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Have I been making a difference in the Nigerian sport arena?

This is one of the
questions I have been asking myself for the past seven weeks, during
which this column was forced to take a time-off. The period has been
challenging and revealing. I have tried to reconcile my past with my
present, in an attempt to peep into the future; hence, I kept on
wondering if I have made any difference at all in my efforts to
contribute to sports development in Nigeria. Have I been a part of the
solution to Nigerian sports, or have I been part of the problems?

My life in sports

For the purpose of
this topic, I will concentrate on the six decades I have spent in
sports. Any attempt to recall my life in the military, or as a student
union activist, or dramatist/broadcaster, or a newspaper vendor – will,
methinks, make a volume.

I am not too sure,
but there is the likelihood that my father must have played a football
match, the evening preceding the conception that brought me to life.
Maybe that is why my head is big and looks like a size 4 ball. I grew
up living with and loving football. My late dad played football and I
am sure elders who served in the Railways of the 1950s will remember
him. I recall “H.O. Banko” – that was father’s alias, bringing the
Challenge Cup trophy home in 1953 and “Ame-Loko” – Pius Kashimawo
Laloko (my beloved elder brother – first of my late Mother), former
Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Association (N.F.A.) and
current C.E.O. of the Football College, Orile Imo, Abeokuta,
ecstatically running around with the trophy. My dad was captain of the
Northern Railways FC. But the irony is that he would never allow me
play football. “I did not send you to school to play football”, was the
warning that always kept me in check, but of course the rascal in me
did not allow me to understand what the man was saying. It did not make
any sense to me anyway. Haba, how could he be so involved in the
beautiful game, only for him to deprive me of the opportunity to
express myself? So I would go ahead and please myself, only to be dealt
with severely. This was the situation I found myself throughout my
primary and secondary schools years, even though I tried cutting
corners.

Reprieve however
came during my days at the University and the Military. Good old days
especially at the University of Ghana, Legon. Details are kept for the
book to be published soon. That was when I was young.

Now, I am no longer
as young as I used to be. And so I am deep in the process of
reconciling my past with the present. I have come to realise however
that success is a choice I have to make and that it is not likely that
I will have everything I want or need.

A peep into the future

The major challenge
facing me right now is the fact that I have to make decisions about how
I am going to contribute more effectively to football development in
Nigeria, without compromising my position on the need for credibility,
transparency and fair play. What do I do with the football coaching
certificates/licenses and franchise that God has given me the ability
to acquire within the past couple of years? How do we make an idea like
the “Diamond Structure Philosophy” become functional from the local
government council areas, to the federal government level, in Nigeria,
so that sports and education can be effectively married, for the sole
purpose of preparing millions of our young ones in Nigeria for credible
future leadership roles?

How can genuine and
functional synergy be established between the sports and education
ministries all over the Country? How do we get the Parents/Teachers
Association of Nigeria involved in sports, to the extent that very
soon, Nigeria will begin to produce Parents who can also double as
sports coaches?

How do we groom the next generation of referees, administrators,
officials, coaches, sports scientists, agents, managers, writers, et
cetera. Who is to be held responsible for this? Is it the National
Institute for Sports (N.I.S.) or football schools like those run by
Segun Odegbami or Kashimawo Laloko? How do we make some state governors
realise the fact that billions of innocent tax-payers monies are being
wasted on meaningless sports promotions instead of sports development?
Does any women-football loving Nigerian realise that the major reason
our pretty and beloved Super Falcons may very soon become feckless –
simply because of there is no functional women football structure in
Nigeria? Well, that is apart from the criminally inspired issue of age
falsification of our women at the age-grade level. Believe me
sincerely, I have had the opportunity of seriously and soberly thinking
of these issues and several more, within these past seven weeks. Can I
effectively discuss them now? No, we will continue next week, God
willing.