as to get acclimatised with the new
environment.”

England’s second
accomplished victory within a week may not have erased the bitter
memory of a woeful World Cup campaign but the dark clouds hanging over
coach Fabio Capello’s head are showing signs of dissipating.

Injuries and
retirements may have forced the Italian’s hand but England’s
performances in the 4-0 home win against Bulgaria and Tuesday’s 3-1 win
against Switzerland in Basel have been a breath of fresh air and even
Capello appears to be having fun.

Whether by design or by accident, England suddenly look like a team capable of shaking off years of under-achievement.

When substitute
Darren Bent rammed in England’s third goal to put Capello’s side top of
Euro 2012 qualifying Group G, his grizzled face broke into a broad
smile and he cheekily poked out his tongue at goalkeeping coach Ray
Clemence.

It was a moment of
spontaneity that matched much of the play of his team, which while
still set up in traditional 4-4-2 formation, suddenly looks to have
shed the straight-jacket that suffocated their soccer in South Africa.

Emile Heskey’s
retirement from international football and the injury to Peter Crouch
meant Capello had no option but to abandon his preference for a target
man and play Jermain Defoe in unison with a deeper-lying Wayne Rooney.

Immediately the dynamic was changed.

Long aerial passes,
of which Steven Gerrard often used to over-play, became pointless and
the emphasis was on quick incisive passing into the feet of mobile
strikers.

It worked a treat
and the only surprise was that England failed to add to the early
opener scored by Rooney – his first competitive goal for his country
for nearly a year.

Perfect display

Rooney’s vision is
wasted when he leads the line chasing down the channels and his
movement and passing against Bulgaria was a reminiscent of his
Manchester United team mate Paul Scholes at his best.

Skipper Gerrard
clearly reveled in his role too, which was more akin to the position he
plays to such effect with Liverpool and the dilemma Capello now faces
is what happens when Frank Lampard, ruled out through injury, is fit
again?

“The first half was
perfect – everything the manager asked of us,” Gerrard, who played in
the lively Adam Johnson for England’s second goal, said after the game.

“We got the game plan spot on. People were talking about how good Switzerland are, defensively, but we just tore them apart.”

Manchester City’s
Johnson, who replaced the injured Theo Walcott early on, has scored in
both Euro 2012 qualifiers and oozes composure, having stepped up from
the under 21s with fellow City player James Milner, another player to
impress.

England’s defence
coped easily without John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, although the likes
of Michael Dawson, who was injured against Bulgaria, Everton’s Phil
Jagielka and Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott will face much sterner
tests.

With England
already in a commanding position in the group, Capello will now turn
his thoughts to the visit of Montenegro next month – the Balkan side
having emerged as the unlikely challengers for top spot after also
winning their opening games.

England should now
qualify with something to spare from a group that suddenly looks very
enticing but, after all, that is the bare minimum requirement for a
coach costing the Football Association a staggering amount of money
each year.

It is when the pressure is really on and the fear of losing becomes intense that players and managers often revert to type.

So until England qualify for Euro 2012 and prove that they can also
play vibrant football against teams like Spain, Germany and the
Netherlands, when it really matters, Capello will still be shadowed by
the bitter memories of South Africa.

The camp of
WBO/IBO/IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has continued to
predict a knockout victory for the Ukrainian when he fights Samuel
Peter on Saturday. But Abel Sanchez, the trainer of the Nigerian
Nightmare insists it will be the other way round.

Both fighters are
scheduled to meet in the German city of Frankfurt in what is a rematch
of their first encounter which took place in the United States of
America in September 2005.

On that occasion
when Peter challenged Klitschko for the first time, he lost on the
judges’ scorecard but not before flooring Klitschko no less than three
times.

Less than a
fortnight ago Klitschko taunted Peter, saying: “I don’t want to dream
about this fight, otherwise, it’s a ‘Nigerian Nightmare.’ But I will
let my fists talk in the ring instead of talking dreams.” The Ukrainian
then added, “Don’t go to the refrigerator to get a beer, because I do
see myself knocking Samuel Peter out – earlier, later, with a left hook
or a right hand or whatever. I treat every fight as if it is my last
fight.”

As close as you get

A few days ago in
Germany, Klitschko allowed Peter to take pictures of his championships
belts but stressed that is as near as he will get to winning them.
“Sam, you can touch the world championship belt. I’ll also let you take
pictures with it. This is my personal gift for you – but you won’t come
any closer to that belt,” Kiltschko said.

Klitschko’s trainer
Emanuel Steward wasn’t also left out of the verbal war as he predicted
that his fighter will make it a short night for Peter.

Although Steward
was quick to admit that Peter has greatly improved since losing his
world title to Wladimir’s elder brother Vitali Klitschko in 2008, he
couldn’t stop himself from predicting that the Ukrainian is better and
should finish off the Nigerian in five rounds.

“I think Klitschko
has become the perfect boxer. He works perfectly, not only with the
left hook, but with his right hand. Although his most dangerous punch
is the left hook. He dictates the pace of his fights, and clearly keeps
his distance. If he wants to, he can make it a real fight. This time he
will not be overexcited, like five years ago, when he fought with
Peter. Then Wladimir was full of emotion. Now he is more stable and
mature, self-confident and more balanced, and his punch is more
powerful than it was then. I think we will win in the fourth or fifth
round.”

No escape this time around

Sanchez is however
sick of all the talk from the Klitschko camp and has come to the
defence of his ward by stating that Peter will secure a knockout win on
Saturday unlike five years ago when Klitschko was let off the hook.

“There is too much chatter about Wladimir Klitschko getting a
knockout victory,” Sanchez said. “I think this is bull… It’s going to
be a short fight, and it’s going to be Sam who will win by knockout,
and at most he’ll get it by the sixth round.”

Roger Federer won a
measure of revenge and a return to the US Open semi-finals as he beat
fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling 6-4 6-4 7-5 on Wednesday to book his
place in the last four for a seventh successive time.

Federer, showing the
all-round brilliance that has won him a record 16 Grand Slam titles,
refused to let gusty winds at Arthur Ashe Stadium slow down his charge
as he routed Soderling, who had eliminated him in the quarter-finals at
this year’s French Open. The 29-year-old Swiss, whose string of five
consecutive US Open titles was snapped in last year’s final, commanded
his serve with power and precision through the adverse conditions to
quash Soderling in just under two hours. Federer demoralised the
big-hitting Swede, who was runner-up at the last two French Opens, by
firing in 18 aces, while Soderling could only muster two as he went down
meekly on a cold, windy New York night. The Swiss master said figuring
out how to deal with conditions was simply part of his job description.

Serving in the wind

“I’ve practised my
serve my whole career,” said Federer, who put 64 per cent of his first
serves in play and won 86 per cent of them. “If I can’t serve in the
wind I’ve got a problem. “You can wake me up at 2:00 in the morning or
4:00 in the morning I can hit serves.

It’s what we do.”
Soderling, who lost his first 12 matches against Federer before beating
him at Roland Garros, was full of praise for his opponent. “He’s a good
wind player,” the 26-year-old Soderling said. “He moves really well.
He’s always in the right place.” On Federer’s serving, he said: “He was
brushing the lines with his first serves which is not easy.” Soderling
squandered some early chances to get ahead, letting three break points
slip away in Federer’s first service game and then another one before
the second seed used a deft drop shot to break in the seventh game and
served out the opening set.

Federer took the decisive break of the second set in the fifth game.
Soderling came alive in the third set, hitting out more powerfully and
hustling around to engage the Swiss in rallies and broke for a 5-3 lead
after three Federer errors. But serving for the set, Soderling’s big
forehand let him down when he dumped two forehands into the net to give
the break right back. Federer then ran off the next three games, closing
with a bullet ace out wide. Next up for the second-seeded Federer will
be third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who beat France’s Gael Monfils
to advance. Federer beat Djokovic in the Flushing Meadows final in 2007
and in the semi-finals the last two years. “He’s obviously looking for
that big breakthrough here in the Open, so it’s going to be a tough
one,” Federer added.

Coach of Nigeria’s
U-17 women’s national team, Peter Dedevbo, has praised the Trinidad and
Tobago team for the resilience they displayed in their match against the
Flamingoes.

Nigeria defeated the
hosts 2-1 in a match played in the early hours of Thursday Nigerian
time, and advanced to the quarter-finals of the ongoing FIFA U-17
Women’s World Cup courtesy of a match winning goal that arrived four
minutes from time by Loveth Ayila. It was a hard fought victory for the
Flamingoes, and Dedevbo who had expected a much easier game than the 3-2
opening day win over defending champions North Korea couldn’t help but
commend the Trinidadians for their effort. “I was very impressed by the
Trinidad and Tobago team,” said the Nigerian coach, who was on his feet
for most parts of the game against the Soca Princesses. “They have a lot
of talent and the determination and the courage they showed throughout
the match was commendable.”

Excellent goalkeeping

The victory margin
could however been much wider but for some inspirational goalkeeping
from Linfah Jones, in goal for the defending champions. The goalkeeper
stood like a rock between everything the Nigerians could aim at her
goal. Even on the few occasions that she was beaten, such as in the 24th
minute when she was rooted to the spot following a rocket of a shot
from 25 metres by the Nigerian captain Oluchi Ofoegbu, her crossbar was
on hand to come to her rescue.

The Nigerians
nevertheless went ahead in the 28th minute of the game when Francisca
Ordega coolly headed the ball over the advancing Jones after latching
onto a long ball. But Jones soon made another save to prevent Halimatu
Ayinde from doubling the tally. Ayinde had also fluffed a chance in the
fifth minute which would have put the Flamingos ahead. Jones’
goalkeeping heroics, and Nigeria’s profligacy in front of goal, then
paid off for the Trinidadians when Linda Hinds levelled in the 36th
minute with a well placed shot for her second goal of the tournament.
The ball rolled onto her path following an initial save by Nigerian
goalkeeper Amina Abu.

The Trinidadians then displayed a great deal of determination to keep
the score line level and appeared set to walk away with a point before
Ayila’s late goal sealed victory for Nigeria and with it a ticket to the
quarter finals, even with the game against already eliminated
Chile.Trinidad and Tobago, for their part, must secure a win to progress
at the expense of final-day opponents North Korea. The North Koreans
defeated the Chileans with a comfortable 3-0 margin.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Everton seek to shock United

‘Nil Satis Nisi
Optimum’ is woven on the crest of the Everton shirt, and it is Latin for
‘Nothing But The Best.’ They will have to give that and much more if
they are to get any result as Manchester United come to town. The
Toffees have started as miserably as they started last season, with one
point from three matches, but will take heart from the 3-1 win over the
Red Devils last season. Another plus for David Moyes and his boys is
that not many in the squad were away on national duty; but almost the
full roster of United players have been junketing around Europe in the
past week. Everton should then be fresher and ready to play a high tempo
game against their United rivals.

One player that will
always give more than the required is club captain, Phil Neville, who
has issued a rallying call to his team mates that they will have to be
at their best as a team to get any result against Alex Ferguson’s side.

Neville knows the
experience of playing United both as a former player and as an opponent.
Speaking on evertontv, he said: “Sometimes you can win a game with
maybe eight players playing well, at their best. But against Man United
you need all 11.” Wayne Rooney will be back to his boyhood club and he
should expect some abuse from the terraces. England team mate Phil
Jagielka concurred and said Rooney must expect it in light of his recent
misdemeanours. “He normally gets quite a bit of stick anyway. I can’t
see that changing on Saturday.” The reaction of the fans may then be
consequent on his performance. The booing of the home fans could trigger
a relapse of the old and reckless Rooney. Nigerians, Yakubu Aiyegbeni
and Victor Anichebe, will be hoping to be part of the Everton squad
after missing out of the first three matches. The match is an early
lunch kickoff.

Nsofor set to debut against Chelsea

It will be top
against bottom as West Ham under former Chelsea manager, Avram Grant,
face a free-scoring Chelsea side that are yet to concede a goal in the
three-week old league. New recruit from Inter Milan, Obinna Nsofor,
should get his chance to strut his stuff on English soil in this London
derby as he makes his debut against the table-toppers. One thing Nsofor
has noted about the English Premier League is the speed at which the
game is played. “English football is very fast and I have to contend
with that challenge,” he said. “It is not a big deal because I can cope
with any pattern in football. Within this short period, I have seen a
lot of difference and I am ready to make an impact here with West Ham.
My colleagues have told me so much about the fans here, and I am so
eager and excited to be part of the fun. I have enough experience to
help me with the new challenge in England and I believe I will be okay.
It is also a league that has many Nigerian players so I am at home.”
Meanwhile Chelsea will be keen to extend the Hammers’ misery with maybe
another goals avalanche. The Blues could be without Captain John Terry
and Frank Lampard.

LA LIGA

Herculean task awaits Hercules at Camp Nou

Barcelona just took
off from where they stopped as they dismembered Racing Santander 3-0,
with David Villa making a scoring debut for the Blaugrana, and hosting
Hercules should not be a herculean task. The 1996/97 season though
witnessed Hercules do the double over their mighty rivals in a 2-1 and
3-2 wins. This current Barcelona side will not be looking back but
forward and the real bet will not be if Hercules will be able to beat
Barca on their own patch but how many goals will be scored by the likes
of Lionel Messi, Villa and the rest of the gang.

Real Madrid face a tougher job against an obdurate Osasuna side, and
Jose Mourinho will have to play without Cristiano Ronaldo. The new
tactician has bemoaned the lack of quality strikers in the team, but
Karim Benzema will be raring to replace Ronaldo. Both Benzema and
Gonzalo Higuain scored for their countries on Tuesday and will want to
get off the mark for their clubs.

I usually do not
get calls during church service on Sundays. In fact, to ensure I do not
fall prey to the temptation of receiving or making calls, I hand the
phone to someone to hold for me.

On this particular
Sunday I handed the phone to my wife and promptly concentrated on the
ministration going on. Around 9am or thereabouts, I was nudged by one
of our ushers who later told me my wife wanted to see me.

When I got to her,
she told me that my friend Ken Ochonogor had called. It was surprising
because even though in the years I have known him he has called me at
different times of the day and different days of the week, he had never
called me on a Sunday morning.

On instinct I decided to return the call suspecting that he must have a very important reason for calling.

What I heard nearly knocked me out.

“You hear say Emeka
Enechi don die? Uncle T (Tayo Balogun, Vice Chairman of Lagos State
Sports Council) just called to tell me that Emeka died this morning”.
He proceeded to give details of what happened but I wasn’t listening.
What I kept hearing was: “You hear say Emeka Enechi don die?” The words
hit me like a sledge hammer. Emeka dead? It was unbelievable.

If you asked me to
point out a 100 people I thought will die the next minute, Enechi will
not figure among them. Why? He was so full of life; so vibrant that you
thought he would live to be over a hundred years old. Sadly, at 40
years, his journey had ended.

Quite tragic
indeed. It is made even more heart wrenching when you realise that here
was an individual who was involved in an automobile accident in which
the vehicle somersaulted several times and he sustained only a slight
injury on one of his hands; he told friends and colleagues he was okay
and then died a few days later because the medical personnel who
treated him were careless and failed to administer anti-tetanus
injection! It is simply unbelievable for an individual so full of life
to exit this world in such a manner. I It will take quite a while for
this to sink in for most of us related with him on a personal level.

A jolly good fellow

Emeka was
everybody’s friend. As we say in Nigeria he was ‘like water wey no get
enemy’. He was one of those rare breed who would go the extra mile to
help. I remember in January this year, I was in Abuja ready to go to
the Angolan embassy to apply for visa to cover the Africa Cup of
Nations; for some reason, I did not have an accreditation from CAF to
cover the event.

I called Emeka, who
incidentally was in Abuja for the same reason and asked him to see if
Suleiman Habuba, CAF’s media man, can assist. Emeka readily agreed and
tried repeatedly to get Habuba on phone. When his efforts failed, he
told me to go ahead and take my chance at the embassy and added that if
I managed to make it to Angola he would ensure that Habuba looked into
my case.

There many sides to
Emeka, fondly called ‘Biafra’ by friends and associates, made him such
an interesting individual. One of the remarkable things about him was
that he was carefree to the extent of being forgetful. In Japan where
he had gone to cover the 2002 FIFA World Cup jointly hosted with South
Korea, he forgot his wallet containing nearly all the money he took to
that country and his passport at the airport. Somehow, they managed to
track him down and returned everything to him intact.

He was not so lucky
however this year when we went to Ghana for the Globacom/CAF African
footballer of the Year Awards. We were already in the vehicle conveying
us to the hotel when Emeka strolled up to the vehicle imploring us to
wait for him while he goes back into the airport to search for his
missing wallet. He didn’t find it in the end but that didn’t dampen his
spirits in any way.

I will miss Emeka a great deal. I used to call him chairman after
his stint as chairman of the Lagos state chapter of the Sports writers
association of Nigeria (SWAN). Indeed, it was during his tenure that I
came to appreciate him more because although some people ganged up
against him, eventually making it difficult for him to return for a
second term, he bore no grudges. To the very end he remained the easy
going and jolly fellow that he was.

I am fervently
asking God for the grace, to address this issue of restitution
adequately between now and October 1, 2010, when by the very special
grace of God, we would be celebrating our 50th anniversary as a nation.
I know from experience that genuine restitution bears with it some
degree of excruciating pain, and this is why human beings avoid it.

But believe me, I
also know that after the pain involved in restitution, not the fake
one, comes the gain – which usually is always of unquantifiable benefit
to all involved in the act of restitution.

No preparation to revive sports

To discontinue
reaping the fruits of shame, ineptitude, corruption, demonic covenants,
age falsification that is grossly affecting the development of millions
of youngsters, who are supposed to be groomed as Nigeria’s future
leaders on the platform of sports, restitution has to be done. It will
eliminate fraud, favouritism, moral decadence, drug abuse, violence,
winning at all cost, negligence and all other social vices that have
been sown as seeds in Nigerian sports. Lest I forget, the latest of
such evil, are the intense disdain, insult and disregard of the laws by
representatives of FIFA and the goon squad representing them in Nigeria.

Sunday, September 5
saw me in Abeokuta, capital of Ogun State, Nigeria, to watch the
opening game of the U-17 International football competition organised
by the Pepsi Academy of Nigeria, under the supervision of Kashimawo
Laloko. I was on my way back to Lagos after the opening ceremony to
watch the Nigeria versus Madagascar match, but became double-minded on
sighting a bus conveying players of the Liberty Professionals Academy
from Ghana, driving on the opposite side of the road towards Abeokuta.
I then had to make a choice between heading home to watch the Eagles,
hoping that they would be super this time around, or making a U-turn to
Abeokuta. I chose to make the U-turn, since I have uncompromisingly
committed myself to such age-grade grassroots football development. I
have no doubt that I made the right choice, but whether I derived
anything positive remains a big doubt.

Anomie and too much pressure

Apart from the poor
level of officiating at the games, there was so much pressure on the
young lads from the coaches. The question is – when do we begin to see
exceptional dribbling skills, ball juggling and through passes,
displayed by our age grade football players? The foundation we are
laying is very weak. I left the M.K.O. stadium, feeling very
uncomfortable and disappointed. I kept on asking myself the question –
“where do we go from here”?

Another observation
had to do with the number children spectators – for whom these football
matches are organised. I was shocked to see a population of less than
100 and a 100 adults. Well, was this new to me? No, I saw a worse
situation in Lagos during the recent Lagos Youth Championship football
competition. The question is why should this be so? What can be
responsible for empty stadiums during age-grade football competitions?
The answers are simple and several. No right thinking parent for
instance will allow his/her ward go watch matches in Nigerian stadiums
that have been taken over by social miscreants and other forms of
gangsters. It is no longer strange to those who are bold enough to risk
going to any stadium in Nigeria to see drugs being hawked, sold and
consumed with such reckless abandon, even in the presence of security
agents.

I got home to be confronted by another anomie; the FIFA U-17 Women’s
World Cup, going on in Trinidad and Tobago. Nigeria played against
North Korea. As a patriotic Nigerian and football coach, I decided to
watch the game, but forgot absolutely that my daughters, at home on
holidays would also watch. It would have been okay if the commentators
had not mentioned the ages of the “women” representing Nigeria. One of
them was my student in the Brazilian Soccer School, about 5 years ago
and she was introduced aged 14. One of my daughters watching the match
is an SS3 student; what kind of example are we setting for the
young(er) ones? May God forgive this nation? Please say a very loud
Amen.