One of the common expressions in sports’ parlance and indeed in life is: ‘You can never say never.’
It is on this premise that I’m back on my specialism: Working memorandum for new sports minister who also doubles as the chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC).
In fact, I’d thought this my peculiar exercise would not come too soon following the appointment of Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman into the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s cabinet last July. The revolving exit of the NSC has been humming since the dawn of democratic rule in 1999 with as many as eight ministers coming and going yet with little or nothing done to salvage one of the country’s most troubled sectors-the ministry of sports.
With Suleiman, I thought we were guaranteed at least four year of an interrupted service but like some characters that have passed this way; he abandoned the job midstream to pursue his failed bid for the governorship ticket of the People Democratic Party in Sokoto State. Suleiman’s loss could ultimately be the gains of the NSC with the appointment of Minister for Youth Development, Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi as acting sports minister ‘to oversee the country’s preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games ‘ amongst others.
Abdullahi brought into these job years of meritorious service in journalism as well as public service. A former editor at the influential ThisDay Newspapers, he was appointed as the Special Assistant, Communication and Strategy to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Dr Bukola Saraki in 2003 and two years later, he was appointed Special Adviser on Policy and Strategy to the Governor. Between April 2007 and May 2011, he served as the Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology.
It is on record that Abdullahi discharged his responsibilities with an uncommon approach to the delight of everyone. He was duly appointed Minister of State of Youth Development by President Goodluck last June but his elevation as the head of the sports ministry( though in acting capacity) would be his biggest challenge with the peculiar mess associated with this important but neglected sector since the beginning of democratic rule.
“There is still a long way to go for sports to grow and developed like it is elsewhere,” former Lagos State Governorship aspirant, Mr. Jimi Agbaje told me sometimes in 2009. “We are not getting it right and that is the sad aspect of it. If you look at the developed countries, you would agree with me that a lot still has to be done for sports in Nigeria. Sport is big business everywhere but we can’t say the same about sports in Nigeria.”
Such has been the persistent reservations about those charges with the administration of sports generally and this I believe, would task the ingenuity of Abdullahi as well as unblemished record both as a journalist as well as administrator.
As I repeated here, t is really not out of place to question the seeming abnormality in the running of sports in Nigeria: Could Nigeria‘s strange untidiness be a consequence of putting a square peg in a round hole? Could it be a product of general decadence in every sector of the economy and the society in general? What is that awful thing commonly called the Nigerian factor that has stifled the development of sports? Why is it difficult for the National Sports Commission to churn out athletes as it were in the 1980s? Why the overbearing attitude of successive chairman of the NSC on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) without due diligence to the rule of law? How come Corporate Nigeria are less enthusiastic about ploughing their huge profit to sports development ?Why is the NSC preoccupied with only football without implementing its so-called SWOT(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats of Nigerian Sports) project outlined by Dr. Patrick Ekeji, Director General of the NSC? Why is the sports ministry profoundly corrupt?
These are some of the issues at the root of the problem but time and time again, successive ministers just gloss over them consequently the total collapse of the once thriving sports industry.
The 1970s and early 1980s is unarguably the best years in term of physical and human development under the late Pa Isaac Akioye. He was regarded as the doyen of sports in Nigeria because his focus was not limited to football but sports in general but the same cannot be said of the successive administrators.
“Nobody is a super human,” Akioye who died at 82 on February 4, 2007, once told me.
“I think tribalism and nepotism introduced into the running of sports in the 1980s turned everything upside down. What has happened to the selection procedure? What is the quality of Nigerian coaches? No country can rise beyond its coaches; the better educated our coaches, the best for our sports.
“Government too has not seen sports as an industry. It is sad and unfortunate that Nigeria is neither here or there in terms of sports development. It is difficult to project into the future because nothing is being done by government and the multi-national companies to aid sports development,” added the late sage.
Let’s hear Agbaje again:” Sometimes I find it funny and ridiculous when people argue that you need only sports people to administer sports but administration of sports in Nigeria is nothing to write home about. Sport cannot achieve much in isolation, we need to bring so much inter play of forces in sports administration. Look at football for instance, I don’t think that it is only former footballers that we need in administration of the game.
“You need different professional to drive such vision from one stage to the other and that is what I think we need in order to effectively manage our sports. Unfortunately again, a minister does not last one or two years before he’s removed. A sports minister is picked out of political exigencies and seldom based on competence. It’s seen as compensation in return for a political favour. That way, we cannot move our sports forward.”
What else do I need to add? Agbaje practically lifted things from my heart and I concur that you don’t need a man with distinction in physical education or sports psychology to run sports successfully. What is needed to overturn the misfortune of the past is a man that has the passion for excellence and that is why the appointment of Abdullahi calls for some celebration.
“He (Abdullahi) has a passion and there’s no minister more competent than he is,” noted a senior Editor at ThisDay Newspapers.
Passion? What is passion? Is passion not tied to performance? Of what use is passion at the NSC now?
“People pursuing their passion have a clear sense of performance metrics,” noted by
John Hagel in Edge Perceptive. “These are not externally defined and imposed metrics, but individually adopted metrics that help passionate people to keep track of their own performance on a continuing basis and identify performance gaps.”
People who are passionate about excellence he said ‘have a deep sense of integrity about their quest and they have demanding expectations about themselves in terms of performance.’
In his previous assignments, Abdullahi reportedly adopted scientific approach to management – the theory propounded by Frederick Winslow Taylor ‘to improve labour productivity by analyzing and establishing workflow processes.’
Often referred to as Taylorism, scientific approach is more than a cursory look at issues. It would be interesting to see how Abdullahi would deploy this approach in bringing about the desired changes.
His immediate task is to ensure a successful outing at the London 2012 Olympics and the cry in the land is that there are no funds to even prepare athletes for an even that is just months away.
When Nigeria failed woefully at the Athens 2004 Olympics, Dr. Ekeji said that Team Nigeria would henceforth field only athletes where they have comparative advantage. He said that attention would be given to athletics, table tennis, combat sports like weightlifting, wrestling, judo and of course, football. "I'm not too surprised about the performances of Team Nigeria at this Olympics though we set a 10-Gold medal target. For the first time in our history, we prepared well but you would agree with me that two-three months of preparations are not even enough to compete well at the Olympics. We must now look at our strong points in future international assignments. In fact, there should be systemic plans to ensure that our performances in future international competitions turn out well."
But nothing has changed. All over the land, the cry is that the NSC has become an albatross to the development of sports in Nigeria and it would need a valiant approach for Abdullahi to effect changes-positive ones for that matter.
The Sympathetic Sultan
A great leader, according to an African proverb, is an ordinary person with extraordinary wisdom.
This much was displayed by His Royal Eminence Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar when a delegation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) paid him a courtesy call during the week.
“It is good that your Board has realized the shortcomings and the pitfalls of the outgoing year. The first step to solving a problem is to accept that there is a problem, and from there, you move to tackle it. Now, it is time for your Board to come up to solutions that will propel our football even to heights that it had never been before,” The Sultan of Sokoto was quoted as saying.
Yet some mischief makers were of the view that such counsel was not in the right direction rather, they want the hammer on the NFF at all cost.
It is unfortunate that results have not been favourable to the NFF despite given their best and such clarion call to duty by The Sultan of Sokoto is in the right direction. The NFF is left with no choice than to bend backward for a better new season come 2012 and beyond.
Softly, softly Big Boss
Nigerian coaches are indeed a special breed and current Super Eagles’ coach, Stephen Keshi (Big Boss) is already proving that he is indeed an enigma! Think he is schooled enough to know that you don’t run the national team on the pages of newspaper or on the FM radio stations. One of the reasons many were rooting for the employment of Keshi was the perception that he is matured than some of contemporaries but we are certainly seeing a new Keshi with his penchant to have his say even on mundane issues in the media. Agreed, the media has the right to probe and seek for those exclusive stories; it is left for Keshi to know when to talk and when not to talk. What Nigerian football need today is a silent revolution; Keshi should not bore us with how he wants to do the job. He should just put his heart to the job before the same media would jest him as the ‘loquacious Keshi!’
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