Nigeria Content Online

Watching a
happy-sounding Danny Jordaan’s interview after delivering what many
foreign journalists said was impossible, a successful world cup finals
and the first on African soil, I was so proud of him.

According to him “I
told you way back in 2004 when South Africa won the bid to host the
2010 FIFA World Cup finals that “only God could stop us hosting the
best World Cup ever. I am delighted with the way the tournament was run
both on and off the field. It was a tremendous advert for South Africa
and Africa and shows that this continent can succeed in hosting the
biggest sporting event in history. It was a stunning achievement and
one we as a nation can be rightly proud of”.

In fact, when I
heard a couple of days ago that Jordaan, the former LOC head for South
Africa 2010 had joined the FIFA World Cup inspection team to run the
rule over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup venues in Australia, Japan,
Russia, England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland and the United
States I wasn’t surprised. I was really happy for him to have been
rewarded for his brilliance in this manner.

It was indeed the
best World Cup ever with the third highest attendance in the history of
the tournament. I dare say it couldn’t have been any better than it was
and I am yet to hear one negative comment about the month long event.

It was overwhelming, and for me, a once in a life time experience.

Shame on Charles Dempsey

Sure we all
remember in 2000 the man from Oceania who was directed by his region to
vote for South Africa to host the tournament in 2006. Dempsey decided
to abstain and thereby, by that one vote tilted the balance in favour
of Germany.

By 2006 every
continent had hosted the World Cup except Africa and with that decision
in Zurich in 2000; it meant Africa continued to be seen as the
“hopeless continent”. It might have been a blessing in disguise because
that outcome confirmed exactly what we sought to bring to an end; the
confinement of Africa and Africans to the periphery of human society.
Though South Africa had to wait for four years, it was well worth the
wait for the continent as a whole.

While I was proud
to be African based on the success of the event, I also harboured a
tiny bit of jealousy. I couldn’t stop thinking about my dear country,
the “giant of Africa”, wondering if my generation will ever witness
Nigeria successfully hosting an event of that magnitude. Thankfully our
officials were there and saw for themselves. Will they learn from the
South African experience? My faith tells me YES! My head tells me NO!
Most probably because their next priority seems to be to buy houses in
the rainbow nation, following the trend of past leaders. Perhaps we got
our independence too soon and maybe easily.

Post World Cup withdrawal syndrome

People feel South
African’s may not be able to deal with the “withdrawal syndrome”
post-World Cup. On the contrary, I think it is time for them to shine.
We can see that the World Cup forged some unity across political lines
and a remarkable display of patriotism across the racial divide. And as
President Zuma said, “South Africa is in the marketing mood, explore
the opportunities, find new partners and see the return on your
investments. We are blowing our vuvuzelas and encouraging the world to
partner with us as we build a better Africa”. There’s hardly anyone I
know who was at the World Cup that doesn’t intend to go back to South
Africa.

South Africa has
proven the Afro-pessimist who thought we will fail wrong. The success
of the World Cup has helped Africa regain her pride as equal members of
the human society.

No doubt, the
tournament united Africa and we saw the support the Ghanaian team got
when they faced Uruguay in the quarter final. I hope that this will
continue to unite us not just on the field of play but in all aspects.

And like former
president Thabo Mbeki said, “For us our success in hosting the World
Cup means Africa is well poised to continue its renaissance, hopefully
supported by the rest of humanity. Africa must therefore proceed from
the playing fields to claim the 21st century and liberate itself from
the weight of centuries of the denial of human dignity”.

Well done South Africa, well done Africa!