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I
avoid controversies as much as possible. But once in a while, one gets
entangled in it. I must confess, however, that I expected a couple of
reactions after the first part of my write-up about the Dove Golden Belt
boxing tournament was published last week.

It was a few minutes
before the European Champions league match started when my phone rang.
The caller did not even respond to my ‘Yes, who is this?’ before he
threw his punches. “You see how you people behave…? What has Segun
Odegbami got to do with boxing? Is boxing the same as football? You also
mentioned one Herbert Orji. Who is he and what has he got to do with
boxing? Instead of inviting people like…(names withheld) to talk about
boxing, and you say you are trying to save Nigerian sports.” I tried to
respond, but the punches kept coming. “And what sort of standard are you
talking about, when such a championship did not take place in Lagos,
Abuja or other major city?”

After about four
minutes, he paused and asked if I was still with him. It was at this
point that I was able to ask his identity and all he said was ‘Duke’. I
asked if I could respond to some of the issues raised but he was not
going to have any of that, and the conversation stopped, abruptly, just
like it started.

I felt slightly
uncomfortable, but took consolation in the fact that I had received
numerous text messages and a couple of phone calls, congratulating me on
the success of the tournament. Of particular interest is the e-mail I
received from a Nigerian ex-boxer, now residing in Jamaica. But I
realised there may be several ‘Dukes’ to be dealt with. According to the
American essayist and psychologist, Og Mandino, I will love the light
because it shows me the way, yet, I will endure the darkness, because it
shows me the stars. This is why I will never be easily upset by certain
incidents any more.

I called Duke the
following day for a conversation and am glad to mention that we are now
very good friends. I explained to him that Segun Odegbami and Herbert
Orji were two of the four speakers invited to deliver papers at the
pre-tournament summit, which took place a day before the boxing
tournament proper. Duke’s answer was positive when I asked if he
believes in God and I told him the title of Odegbami’s paper is ‘God is a
sportsman’ and that if only Nigerians – especially our so-called sports
administrators, retired/active sports persons, sports writers,
supporters, etc, would adhere to the rules of sports as stipulated by
God Almighty, Nigeria would dominate the world of sports. Odegbami’s
paper was a classic.

Herbert Orji started
boxing in 1962 at the age of 10. He reached the finals of the Steve
Jaffta Cup boxing competition in 1965, in Enugu. He was a light and
welterweight champion, who successfully, like Odegbami, combined sports
with education, and today is a professor. His paper was titled ‘A Sharp
Mind in a Quick Body’. A very juicy paper recommended for every Nigerian
athlete and coach.

I also explained to
Duke that four luxury buses were deployed to convey participants –
especially grassroots boxers, coaches and boxing club owners – from
Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode and Lagos, to and from the Redemption Camp, free of
charge, for two days. That the boxers who fought during the tournament
and their coaches were accommodated (free of charge) in guest houses on
the Redemption Camp for four days and given a feeding allowance of a
thousand naira daily. Apart from the fact that all the boxers were
issued with branded kits, including gowns, for the first time in the
history of grassroots amateur boxing in Nigeria, all the participating
boxers smiled home with cash awards. Those who did not win their bouts
were given N15, 000 each. Four of the winners received N25, 000 each,
while the most outstanding boxers went home with N250, 000, N350, 000
and N450, 000 cash awards. All the boxers, coaches, officials and media
organisations that participated in the programme were issued with
certificates of active participation.

I told Duke that Obisia Nwankpa, ‘Golden Gloves’, could not hide his
feelings when he entered the fully air-conditioned, well-lit Youth
Centre of the Redemption Camp, venue of the tournament. He said,
‘Wonderful, I feel like I am in Europe or the USA.’ I also remember very
vividly that as I ushered Segun Odegbami into the hall, he stopped and
exclaimed, ‘What are you people trying to do?’ and I quipped, ‘Trying to
prove that God is a sportsman.’ He looked around, apparently saw the
boxing ring in the centre of the hall, heard the superb quality of the
sound emanating from the loud speakers, also saw the two giant viewing
screens and said, ‘Wonderful’, to which I jokingly retorted,
‘twoderful’.