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Johnny as he is known by friends and fans was a big football star. As a Super Eagle beside Okocha, Oliseh and the rest, he scored goals. For years he was one of the models for the Nigerian youth and most likely also for German teenagers, as he spent most of his career, playing in the Bundesliga scoring over a hundred goals.

Akpoborie’s fortunes changed for the worse in 2001, when a ship (MV Etireno) run by his family was said to be carrying children into slavery in Gabon when it was stopped in Benin Republic. The BBC would eventually describe the former star as “Mr Unlucky” in an article after the incident.

Now, almost ten years after, Akpoborie is granting an interview for the first since the incident, which he admits literally ended his career. This interview is coming on the heels of a documentary on the incident titled ‘Das Schiff des Torjäger’ (The Goalgetter’s Ship) and directed by Swiss Heidi Speconga. It tells the story of the “MV Etireno”, its passengers and owner and is attempting to shed light on a saga that has left many questions unanswered.

NEXTSports spoke with Akpoborie about his fate, the abrupt end of his career, his grouse with UNICEF as well as indemnity claims and his overall struggle for justice.

It’s almost ten years since you were alleged to own a child slave trade ship, an allegation that changed your life dramatically. How did you feel when you first heard about it?

When I consider it now, I can only laugh at it. But at the time it was horrible for me as someone made up an untrue story and used my name for publicity but I am in contact with my lawyers to institute legal review.

UNICEF reported approximately 250 child slaves that were supposed to be carried on board of your ship and cast a slur at you as the owner. You said someone used your name to gain international publicity. How did this affect your personal and professional life?

Oh well, not to put too fine a point on it, it destroyed everything for me. Even today when walking the streets in Lagos, people would shout at me saying: “Look, that’s the child slave trader from thence, that’s him”. But if one know’s the whole story and the details of the unproven allegations from UNICEF, then one can imagine how it affected my life. If you had asked to interview me two years after this incident, I would have declined right away, but now I am glad to be able to talk about it. I just cannot abandon this, that what I had built up in twenty years got destroyed in fifteen minutes. In the documentary one can see that UNICEF had not just committed a blunder, no they had been aware of it and knew full well what they had done and eventually hazarded the consequences. If one had asked me previously to tout for UNICEF for the child slave topic I would have agreed, but now it will get very expensive for them.

From your point of view, UNICEF used your name to draw international attention to the child-slave-issue. How do you evaluate this problem against the backdrop of your story?

When talking of child slaves, one has to define what it is in order to understand it in detail.

There are so many different interpretations in Africa. For instance in Benin one might find children that grew up and worked for their uncle or aunt in order to support their parents back home financially. If one talks about children being sold on a market, it’s new to me. I have been across Africa, but haven’t found any evidence that this is true. One shall show those children to me, then I’ll believe it, but now I don’t believe anything.

As you are planning to go to court, what exactly are you accusing UNICEF of?

After this story we couldn’t use both ships any more, our commercial activity was destroyed as the ships were eventually demolished. Basically, we suddenly couldn’t do anything as people thought we were actually responsible. I couldn’t play football any more. My life had been destroyed.

Last December, the film “Das Schiff des Torjäger (The Goalgetter’s Ship) by Swiss director Heidi Speconga was released. What do you link to it and what does it mean to you personally as you featured?

At the beginning I wanted to run away from it; I didn’t want to talk to them. But later we met in Switzerland and I gave them the go ahead. The information that I gained from the research within the scope of the documentary were very siginificant to me as UNICEF didn’t give me the opportunity to talk to the children who were on board the ship at the time. It also gave me courage, because now I had something to prove the falsity of UNICEF’s statements.

A 2001 CNN report tells another story of the events that differs from that of UNICEF. One can read about contradictory assertions regarding the incident. In this context, they speak of 43 children that were found aboard the MV Etireno and according to UNICEF and Tierres des Hommes were destined for slavery. How can you explain this?

This is just a deliberate misrepresentation. Not a single child aboard destined to be sold, not even were they alone. All were accompanied by parents or other companions on their way to Gabon. That had also been confirmed by the children questioned in the documentary. We, as the company didn’t even sell tickets to them, they bought it somewhere else. I don’t really know what UNICEF talks about. It is a mistake that needs to be corrected in court.

Why exactly should anyone be interested in a misrepresentation of facts?

I honestly don’t know. We have all documents of permit from the departure and the arrival of the ship. I have done my own researches in Gabon, Lome, and Benin and talked to the people on the spot and to UNICEF officials. How can it be that UNICEF in Benin saw 43 children aboard and UNICEF in Gabon claims the opposite? If UNICEF was right, the ship wouldn’t have gotten permit to departure in Gabon at the first place.

So you call it a sort of smear campaign?

Absolutely. We got the stories, facts and also several eye-witnesses.

For some years you have been working as a FIFA licensed agent in Nigeria and Africa. What are you doing exactly and how would you assess the opportunities for Nigerian talent to become professionals?

It’s just all about football. Scouting talent is always hard. One is always on the run but it gave me the chance to think things over and it eventually gave me the opportunity to continue working in the football branch after the incident of ten years ago.

It’s fun for me to see the boys play. But like I said, it’s very hard to scout them. As Nigeria is a big country, fewer good players live in the cities but rather in rural areas. That makes it very difficult to reach them. Also corruption is a barrier.

Could you be more specific about that?

The people playing in the national team are people who have money to pay, to gain the attention of the scouts, and that’s why they are in the public. The right people live in the villages and that’s what I am working on currently, to provide young talented children who normally wouldn’t have a chance in Africa with the opportunity of a future to return later to help their families just like me.

Is corruption also a topic within the Nigerian national team?

Well, I witnessed some trifles when I was playing. But I only say thereto; that I hope it’s not true. It’s of course a problem but one has to choose the right coach for the national team otherwise it will be an ongoing issue.

Can you be more specific about the mentioned incidents?

No, for the moment I have to keep it to myself but I always believed that it is better to have a European coach. That’s very important for us.

Footballers in Nigeria and Africa often make false age-claims to carve out careers in clubs and the national team. As a former footballer please give a professional opinion on that and give an idea how to solve the problem.

I really have to admit it’s a difficult topic. Seen from the Nigerian perspective it breaks our national team as the right people cannot get the chance of playing. I was in school when I played for the U-17 team. Now years later there are still some people who played 4-5 years in the Nigerian League and returned to play for the U-17 again. It is just ridiculous. That breaks our football. I don’t have any idea how to solve the problem but to provide a future for football one has to come up with solution.

In the evening hours, at the National Stadium in Abuja, Samson Siasia, the Super Eagles manager, will lead his players out in a crucial 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia, his first competitive match since taking charge of the team in December.

Unsurprisingly, the Eagles’ performance in that game will be the topic of choice for football’s chattering classes, considering their parlous state since last year’s World Cup disaster and the country’s desperate desire to see the team return to the flamboyant form of yesteryear.

But besides hoping, of course, that they earn the needed win, the team’s ‘exile’ to that overpriced concrete contraption called a stadium in Abuja, a place without a football culture, ethos and soul, evokes deep and bitter feelings in me.

Any genuine connoisseur of our game knows the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, criminally neglected by our federal government – as its decrepit, ugly form hauntingly reminds us – is our real theatre of dreams and Nigerian football’s spiritual home.

Who can forget the pleasurable and anguished moments on its hallowed but now patchy, miserable looking turf?

It staged our first Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 1980, when, to the delight of over 60,000 fans, Green Eagles captain Christian Chukwu proudly walked up to the arena’s state box to lift the Cup of Unity.

And who can forget August 12, 1989, when, amongst thousands of other fans in the terraces, I unknowingly watched midfielder Samuel Okwaraji convulse, collapse and die on its turf, in that unforgettable, tragic 1990 World Cup qualifier against Angola.

Or how Nigeria’s painful failure to win the 2000 Nations Cup final – after Victor Ikpeba’s penalty goal against Cameroun that never was – made captain Sunday Oliseh weep like a newborn baby?

“I cannot begin to recall all the important moments of my life, and in the lives of many great footballers, that took place in that stadium. That the ground is in its current state leaves me with nothing to say,” says former Nigeria captain Segun Odegbami.

And the dilapidated state of the stadium is made all the more poignant by its healthier, smaller next door neighbour – Teslim Balogun Stadium, the only decent football ground in Nigeria’s largest city.

After the Eagles’ unbelievable eight-year absence from the city, the recent friendly game against Sierra Leone, at the Balogun ground, served as a timely reminder, at least to me, of how the national team’s return to Lagos is the key to reviving its dwindling fortunes.

Given a bad rap

Rather than mollycoddle the present set of Eagles, some of whom are risk-averse and have to be pampered into doing their very minimum for the country – and hoping that they can get away with it in Abuja, where the crowd is quite temperate, putting the players feet to the searing Lagos fire will certainly improve the team’s work ethic.

Given a bad rap by previous FAs for their refusal to ‘blindly’ support the national team whilst playing at Sports City, as the National Stadium is nicknamed, Lagos fans are, unfairly, being given the proverbial bad name in order to ‘hang’ them.

The unadorned truth is that whilst a bit unruly at times, Lagos fans demand top draw performances from those wearing the colours of our country and are intolerant of sloppiness or an obvious lack of commitment. Lagos fans, at least most of them, can tell the difference between a national team that loses gallantly, after giving everything they’ve got and one that just couldn’t be bothered to deliver.

Why should their loyalty and support of the Super Eagles not come at the price of excellence and diligence?

The nauseating state of the National Stadium continues to offer an excuse for the Nigerian Football Federation, which points to the artificial turf at Teslim Balogun, admittedly not as good as a natural surface, as a reason not to stage competitive games in Lagos.

But until the real national stadium and Lagos fans – a microcosm of Nigeria’s various ethnic groups – are restored to their rightful pride of place, our national team may remain in the wilderness for years to come. Football just has to come home, if we are to prosper.

Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia is already looking at ways of preparing his team for their next 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Ethiopia. Siasia is particularly focused on getting the Eagles ready to cope with the altitude of the East African nation.

The match comes up on June 5 in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa with the Super Eagles in desperate need of a win over the Walya Antelopes so as to keep pace with Group B leaders Guinea, who are expected to, same day, win their AFCON qualifier against Madagascar in Conakry.

But Addis Ababa is situated 2,355 metres (7,726 feet) above sea level which is likely going to affect the performance of players, especially those from low altitude areas owing to the decrease in atmospheric pressure.

Playing at high altitude, where the oxygen level is considerably lower, is often a strategy deployed by teams so as to achieve the desired result against oftentimes stronger opponents with one of the most celebrated instances being the 6-0 demolition of Argentina by Bolivia during one of the qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Ethiopia have, however, not had that much luck while playing at home as their last AFCON qualifier in Addis Ababa ended in a 4-1 defeat to Guinea. But if the words of the coach of the Walya Antelopes, Iffy Onuora are to be taken seriously, then the Super Eagles will have to be at their best in order emerge victorious on June 5.

Speaking at the end of last Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Super Eagles, Onuora expressed optimism over his side’s chances of springing a surprise against the Super Eagles due to the city’s altitude.

A loss to Ethiopia, and a Guinean victory over Madagascar will virtually end the Super Eagles’ chances of qualifying for the 2012 AFCON to be co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and Siasia isn’t quite keen on having the unenviable record of not qualifying the Super Eagles for the continent’s premier tournament.

The last coach to do that was Christopher Udemezue who failed to secure qualification for the 1986 tournament in Egypt.

Disastrous

“That will be disastrous,” remarked Siasia in an interview with NEXT. “Nigerians will be mad if we don’t qualify especially after placing so much faith in us. So we just have to be very prepared for that game and the ones after that.

“For the Ethiopia game, because of the high altitude, we can only do two things. We either go there a few days before the game and try to camp, or we get there on the day of the game.” The human body can adapt to high altitude by breathing faster, having a higher heart rate, as well as an adjustment in its blood chemistry, but it can take days or weeks to adapt.

Arriving hours before kickoff however reduces the effect on the body and is a strategy that has been deployed time after time in international football.

“That’s what we will do but we still have to talk to the federation and see how we can work out the logistics and every other thing related to the game,” he continued.

“It is a very important game and it is equally important to know all the details and how to go about it.”

Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel’s days at Chelsea appears to be coming to an end as he has been linked with a move to German Bundesliga outfit Hamburg.

Frank Arnesen, Chelsea’s sporting director, will be joining the German side in June and reports in the German media suggests that Mikel is among a shortlist of players the Dane intends to lure to Hamburg.

While Germany’s biggest sports tabloid, Bild, reported that Arnesen is chasing after Mikel and young Holland defender Jeffrey Bruma, a report on a German based site (www.hamburgerabendblatt.de) stated that the former Denmark international is also keen on securing the services of Salomon Kalou and Brazilian defender Alex.

Mikel, who featured for the Super Eagles in last night’s international friendly against Kenya, hasn’t enjoyed the best of times at Chelsea this season especially since returning from a knee injury in December.

The 23-year-old Nigerian was a regular in Chelsea’s double-winning team of last season but has played only seven of the London side’s 17 games since his making his return from injury.

British tabloid, News of the World, recently reported that Mikel is upset at his lack of first team starts and is set to demand showdown talks with Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti over his future.

The £25million-rated star’s contract runs until 2013 but he will have a list of top clubs battling for his signature if he does go – with Manchester United and Real Madrid at the forefront.

The Nigerian Arsenal Supporters (Gunners) football club commonly known as ‘Arsenal-Nigeria’ has emerged winners of the six-a-side Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) Soccer Tournament among weekend clubs in Lagos.

The team beat Apapa/Ajegunle All Stars, 5-4 via penalty shoot-out in a pulsating final played on Saturday at the Campos Square mini-stadium,

in a thrilling encounter that was decided by penalty shoot out. Scores at full time stood at 1-1.

Arsenal-Nigeria opened scoring in the first half courtesy of a spectacular volley from one of its forwards; Apapa evened scores in the dying moments of the game to take the game to a shoot out.

The penalty shoot out that followed was entertaining and nerve-wracking with the first five kicks failing to produce a winner owing largely to the efforts of the two goalkeepers.

In the second round of the shoot-out, the Arsenal-Nigeria goalkeeper saved the first spot kick to pave way for his team captain to score and win the game.

Organised professionals

Commenting on his team’s performance, Antai Effiong, Vice President of Arsenal-Nigeria, said that though pundits did not give the team any chance of qualifying from the group stage, the victory did not come to him as a surprise.

“We are a very well organized group of professionals in diverse fields of human endeavour, who meet to play regularly on Saturdays and have developed a good understanding among ourselves over the years. We also participate regularly in tournaments of this nature, locally and internationally to sharpen our competitive edge. Some of the trophies we have won include the 2008 Best of Fans Trophy, 2010 NIFEX Charity Cup and the 2008 IFA WorldNet Trophy, which we won in Leeds, United Kingdom. We had actually used this tournament to prepare ourselves for the IFA WorldNet Tournament coming up mid-July, 2011 in Leeds. As the only team from Africa, we hope to win the trophy again this year” he said.

The 2011 BRF Soccer Tournament was organised in honour of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, who was on hand to present the trophy to the victorious team. The tourney featured ten weekend football clubs in Lagos including All Stars International, Managers FC, Ikorodu All Stars,

Jeunsoke FC, All Stars Family and Festac All Stars.

The Nigerian Arsenal Supporters (Gunners) football club commonly known as ‘Arsenal-Nigeria’ has emerged winners of the six-a-side Babatunde Raji Fashola (BRF) Soccer Tournament among weekend clubs in Lagos.

The team beat Apapa/Ajegunle All Stars, 5-4 via penalty shoot-out in a pulsating final played on Saturday at the Campos Square mini-stadium,

in a thrilling encounter that was decided by penalty shoot out. Scores at full time stood at 1-1.

Arsenal-Nigeria opened scoring in the first half courtesy of a spectacular volley from one of its forwards; Apapa evened scores in the dying moments of the game to take the game to a shoot out.

The penalty shoot out that followed was entertaining and nerve-wracking with the first five kicks failing to produce a winner owing largely to the efforts of the two goalkeepers.

In the second round of the shoot-out, the Arsenal-Nigeria goalkeeper saved the first spot kick to pave way for his team captain to score and win the game.

Organised professionals

Commenting on his team’s performance, Antai Effiong, Vice President of Arsenal-Nigeria, said that though pundits did not give the team any chance of qualifying from the group stage, the victory did not come to him as a surprise.

“We are a very well organized group of professionals in diverse fields of human endeavour, who meet to play regularly on Saturdays and have developed a good understanding among ourselves over the years. We also participate regularly in tournaments of this nature, locally and internationally to sharpen our competitive edge. Some of the trophies we have won include the 2008 Best of Fans Trophy, 2010 NIFEX Charity Cup and the 2008 IFA WorldNet Trophy, which we won in Leeds, United Kingdom. We had actually used this tournament to prepare ourselves for the IFA WorldNet Tournament coming up mid-July, 2011 in Leeds. As the only team from Africa, we hope to win the trophy again this year” he said.

The 2011 BRF Soccer Tournament was organised in honour of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, who was on hand to present the trophy to the victorious team. The tourney featured ten weekend football clubs in Lagos including All Stars International, Managers FC, Ikorodu All Stars,

Jeunsoke FC, All Stars Family and Festac All Stars.

The Super Eagles will tackle the Ethiopian national football team – the Walya Antelopes, in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier inside the main bowl of the National Stadium in Abuja with only one thought on their mind – victory!

In what will be Samson Siasia’s first official match, not just a victory will do for his boys tonight against the East Africans, they need to secure a wide-margin victory in order to reduce the advantage currently held by Group B leaders, Guinea, who currently have six points, three points ahead of the Super Eagles.

The Guineans also enjoy a comfortable plus-four goals difference over the Eagles, who only have plus-one following the 1-0 loss they suffered at the hands of the Guineans back in October last year.

Guinea will also be in action today against Madagascar in Antananarivo but if the poor run of form of the Madagascans since the start of the qualifiers is anything to go by, then the Guineans should emerge from this game with at least a point.

A win is equally possible for the Guineans; after all, they will be taking on a Madagascan side that has lost all their Group B matches to date, including a 1-0 loss to Ethiopia last October in Antananarivo.

But a lot has happened to the islanders since suffering back to back losses to Nigeria (2-0) and Ethiopia as there has been a change in coaching personnel with Frenchman Jean-Paul Rabier making way for local coach Maurice Mosa who will also make his competitive debut today.

That will be the scenario today for the Eagles as they seek to win and win-over the fans.

Siasia though has another agenda – the coach will seek to prove that the people’s mandate was not mis-placed.

Arguably one of the best Nigerian coaches of his generation, Siasia has the arduous task of changing the fortunes of a side that has become a shadow of its once illustrious past for the better; the Super Eagles no longer commands the respect of other teams on the African continent and in the world.

Intense pressure

The match takes on added significance considering the fact that only one team from Group B is guaranteed automatic qualification to next year’s Africa Cup of Nations to be co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. And with three rounds of matches to go after tonight’s game, Siasia is no doubt under immense pressure to grab a win over the Ethiopians.

“The man must know that he has to win. I’m sure he sees the log and knows that Guinea is ahead of us,” said Ademola Olajire, the media officer of the Nigeria Football Federation. “I’m sure he knows that if we do not win this match we may not play at the Africa Cup of Nations next year.

“I’m also sure as he lives his life daily; he meets people and gets phone calls from friends to want him to know what is at stake. All that can put pressure on a person so I know he is under some pressure but it is not coming from us.”

The history between both sides backs the Super Eagles to emerge victorious at the end of tonight’s game as they have only lost once to the East Africans in four previous meetings.

That loss (1-0) came in 1993 in Addis Ababa but the Super Eagles retaliated in grand style by securing an overwhelming 6-0 victory over the Ethiopians in Lagos to qualify for the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.

The Super Eagles went on to win the Tunisia ‘94 Africa Cup of Nations with Siasia playing an integral role in that side’s all-conquering route to the cup.

Siasia said he dreams of becoming the first Nigerian coach to lead the Super Eagles to an Africa Nations Cup title but readily admitted that he will first need to secure qualification ahead of the Guineans beginning with victory in tonight’s tie against the Walya Antelopes.

“We have to first secure qualification before we can start thinking of winning the trophy,” he said. “And to be sure of that we have to win all our games starting with this one. Everyone in the team is aware of that (and) will be doing their best to make it come to pass.”

Siasia will, however, have to make-do without the services of the duo of Osaze Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins who are currently nursing injuries.

As captain of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi was known as the ‘Big Boss’ for his no-nosense style on and off the pitch.

Years later when he became coach of the Hawks, Togo’s national football team, he retained something of that attitude, a fact that helped him qualify the West African country for its first ever World cup in 2006.

He failed, however, to lead the squad to the World Cup after falling out with officials of the Togolese Football Federation (TFF).

One year later, in February 2007, the TFF re-engaged Keshi for a friendly against Cameroon, but the questions concerning his dismissal continued to linger. The rumours at that time were that he (Keshi) wanted to manage the career of Nigerian-born Togolese star, Emmanuel Adebayor but because the former Arsenal player did not agree to the proposal, Keshi dropped him to the bench.

His second stint with the Togolese squad proved to be short-lived with the former Nigerian international showing up in Mali to lead the country to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.

Keshi, who was laid off by Mali after the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola, also lost out to Samson Siasia, in the race to become the coach of the Super Eagles in November.

Third missionary journey

After losing out to Siasia, Keshi weighed his options and last Tuesday, March 22, he made a dramatic return to the job he had handled and lost twice. TFF President, Gabriel Ameyi called a press conference in Lome to reveal that a temporary arrangement had been reached with Keshi to lead the team once again.

He has assigned him the job of leading the Hawks to Blantyre for yesterday’s 2012 African Cup of Nations Cup qualifier against Malawi.

So what is different now?

Keshi is now back in his third stint as Togo coach. He has successfully weathered the storms of the accusations about his wanting to manage Adebayor. With the passage of time, the world has come to know that Adebayor is not an easy player to manage as he has shown first at Arsenal and then at Manchester City.

Whether his erratic behaviour will be curbed by the ‘Special One’, Jose Mourinho, at Real Madrid remains to be seen.

Keshi was welcomed heartily by Togolese football fans at the team’s first training session on Tuesday where he smiled and waved to fans who had come to watch the exercise.

But there could be a cog in the wheel with the naming of Emmanuel Adebayor in the list of 22 players; the former African Player of the year striker had ostensibly retired from the national team last year after the Togolese bus was attacked in Cabinda, shortly before the Nations Cup in Angola leading to the death of three persons.

Instability in Togo football

Togo’s football administration is one that can be said to be worse than their neighbour’s, Nigeria’s. The tiny West African country has a penchant for hiring and firing coaches and the football community surely must be wondering why Keshi returned after previous emabarrassments.

Since February 2009, Togo has had four coaches- Otto Pfister, hired after Keshi’s sack also quit the team over player bonuses before a ball had been kicked in Germany in 2006 but returned to the team for the opening 1-2 loss to South Korea.

Frenchman Patrice Neveu was expected to replace German Otto Pfister as the coach of the Hawks last month but his appointment was blocked by the government. Neveu was appointed by Gnassingbe Eyadema but when the son of the former Togolese president was voted out of office, Tata Avlessi, the TFF President became reluctant to endorse an appointment packaged by the previous regime. Thierry Froger resigned to take charge of French side Nimes earlier this month.

The national team players have also staged protests at various times over the World Cup bonuses of about $200,000 each, with additional payments.

The future of Keshi and Togo interwoven

As a football player, Keshi achieved many feats – the first Nigerian player to play in the Belgian league and ensured that the lexicon; foreign-based became entrenched in football journalism in the country. He has also become the first Nigerian coach to manage the affairs of three national teams – Nigeria, as assistant to Shuaibu Amodu, as coach of Togo and then Mali. Now, he has thrust himself back into the limelight perhaps to prove naysayers wrong.

If he can lift the Hawks to the heights of 2005 and 2006, then maybe Keshi will have proven beyond any doubt that he has the capability to coach at the highest level.

A year ago, girls at Ajigbeda Girls Secondary School in Lagos State knew next to nothing about the game of basketball and getting a chance to represent the state at a national championship was the last thing on their minds.

All that has changed.

Ajigbeda Girls Secondary School won the recently held finals of the Milo Basketball Championships for Lagos State and thus secured the ticket to represent the state at the next stage of the tourney, which is the Western Conference scheduled to come up in June at Ibadan.

For the young girls who say they are ready to fly the state’s flag high at the basketball event, it is all thanks to the Hope4Girls foundation.

“I feel very happy and grateful to the coaches and Hope 4Girls for all their support” a member of the team disclosed.

Akiode’s project

A brain child of former Nigerian basketball player, Mobolaji Akiode, ‘Hope 4 Girls’ is dedicated to the increased participation and empowerment of disadvantaged young African women in sports and education. Because of the initiative and the desire to help the coming generation of women, Akiode said she quit her accounting job at American Cable sports company, ESPN and returned to Nigeria to set up the basketball camp to help young girls in the country. She had been a member of the 2004 Nigerian Olympic basketball team.

“This is such a great achievement mainly because a year ago this school didn’t even have a basketball team and with just a little support from us the girls really showed how much they love basketball and hope4girls!,” Akiode said.

The former WNBA star added:

“Although we would have had more schools enter, our academy currently works with eight schools. It’s just unfortunate those games masters are not as dedicated as we are and are holding the girls back. My motto has always been giving these children an opportunity to explore their creativity and you will see greatness in them.

“As for me I’m just so proud of them and their hard work, they make me feel like I should do more and support more. To me they are champions and anything that happens in the regional is icing on the cake,” she added.

Making a champion

Iyabo Yusuf, lead camp administrator of the foundation further explained the journey at making the new champions.

“Hope4girls introduced basketball to eight girls secondary schools in District IV of Lagos State Educational Board in March 2010 during the Princess Classic Camp and Ajigbeda Girls Secondary School happens to be one of the schools,” she said.

“The students of these said schools have never played basketball before, and after the camp, about 200 girls were enrolled into the Princess Academy from the eight schools”.

As part of Hope4Girls’ plan to empower young Nigerian girls through sports and education, the organisation reduced the 200 girls to 60 girls using their academic performances and commitment to the game as part of the criteria for the screening. Sixteen girls from Ajigbeda Girls Secondary School scaled the screening and their performance in the Hope4Girls academy has been remarkable.

Other schools in the academy include; Ideal, New Era, Wesley, Gbaja, Itolo, Clegg and Surulere Girls Secondary Schools.

Iyabo noted that emerging as champions wasn’t a stroll in pack the Ajigbeda Girls.

“The challenges were posed mostly (by the) District VI representative, which is Ilupeju Grammar school; this school has been representing Lagos State in the Western Conference for the last three years with a bunch of experienced players compared to the girls that started the game a year ago. But with the help of God and hard work of our coaches, we were able to defeat Ilupeju in the final 15-10 points”.

Looking ahead

Already looking ahead, Iyabo said the new goal is making it to the next stage of the championship, which is the Western Conference scheduled to come up in June at Ibadan, Oyo State.

“We are in the same zone with Delta, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kogi and Osun States.

Looking at the vast experience of Oyo and Delta in the game, we are working out a strategy on how to pick a ticket to the national level of the championship,” she said.

For Iyabo, the outstanding player is the captain of the team, Saidat Ali, 14, of Senior Secondary (SS)2. She led the team to victory with her last minute 3 pointer.

Aside the latest feat by the foundation the body had last year also helped two girls secure scholarships to study in the United States amongst other projects it is presently executing.

At the moment, Akiode, is he reliving her experiences as a blogger with ESPN where she talks about experiences like the one she is currently having at the National Youth Service Camp in Abuja.

“I created Hope4Girls to try to better the lives of underprivileged girls. The game of basketball was great to me, and I want to share with others the opportunities it gave me. Of course, I’m not the first athlete to try to inspire others. [But] I want Hope4Girls to have the same impact as many other conscientious charities by athletes, which tackle poor education, address social inequalities and inspire youth.

“Trying to run H4G hasn’t been easy. If you think getting support for girls’ sports is difficult in America, you can’t even imagine the bigger obstacles in trying it in Nigeria. But as the great Muhammad Ali would say, “Impossible is nothing!”

In the course of discharging my duties as a sports journalist, I have come across people who have bluntly accused sports journalists of being responsible for the rot in the Nigerian sports sector.

I have often defended my colleagues and I, arguing that the charge is akin to holding political reporters responsible for bad leadership in the country.

After careful review of the situation, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that we are more than culpable. As journalists we are expected not only to faithfully report on society but to go a step further to hold those who activities we reflect in our media and whose activities impinge one way or another on the health of society, accountable.

That is where we have been remiss as sports journalists. That the different sports in Nigeria particularly key ones like football, boxing, athletics and basketball, which in decades past thrust Nigeria into global limelight, have atrophied right before our eyes makes us as guilty as the sports administrators who have through acts of omission or commission, run them down.

As watchdogs, we have not asked the hard questions but have preferred to cuddle the army of misfits and charlatans who have superintended our sports. We accept at face value the lies and half-truths peddled by these administrators instead of digging deep to unearth the truth.

It is for this reason that we find individuals not particularly distinguished either by sharp intellect or sound moral judgment building empires and carving out fiefdoms while the sports entrusted to them decays.

How else do we explain the matter of Habu Gumel and volleyball? How do you explain the fact that the man has spent the whole of eighteen years as President of the Nigerian Volleyball Federation and in the intervening period has been a member of the International Volleyball federation and the sport is dead in this country?

The only plausible explanation is because as journalists, we let him get away with it. Have we engaged him enough to tell Nigerians while he should continue in that position when his nearly two decades tour of duty has not been meaningful? Eighteen years in the life of an individual is a long time, long enough for him to record ground-breaking achievements. If there had been a modicum of seriousness on the part of Gumel, would Nigerian volleyball not have appropriated a spot in the commanding heights of the sport globally?

Anyway, this piece is not about Gumel.

It is about how we can pull sports writing from the mud into which our indifference and sometimes criminality, plunges it daily.

Re-inventing ourselves

We have come to the point where we must look ourselves in the eye and tell ourselves the truth and that truth as we are wont to say here in Nigeria is bitter. And it is that sports journalism is going to the dogs; it is getting alarmingly pedestrian with a new generation of practitioners who have neither the inclination nor the competence to faithfully discharge their duties. The situation in our profession has become like the situation in the banking industry where economic recession forced jobless graduates to seek to become bankers with a good many of them managing to squeeze themselves into banks and ultimately helping in the collapse of some of them.

While it is evident that there is still a crop of decent and professionally minded sports writers who are still able to challenge the rabid status quo with a view to bringing about a change in the way sports is run in this country, we have in the main, mercenaries and journeymen whose stock-in-trade is to massage the bloated egos of our for the most part, vacuous and mercantilist sports administrators. Given this, it is not surprising to see the clear lack of will on the part of most of us to see for instance, the crisis in Nigerian football come to an end.

While a good many of us like to reminisce about the good old days of Sunday Dankaro, Mahmoud Kadiri and Patrick Okpomo in football administration for instance, few are willing to exert the mental energy required to make the present superintendents of Nigerian football administer the game like these gentlemen mentioned, failing which we make things unbearable for them.

Looking at the profession today, it is hard to imagine that it produced brilliant minds like Fabio Olanipekun, Walter Oyatogun, Yinka Craig, Sunny Ojeagbase, Frank Ilaboya, Tayo Balogun, Chris Eseka, Robert Ndabai, Mitchell Obi,

Ejiro Omonode, Kunle Solaja, Ikeddy Isiguzo, Patrick Odili, Segun Adenuga to name a few of them.

We desperately need to do some soul searching; we need to re-invent ourselves for it is only by doing so that we can put ourselves in the position to help lift Nigerian sports from the morass into which greed and incompetence has plunged it by pointing the way forward through informed objective commentaries and analysis. To do otherwise would be to sentence sports to certain death.