The Trumpeter, The SWOT Man And Sundry Issues

The Trumpeter, The SWOT Man And Sundry Issues

“Whoever commits a fraud is guilty not only of the particular injury to him who he deceives, but of the diminution of that confidence which constitutes not only the ease but the existence of society.”-Samuel Johnson

The last time my friend, The Trumpeter came on a visit was more than three years ago and what a pleasant surprise as he knocked on my door this early morning.

Remember him? He’s the same guy that dialogued with me when Ambassador Fanny Amun was fanning confusion at the Glass House in 2006. He also paid homage as we jaw-jaw over Alhaji Lulu’s House of Friction and he was equally on hand for a chit-chat over the ineptitude that was German coach Berti Vogts in 2008.

Trumpeter and I have really come a long way and t is always a delight to have him around in spite of his peculiar cynicism. This time, many things occupied my mind on sighting him and I guess there would be much in his quiver given his own antecedent. Before  I could even drag a seat, this my August visitor  have started singing like a canary  that I got  so confused about what  particular topic or event to pin him down to for discussion. But trust my guy; he knows how to break the ice as we chatted right away...

 “It’s been quite some time, trust all is well with you despite the challenging times we are today.

“I’m fine. You’re not looking bad either and I can actually see some Goodluck all around you.

“How there you bring Jona into this matter? I don’t want to be charged with treason and sedition. You know I don’t go beyond my purview which you and I know is discussing Nigerian sport.

“We are still on the same page. Can’t you see that it has been harvest of bad luck since our man from South-South took over the reins of government?

”Please, spare me such story. My only concern is the unending crises in Nigerian sport especially the beautiful game vis-à-vis the recent visit of our man to the House Committee on Sports.

“I don’t understand what you are saying and if this is a joke, stop it.

“Joke ke?  I’m not here to pull your legs rather but to share important things with you .This is serious issue man or can’t you see or hear the rumblings in the land?

“As for the football matter, I think it’s all cacophony of noise. I can’t see what people are fighting over. I for instance  choose to call myself  what I want  despite the long list of names I was  given by so many people I don’t even know because I’m the  Special  One( I mean the last born and only boy ) in my family...

“Story. You mean there is nothing wrong in NFA or NFF?

“You said so.  The people said they don’t want to be referred to as No Future Ambition (NFA) and took the most honourable part by seeking a change and yet some of these clowns keep beating the drum of war.

“I thought they should have stick with NFA. Some said the NFF is not complimentary either. Have you heard people making mess of the NFF as Nigeria Fraud Federation? Can you beat that?

“That’s a punch below the belt. Nigeria Fraud Federation?

“That is what cynics are saying; you know you can never satisfy our people despite your best intentions but how come they reportedly spent so much just to effect changes in their nomenclature?

“Please, spare me this entire yawn. That matter is already in court and that is what my learned and not so erudite friends usually referred to as a sub-judice case.  Better keep your opinion least you could incur the wrath of the law. I forewarn you. End of discussion.

“Haba! We still have the other item to discuss or have you forgotten so soon about the other matter I broached with you?

“Which other matter? You know what? I nicknamed you the Trumpeter because you like to cry foul where there is none.

“Trumpeter my foot! Don’t tell me you have short memory. We still have an unfinished business with our man, I mean the SWOT’s man.

“Which one is the SWOT’s man again?

“I can see clearly now that you have a short memory. How can you say you have forgotten about our man so soon? I mean to say; you know; as in (apologies to Jenifa) the Man Friday of his former boss from the Power state?

“You actually got me confused.  The  SWOT’s man na our man now and what about him?

“Where have you been? The man is in deep shit following the earthshaking revelations at his sitting with The House Committee on Sports to defend how he spent the largesse given to the National Scandal Commission (NSC).Only the Jupiter can save him this time.

“How do you mean that only Jupiter can save him? The man knows his way around the system and has a somewhat ‘mystical arrogance of a survivor. I won’t be surprised if he’s given a carte blanche

“Freedom for where? How can we sweep such corruption under the carpet? What manner of an administrator would allegedly spend a whopping N1, 200,000.00 (One million, Two Hundred Thousand Naira) to open a Facebook account? Can’t you see that he has lost his swagger and his trademark smile has suddenly turned to scowl?

“Think you didn’t hear him well. He said the amount was for Fraud-book account.  He must have been misquoted by the press boys ... you and I know that it’s FOC (free of charge) when you open account at Mark Zuckerberg ‘s Facebook. Tell me another story.

“What other story is bigger than this? This has been the hallmark of the National Scandal Commission for years.  A piggery is better than that parastatal.

“Yes, I know but I’m reeling in shock that our man could be found in such mess. I thought they said he was a saint when he was taking over from his predecessor-I mean the man who caught fever at FIFA.

“That one is a smart aleck and would never have been so foolish to have incidental such Fraud-book account as part of expenditures.  My guess is that our man is truly living to his dream of adopting SWOT as the panacea to lead Nigerian sports to the Promised Land.

“Please educate me, what is SWOT?

“Our embattled chief actually defined SWOT as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats of Nigerian Sports on assumption of office as Director General of the NSC.

“Sounds good, isn’t?

“What is good about that? Think our man actually typified all that had been happening at the NSC for aeons:  S is for scandals; W is for Weaklings; O is for Oppressors and T is for Thieves.

“You mean our man is a Kleptomaniac too?

 “That one is a big grammar but do not say I told you somebody said on Facebook the other day that ‘thief na thief irrespective of the school you graduated from.’

 “I agree with you that all thieves are equal but many thieves are superiors to the others. This episode actually transported me to George Orwell’s Animal Farm....

“Don’t tell me you are calling for jungle justice because I don’t understand your drift about Animal Farm.

“Hope you must have heard this phrase before: ‘His cup runs over’

“Just say our man’s cup is full and his day of reckoning has finally come. I forewarned him when he was stepping on toes like a generalissimo.

“What else do you expect of a warrior if he wasn’t trampling on real and imaginary enemies?

“Remember I warned him that .those who lives in glass houses should never throw stones.

“I’d forgotten about that. Tell me something.

“Last year I said the powers that be at the NSC are a true reflection of John Lennon’s saying: ‘they are just insane people running our society for insane objectives?’

“Oh, my God! I take it back that you have short memory. I remember you did tell him that power is transient. Yet our man was behaving like the lord of the manor fomenting troubles all over the land

 “He actually had a litany of petitions. On the last count, he has over 195 petitions against him before he was brought to face-to face with the House Committee on Sports.

“But do you trust those fellows at the House of Representatives? I put it to you that they have oversight functions and they can still let him off the hook.

“  My friend, I’m not bothered  whatever  would be the outcome of this probe but I take solace in the wisdom of the  immediate past chairman of Punch Newspapers, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola...

“Why are you dragging the chief into all this? Let him enjoy his retirement in peace but what actually did say?

“This was his last statement in his valedictory interview as Chairman of Punch: ‘really, once you are gone, you are gone my friend.’  I think you can read between the lines and applied it to our man. His time is well over...  

“I won’t even bet a dime on that. See you some other time; I have to take my leave now.

“My pleasure boss, you are always welcome....

 AFCON 2012: So Far, So Good

Those who thought interest would wane following the non-qualification of traditional super powers at the on-going African Cup of Nations being co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea should by now have a rethink.

Missing in action at the African football festival are illustrious teams such as the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Indomitable Lions of Cameroun, The Pharaohs of Egypt, Bafana-Bafana of South Africa.  There was this erroneous belief that this tournament was going to lack colour without some of the continent’s glamour teams but nobody is missing them at all.

At the conclusion of the Preliminary First Round matches, we have so much excitement and reasons to be optimistic that the future of African football is bright indeed.

Some of the pre-tournament’s permutations have been tore into shreds: the once-feared Teranga Lions of Senegal returned to Dakar without even winning a game. Sudan that paraded a team made up of only local-based players qualified to the next round at the expenses of former champions, Tunisia. Co-hosts, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea practically live to the billing as ‘the host with the most’ by qualifying for the quarter and playing some of the best matches so far in the competition.

This point was stressed by Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, the Confederation of African Football executive committee member and chairman of Ghana Football Association: “What Niger and the others have done here bears testimony to the fact that they're better than Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria at present. The absence of these so-called heavyweights, in my opinion, has not affected the competition in any way."

Yet, the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire and Black Stars of Ghana have equally shown their desire to eventually win the tournament but on the strength of what we have seen so far, more shocks are coming along the way.

Warri Wolves: The making of a brand

“Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”-Dale Carnegie

WARRI WOLVES

Last weekend, the 2012 African Cup of Nations got underway with fanfare in Malabo as co-host, Equatorial Guinea put up a show that made the whole of Africa very proud to signal the start of the 28^th edition of the continent’s most-sought-after trophy.

Similarly, most Nigerians were engrossed with the English Premiership particularly with the ‘Super Sunday’ offering which pitched Arsenal against Manchester United as well as Manchester City versus Tottenham Hotspurs. So much on the horizon but having resolved to pay more attention to domestic interest (especially with little or no Nigerian interest at the AFCON and Premiership), but my focus actually was the much expected debut of Jude Aneke for Warri Wolves.

Aneke was quite a sensation in the Nigeria Premier League last season with Kaduna United when he scored 20 goals to erase Ahmed Musa’s ground-breaking 18-goal that eclipsed the long-held 17-goal record by Ishaya Jatau for Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland FC) in 1990.

If it were in the other climes, cameramen as well as the written press would be at the back of Aneke in droves: turning him to an overnight celebrity. But rather than jump on the bandwagon and hop on the next available seat to Europe in search of the proverbial greener pasture, Aneke has made a wise move by joining Warri Wolves Football Club (WWFC) in a N12 Million deal-albeit after a botched trip to Belgium.

Though WWFC is not the oldest club in Nigeria today, we can safely say that it is a model for others to follow. In WWFC is the truism in the saying that ‘having wisdom like Solomon has nothing to do with the age of a Methuselah.’

“I think the management of Warri Wolves FC must be commended for the way and manner they have been managing the team,” Adekunle Michael, a staunch follower of this column stated in a long message ironically via the short message service (SMS), “and I think other management of teams in the Nigeria Premier League should take a cue from Warri Wolves.

“Warri Wolves makes a lot of money from players’ transfer and that is why the team has not complained of money to run its affairs in the NPL. Imaging signing Jude Aneke for 12 Million Naira and they are so sure that they will make so much from the transfer of that guy in less than six months from now when the guy would head back to Europe for trials with European,” he added.

I totally agree with Michael on this score because this is the same sentiments expressed by Mr.  Banji Oladapo, the immediate past Secretary General of Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) when he spoke with me on the state of Nigerian football in 2008.

“We no longer celebrate the talents in our local league, “noted Oladapo who initiated the now rested Bournvita Soccer Awards  under his  tenure as a Brand Manager at Cadbury in the 1990s. “Spectatorship used to be a very big thing in the past  when we had teams like Stationery stores, IICC(now 3SC) of Ibadan, Abiola Babes, Leventis United(both defunct), Rangers International  and a host of others, but we cannot say the same today.

“The spectatorship for all the foreign leagues is now on the increase and it would get to a point when nobody would be at the stadium to watch our domestic league and that would be very unfortunate.”

Oladapo’s undoubtedly are prophetic words and it is on this premise that I would wish that Aneke tarry awhile before joining the train in search of a club in Europe. It is not every day that we see a player on the domestic league totting up goals like telephone numbers like Aneke did last season-hence it took two decades before curtain was drawn on Jatau’s 17-goal record.

By staying a little longer on the domestic league, Aneke would invariably prepare himself well for the task ahead when he eventually join the legion of Nigerians playing in Europe- as well as having the chance to join a bigger club rather than the rigmarole of going far field to places like Moldova and Vietnam all in the name of playing abroad! And for scoring on his debut for WW, Aneke has partly justified that his last season’s effort is not a fluke and his long stay on the scene would further entrench him in the minds of the public and press.

 “I have decided to start a new chapter in my career after the recent disappointment over my Belgian move and I feel so excited to have joined Warri Wolves, Aneke reportedly said, “my personal ambition is to do very well with the club and to score as many goals as possible and with the calibre of players and the expertise of the coaches, we can go far in all the competitions.”

That WWFC is a model to follow is there for all to see not minding the fact that they are still a property of Delta State government like many other teams in the Premier League.

Unlike what obtains in Europe, clubs in Nigeria are still tied to the aprons of state governments but how many can boast of accountability and corporate governance like WWFC? How many have put solid institutional structure in place like WWFC? How many have good welfare packages like WWFC? How many makes available flight tickets when their players are called for national assignment? These are some of the things that have made WWFC streets ahead of their contemporaries and I think it is not late in the day for others to emulate some of these positives.

Birthed from the ashes of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Football Club who were relegated after the 200/2006 season, WWFC gained promotion to the Premier League in 2009 after emerging champions from the National Division IB and they have been waxing stronger coming sixth in the 2009/10 season They played in the CAF Confederations Cup in 2010 but lost out in the first round. Last year, they came close to winning the domestic league but finished in third position to earn a slot to campaign for the CAF Confederation Cup.

Of course, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for sparing little in making WWFC a prototypical for other Nigerian clubs. Apart of a handsome annual budget to the club, Dr. Uduaghan demonstrated his love to the club when he doled out buses to the club, its supporters as well as the Delta State Chapter of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club ‘to ease their transportation problem.’

Yet the management of the club is not ignorant of the fact that the responsibility of managing WWFC lies squarely on their shoulders. Winston Churchill, American Statesman stated that ‘the price of greatness is responsibility’ and those saddled with the task of managing WWFC know they cannot rest on their oars. Last December, the management of WWFC presented a satisfactory end-of-the-season report card to the chairman of Delta State Sports Commission, Mr. Pinnick Amaju who incidentally doubles as the chairman of WWFC.

 “We have an enormous task in 2012,”noted Amaju, “the last time you played in the CAF competition, you came through the back door but this time around, and I want to say that hard work gave you the ticket to participate in this year’s CAF Confederation Cup.

“I want to say the government played their role to the end which accounted for this great success. Warri Wolves was born 35 years ago but appeared on the scene strongly three years ago and has become house hold name in Nigeria football community. The governor is happy about the achievement so far, we are ready to do everything to make sure Warri Wolves would remain house hold name in the country.”

 That indeed could be an understatement given their past resolve and support to the cause of WWFC.

Not too far away in the scheme of things is Heartland Football Club (HFC) of Owerri, now under the astute management of foremost sports journalist, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke.

Less than  two years after taking the charge of  HFC, the Owerri-based Naze millionaires broke their duck by winning a trophy after 18 years after  handling a 1-0 defeat to battle-hardened Enyimba International Football Club of Aba in the Federation Cup- the Challenge Cup.

It actually looked like a big challenge when Ndubuoke took over but he has shown that he indeed ‘has the confidence to roll the dice.’ Initially, criticisms trailed him like bees after honey with some detractors quoted as saying that ‘he was making the wrong decisions’ not thinking the opposite as espoused by Paul Arden that ‘he was making the right decisions.’ He sacked under-performing players as well as coaches by appointing a certain Dutch coach, Lodewijk de Kruif as technical adviser and the gamble paid off:

“Leading the club to win her first major trophy in 18 years was great and I want to consolidate on that feat in 2012,” Ndubuoke regarded by critics as a Machiavellian, stated matter-of-factly.

“My dream is to turn Heartland into a big brand. A team that is financially viable and I are looking at a Heartland that would be as cost effective as Arsenal with a winning mentality of Manchester United. Yes, we want to win trophies, but that won’t be our focus alone. We will try to prove with Heartland that football is truly a big business.”

 Nigerian football is truly on the way to self discovery if every club managers on the domestic scene adopt the business-like approach that has turned the once bankrupt WWFC and HFC to a club of choice today.

Between NFA and NFF

February 2010: Story on NFF

So many things have been said and written since last Friday’s injunction by an Abuja High court over the status of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) and Nigeria Premier League(NPL).

Yet, I don’t think the court is saying anything new. The court’s verdict  is similar to an exclusively report published in the February, 14 2010 edition of  National LIFE following an enquiry from FIFA, the world soccer’s governing body under a banner headline: NFF IN IDENTITY MESS (FIFA Yet To Ratify Changes In Status).

For the avoidance of doubt, below is the concise reply to my mail: “Thank you for your enquiry. FIFA does recognise the NFF as the Association organising football in Nigeria and Sani Abdullahi (Lulu) as its President. Please see below the FIFA.com link referring to the NFF: http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=nga/index.html,” FIFA noted via an exclusive electronic mail.

 “FIFA was not officially informed of the changes. We have asked to be officially notified about the changes and we will update the information accordingly. We are currently waiting for the NFF logo to be replaced on FIFA.com.”

The change in nomenclature was made  during  the  association’ s General  Assembly in Makurdi, Benue State in July 2008 and some of the people who are kicking today were part  of those who endorsed the decision. Between then and now, the Glass House have been making efforts at addressing this obvious anomaly so that National Assembly can pass the NFF bill.

Though we can’t excuse the federation from blame for not fast-tracking the changes, we can’t equally exonerate the rabble rousers whose stock in trade was to rush to civil court at the drop of a hat. This problematical issue today as well as in life generally, is a pointer to the fact that there are no permanent friends but permanent interest.  

How Good Do You Want To Be?

2008: The Arsenal  exclusive

 Not too sure now the person who once said that ‘a journalist is as good as the number of exclusives stories written under his by line.’ 

Still, Keir Radnedge, the immediate past editor of World Magazine and chairman of   AIPS Football Commission equally stated that ‘exclusive story is the story nobody except you wanted.’

 I think in the middle of the two extremes, lays the wisdom that you are as good as your last by line consequently permit me blow my own trumpet today. Long before everyone was chasing the story about the planned visit by English Premier League side, Arsenal to Nigeria in the summer, I actually broke the story that DanJan Sports in conjunction with Inter-Projects Associates (the team that brought Manchester United and Portsmouth to Abuja in 2008) are desirous in bringing Arsenal on a playing tour of Nigeria.

That story was not published in 2011. Not in 2010. Not in 2009 but in the Sunday edition of National LIFE of July 20, 2008: Arsenal to Storm Nigeria after Man U (see bromide).

Paul Arden (I’m never tired of this savvy author) noted: “All of us want to be good at our jobs, but how good do we really want to be? Quite good .Good. Very good. The best in our field or the best in the world?” Your guess is as good as mine.

The Brand Warri Wolves Football Club

Though Warri Wolves Football Club (WWFC)  is not the oldest club in Nigeria today, we can safely say that it is a model for others to follow. In WWFC is the truism in the saying that ‘having wisdom like Solomon has nothing to do with the age of a Methuselah.

 Watch out for this and many more in Inside Soccer Extra  in Saturday's National LIFE.

 

Applause for new Sports’ Philanthropists

 “It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can.”-Sydney Smith

Undoubtedly, this is a ‘critical time hard to deal with’ following  the spate of protests all over the country due to the removal of petroleum subsidy by the government, so how do we usher in Year 2012 on this page without some of the vexed issues bothering on the administration of sports?

Today, the beautiful game of soccer often regarded as the king of sports, would even take the back burner as we share something refreshing, please join me in saluting the new faces behind sports’ philanthropy in the land.

There is nothing new on this earth and my paradigm shift is actually based on an old edition of Time Magazine with the caption story -The New Philanthropists-where the like of Bill and Melinda Gates and Ted Turner were celebrated for giving a slice of their wealth to the society.

“ Many of Today’s tech millionaires and billionaires are applying to philanthropy the lessons they have learned as entrepreneurs ,” noted  Karl Taro Grenfeld in the July 24, 2000 issue of Time,“ they want to make sure that their ultimate ‘customers (those in need), don’t get lost  in red tape and bureaucracy.”  

From Sokoto to Sabongida-Ora; from Lafia to Lagos, we have so many sports enthusiasts who are really putting their money where their heart is in supporting one cause or the other. Several Super Eagles players including Nwankwo Kanu of the Kanu Heart Foundation fame, are showing an uncommon benevolent spirit which should be highly commended.

But my focus today are on these three musketeers : Dr. John Abebe( the gentleman of Cricket  with his giant stride with the AAA Foundation);Mr. Wale Edun (the former Lagos State Commissioner of Finance with his  uncommon devotion to pugilism) and Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas( the big man behind the annual  Asoju-Oba Table Tennis Championship which recently marked its 43^rd edition).

These ones are gradually following the legends of people like the late business mogul, Chief M.K.O Abiola who spared nothing in advancing the development of football as well as other sports which appropriately earned him the honour as the first  Pillar of Sports in Africa ; Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the burly Masquerade behind Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland FC); Alhaji  Ibrahim Hamza  and late  Prince Dokun Abidoye who both bolstered the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria(YSFON) ; The Howzat Cricket Foundation and several others.

While we remember the ‘old philanthropists’ with fond admiration for their service to football especially, what is so special about the ‘new philanthropists’ is the fact that they supporting what is generally regarded as the lesser sports. 

 “I look at how God has blessed me during my working years and raising my family, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come to these homeless shelters and heard people say, ‘My children haven’t had a bite to eat today,” the then 81-year old Morris Pope said of the art of giving. “Everyone should feel the pleasure of giving to others if they knew that, they should give too.”

 The same reason can be ascribed to the charitable gifts to sports by Abebe, Edun and Okoya-Thomas consequently my searchlight on them.

We’ve had cause to celebrate some of these gestures in the past and I recall the sentiment expressed by Okoya-Thomas on the 40^th anniversary of the Asoju-Oba Table Tennis Tournament in 2008: "The question of why I chose table tennis has been answered several times. When I was made the Asoju Oba of Lagos by HRH, the late Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, I was the youngest among the honoured white cap chiefs.

“But there is a friend of mine, Alhaji Anibaba, who was then the chairman of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association and he suggested that as part of the one-week celebration to mark my capping as the Asoju-Oba. He promised to organize it and I agreed with him. I bought some silver trophies and that was the beginning of it all in 1968." 

Okoya-Thomas like Edun and Abebe fit the bill of people regarded as   philanthro-capitalist -somebody with a business-like approach to charity- because ‘the new breed of philanthropists scrutinises each charitable cause like a potential business investment, seeking maximum return in terms of social impact.’

 We can therefore understand Okoya-Thomas’ outburst over recent decline in standard and spectatorship of the Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship: “The story of Nigerian table tennis has been one of an inexorable decline. There is currently no Nigerian player – male or female – ranked in the top 100 in the world,” the septuagenarian who started the sponsorship of the championship at 33, said as he reinforced his commitment.

 “Once again, I promise to continue the sponsorship of this annual event as long as I live. Let me say in a nutshell that the annual Asoju-Oba Championship will outlive Molade Okoya-Thomas. In Nigeria, I don’t see anybody doing anything except for government because in the United States and United Kingdom, people set up foundations for sports development. So, I am calling on people to please help the society by using their wealth to support others in all endeavours.”

In an earlier tribute, I noted that those charged with the responsibility of administering sports in Nigeria should count themselves very lucky to have people like Okoya-Thomas with genuine love for development of other sports than football. What would be the state of table tennis, cricket, squash as well as other lesser sports without the benevolence of a willing philanthropist?

Gamaliel Bailey, American journalist (1807-1859) stated: ‘Never respect men merely for their riches, but rather for their philanthropy. We do not value the sun for its height but for its use.’

 On the strength of this, Dr. Abebe deserved a big pat on the back. Through his AAA (Triple A) Foundation, indigent students who play cricket are awarded educational scholarships and just recently there was good reason to celebrate the feat.    

Similarly, it is not every day that you find somebody sold on figures like Mr. Edun on the terrace at the stadium. A devoted lover of polo which many considered too elitist, Edun has shown equal tremendous support for the art of pugilism- boxing.

 The former Lagos State Commissioner of Finance has solidly supported amateur boxing in Lagos State and as the chair of Starcomms Plc, he is instrumental to the company’s support for boxing and this was highly praised by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) during a special edition of the Monthly Boxing show-an initiative of the Lagos State Boxing Hall of Fame.

 “We have revived amateur boxing in Lagos State. Looking at today’s programme, I see a lot of boxing clubs. From Epe to Ikorodu, we can see that everybody is involved in amateur boxing,” stated Governor Fashola.  

 “I will want to thank specifically, as I have done continuously, Mr.  Wale Edun for leading this initiative. I hope that our state will see more of Wale Eduns to support and drive inspiration in other sports like table tennis, swimming, athletics, judo and karate, and our government will provide the means whenever we see these organisational supports. But it has to be a people-driven thing. There must be passion behind it,” he added.

 What else than passion and philanthropy would have motivated Abebe, Edun and Okoya-Thomas endowment to sports? Nigeria needs more of these charitable gestures for the uplift and development of lesser sports; we would be here to hold the trophy for such jolly good fellows.

Messi: Matters arising

Stand up for Lionel Messi. Proud winner of 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or and the first player to win the world’s best player award three times in a row since Frenchman, Michel Platini scooped it between 1983 and 1985.

“I’m very proud to have won it three times, especially one after the other. It’s hard to win one, let alone three,” stated Messi decked in Dolce and Gabbana tuxedo at the gala.

Everybody loves a winner and I’m so happy for this bright boy from the land of Diego Maradona.

Comparison between Messi and Maradona is inevitable and most purists are of the view that without  the efficient and effective machine that is FC Barcelona, the  Little Flea( as Messi is fondly call), would not be where he is today.

Maradona led an ‘average ‘Napoli FC to win the Italian Scudetto twice in 1987 and 1990;and it was his guiles and goals the helped Argentina to win the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.  At youth level, Messi has won gold for Argentina at the Under-20 World Cup and Under-23 Olympic Football Tournament, yet the jury is still out.

"Messi will always be great with or without a World Cup — but the World Cup is something special. The World Cup will stay in the mind of the people," Platini reportedly said.

Would Messi be remembered as the genius that Messi-merized the world with only Barcelona   without holding aloft the real thing which is the FIFA World Cup for his native Argentina? Only time would tell. 

Henry and Scholes: Perfect Duo

For keen followers of the English Premiership, it seems like stale news reporting the shock return of Thierry ‘Igwe’ Henry and ‘gingered-haired’ Paul Scholes respectively to Arsenal and Manchester United.

Yet there are lessons to be learned from the dramatic comeback of the duo after ‘walking away’ from the Emirates Stadium and the Old Trafford not too long ago.

It’s been some three years since Henry went in search of greener pasture to FC Barcelona despite becoming Arsenal’s all-time goal scorer just to satisfy his long-held dream of winning the UEFA Champions League Trophy.

When the Frenchman was leaving the Emirates in 2007, I dedicated apart of this column published on June 30, 2007 (under the headline:  Henry, Obagol… and integrity!) saying: “All said, it was the manner of Henry’s departure that really touched me. He truly showed that he’s a footballer with a difference. How many footballers would be leaving a club and still requested for a final interview to explain why they are leaving? “

Like Henry, Scholes too was a loyal servant at Old Trafford  and just last year, he was  given a rousing ‘pull out’ after many meritorious years in the Red half of Manchester where he won so many titles including two UEFA Champions League Trophy in 1999 and 2008.

No wonder it’s these battle-hardened legends that Arsenal and Manchester United had recourse to during the January transfer window in order to beef up their arsenal for the task ahead in the coming months. Whereas Scholes played significant part in ensuring that Manchester United overcomes a resurgent Manchester City 3-2 in the FA Cup Third Round Fixture on Sunday, Henry also came on as sub to score the winning and the only goal against Leeds to send Arsenal to the next round of the FA Cup.

These are indeed something that could have existed in the realm of imaginations some few months ago but Henry and Scholes are worthy examples of  people who mastered  the ‘ Exit Strategy’ in Bob Harrison’s Power Points for Success:  ‘How can you better make exit-strategy thinking a part of your daily life and negotiating strategy?’ asked Harrison.

Henry and Scholes proved the truism that ‘doing a thing well never is trouble’ and the manner of their return to help their respective teams is instructive indeed.