Tony Okerafor
14 April 2006
opinion
Lagos — THE story is told of a middle aged university graduate from Nigeria who got a scholarship to do a masters programme in a leading institution in the U.K. One day, he forgot his textbook in classroom, but, was able to return early enough the following day before lectures to retrieve his book. It was no longer there.
Bemused and disappointed, he scribbled the following message on a chalkboard in the classroom, in case whoever removed the book should see it, and it said: "whoever took my book should return it. If you fail to return it, it is not me you're doing: it's yourself you're doing."
That quote may well sound like a direct translation of a local Nigerian language into English, and that is what it is. Yet, and beyond this literal interpretation, there is a perfect and a much more sensible meaning to it: namely that if the "thief" fails to return the book, he should take full responsibility for his action.
One may wonder what the incident I have narrated above has to do with those I've referred to as "our sports ambassadors." But, on second thought, one will remember, even if it's not vividly in the days gone by, when Nigerians proudly came out to tell the rest of the world that there is something like Nigerian English, perhaps, in the same way that we have American English, Queens English, Australian English or the English of the New Zealander.
The essence of this discussion is not necessarily to dwell on the merits and demerits of what some of us are calling Nigerian English, since, in my opinion, there is truly no such thing yet but, the real concern here is Africa's sports ambassadors and what the writer sees as their unacceptable attitude towards the main language of communication. Gone are those days, when sports everywhere and anywhere around the world was nothing else but a pastime. Back in the 1970's and early 80's, and those who can remember the 50's and 60's, football players, track and field athletes, boxers, weightlifters, hand-ballers, wrestlers, tennis-players, cricketers and the like, took up their sports as a recreation. Back then, and especially in our parts, not much money was to be earned playing soccer or boxing, wrestling, running or playing table or lawn tennis.
These athletes were not treated with as much respect and honour, compared to those we have today. If you found yourself playing football or boxing or wrestling, in those years gone by, you were regarded by the public as either a school drop-out or a never-do-well. Often, the sports men and women of yesteryears were widely regarded, and truly showed themselves to be people who had failed in other endeavours. In truth, many of them, if not most, were uneducated and could hardly read or write.
Today, it's interesting to note that many things have changed, and for the better, I dare say. It's much more common, nowadays to see the Ronaldos of this world, the Okochas, the Eto'os, the Tiger Woods, the Roger Federes, the Lennox Lewis, the Justin Gathlings, the Steve Worns and the Olajuwons, among others, being treated like kings and princes. Many of them, especially across the major sports, are regarded as demigods, and it's not uncommon to see them being hero-worshipped by their millions of fans across the world.
Africa, and indeed, Nigeria, has had it's own fair share of these superstars. It never used to be the case, twenty or thirty years ago, for instance, for the likes of the late Dick Ihetu Tiger ( a world-class Nigerian boxer) or Hogan "Kid" Bassey (another Nigerian world-title holder in boxing) to be so widely recognised or rewarded for their achievements in the ring. Even during the heyday of the Nigerian wrestling legend, Michael Okpala" (popularly known as "Power Mike"), you didn't hear his name spoken on the lips of every Lagos street kid, as you would hear the children of today, even seven-year-olds, speaking so warmly and so knowledgeably about the exploits of the likes of Kanu Nwankwo, Samuel Eto'o Fills, John Utaka, J.J. Okocha, El-Hadji Diouf, Hosam "Mido" Hassan, Deji Aliu, Mercy Akhide or Mary Onyali-Omagbemi.
Everywhere these people go, TV cameras, radio microphones and newspaper reporters trail them. It's also not uncommon to see fans of theirs wear or embrace the trademarks of their sports heroes, whether hair-does, T-shirts or their adopted style(s) of celebrating a goal or speaking and walking. Only God knows what a superstar the likes of the legendary Brazilian soccer player, Pele, would have become, today. At seventeen, he featured in his first World Cup tournament for his country. That, we all know, is not a feat that is uncommon nowadays. But, one notable achievement of Pele, which many of today's footballers will envy, is the critical part he played in helping his country win three successive editions of the World Cup, such as in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
What else has changed in the lives of the athletes of today? Of course, and we have already said, they earn huge sums of money, compared to their predecessors. Pele may have scored a thousand goals, during his soccer career. However, he would have been awestruck, forty years or half a century ago, if any of the clubs he had played for in those glorious days had offered him anything close to the 40,000, 50,000 or 70,000 U.S dollars a week paid by clubsides in Europe to the Eto'os the Beckhams, the Essiens, the Henrys and the Vieiras of this world.
And again, the power and the outreach of the mass media, especially television, unprecedented. Apart from paying incredible sums of money in the name of rights and advertorials, the television, radio and print are the ones largely responsible for popularising their sports and carrying their achievements and fame even to the living-rooms of hundreds of millions of people throughout the globe. Twenty years ago, you neither had as many Africans plying their trade outside the continent nor did you have the luxury of satellite TV or the internet, and, of course, not as many people had access to television sets, as we have today.
Incidentally, and also consequently, the power and the influence of these stars have so risen over the years that, unlike their predecessors, politicians, NGO's the multi-nationals and even the United Nations are using their services in an unprecedented fashion. These people, whether in Africa, Europe, America or Asia, have become men and women of power and great influence, who carry a lot of clout and can get people to listen to them. Increasingly, they are turning to politics and sports reporting and commentating. Also, we know a good number that have become goodwill ambassadors for the U.N. (such as Ghana's Abedi Pele), cabinet ministers, such as, the great Pele himself, and presidential candidates, such as the former Liberian soccer star, George Opong Weah. On the one hand, today's sports men and women have become true professionals in their chosen fields, and on the other hand, their high profile has thrust upon them other roles and responsibilities outside the sphere of sports. The truth is: some are discharging their new-found duties with grace and incredible skills, while others, just can't cope with the challenge. My point is a simple one. I think that the African sports ambassador is faring worse in tackling these new challenge. "Why?" you may ask. It's a simple answer. They don't seem to have realised that the world, and more importantly, their professions, have moved on. Perhaps, it's because most of them don't know this fact, or care less about it, that they do little or nothing at all to enhance their standard of education. While the going is good, our footballers, boxers, wrestlers, track and field athletes and the like don't seem to be making out time to go to school, and it is telling and telling badly not just on them, as our ambassadors, but, also on us all, as their compatriots and admirers.
Maybe a couple of illustrations explaining why I feel the way I do. One instance is February's CAF, Confederation of African Football, awards for 2005 soccer season, held in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. One had expected the major awardees to come out and address the audience and the world. But, as it turned out, it was only the Cameroonian star, Samuel Eto'o Fils, who plays for Barcelona F.C. in Spain, that gave a speech.
There was another major CAF player of the year for the female category, a Nigerian. Anyone who has been following the rise of female football in our country and the wider continent will note with glee how the Super Falcons, our own national female soccer team, has dominated football on the continent for nearly two decades now. Some of the products of our female soccer league are now plying their trade in Europe and America, and almost single-handed, the Falcons have given African female soccer a pride of place on the global arena.
With a lot of pride, I associate myself with the likes of the wonder-girl herself, Perpetua Nkwocha. She may not have been one of the pioneering figures of female soccer in our country. But the young woman has made her mark, and in such a great way, too. Among Ms. Nkwocha's sterling achievements on the football field was her magnificent performance at the last Nations Cup tournament for women, held in South Africa. She not only emerged as the competition's top soccer, but, many Nigerians will remember with a lot of pride how she helped demolish the team from Cameroon in the final, by scoring every single one of that game's four unreplied goals. As a result of that victory, the Super Falcons were to lift the trophy for the umpteenth time.
But, may I also say, with due respect, that Ms. Nkwocha would have served herself and her nation better, if she had a chance to improve her education. I say this, because rumours, and quite substantiated ones at that, had it that the only reason why Perpetua Nkwocha wasn't allowed to give her acceptance speech was because she couldn't express herself properly in English.
I don't know how many people will agree with me, but, I'm of the opinion that Mr. George Opong Weah, who made his name and became rich playing for P.S.G. (in France), A.C. Milan (in Italy) and Qatar, didn't win the Liberian presidency because of his poor education. He may have given so much to charity and acquired a great deal of international recognition and fame, during his long industrious career. He may have been able to amass enough money to enable him run for president in his home-country, Liberia. He may have done a good job of garnering behind him the backing of many youngsters, soccer fans and illiterate folks. But, still, he made so many schoolboy errors in the campaign he ran for president. It's also amazing how the political elite had sided with Mr. Weah's opponent.
I'm not saying Mr. Weah could not have made a good president. I'm saying that he would have made a better and a more effective president, and in order to reach that elevated position, he could have done far better, during the electioneering, if he had not the misfortune of being a primary school dropout.
I've often heard and read about how incredibly busy and preoccupied these athletes get to be, and once in a while, you get to wonder if it's true that these ambassadors of ours cannot even find the time to take up part-time programmes and adult education classes, while the going is still good. Mr. Weah himself, as I gathered, is also a goodwill ambassador; but, is it not interesting that, while he was shining in Europe and across the world, he never thought of the future, not least a future that could see him, one day, vying for the presidency of Africa's oldest republic. This is a lesson for all.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 Daily Champion. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
