Patrick Omorodion
8 November 2008
interview
Events which happen in this country at times make us look stupid before people of other climes as members of our National Assembly, particularly the upper house, the Senate, always want to see themselves as superior to other Nigerians.
They never, at any time, see themselves as mere representatives of the people but always try to impress it on us all that they are doing us a great favour by being in the National Assembly.
What on earth can they boast to have done or even initiated for the millions of Nigerians they claim to be representing? May be, like some of them often boast, they didn't get there by our votes, a statement of fact that they have always rigged their way there.
The action of Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (his antecedents in sports is not known), chairman, Senate Committee on Sports, Dr. Amos Adamu, Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC) and Mainasara Ilo, Vice Chairman and CEO of the discredited Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2009 U-17 World Cup leaves much to be desired.
While President Yar'Adua, who is holding the nation's wealth in trust for the people, said the budget of N37 billion was too much and should be scaled down, Dr. Adamu and Ilo, in desperation ran to their ally, Lokpobiri, to defend the indefensible, claiming that the N37bn was a 'chicken feed' compared to what South Africa is spending on the 2010 World Cup.
Ilo, who has always been part of hosting of sporting events in the country since 1999 where account of money spent are never given to Nigerians, was bold enough to say the President was misled, in essence, saying that the President does not know when a budget is said to be bogus.
The President's explanation through the Minister of Information, John Odey, did not mean anything to Adamu and Ilo who thought that once they take their case to Lokpobiri, the President could be arm-twisted to allow them spend N37 billion to host the championship.
In his explanation, Ilo, again, tried to justify the importation of broadcast equipment, the same equipment Emeka Inyama, the LOC's marketing director, said could be removed to bring down the high budget.
He also said that N4 billion of the amount would go into developing of facilities at some of the national stadia, including the National Stadium in Lagos which is not even listed as one of the possible centers. The Teslim Balogun Stadium listed is being upgraded by the Lagos State Government while the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu is being worked on by the Enugu State government, so where are they going to spend the N4 billion Mainasara is talking about.
In the break down the LOC fed the Senate Committee with, they said N1.9 billion is for LOC/FIFA Secretariat, but they failed to tell Nigerians that FIFA takes care of its activities at such competitions. That budget is, therefore, deceitful as only the LOC, headed by Mainasara, would expend that money for God knows what.
Again, another N10.7 billion was budgeted for functional services. What is functional services if it is not an avenue to dispense some of the money 'fraudulently' imputed into the budget Lokpobiri is now defending.
And then this N12.3 billion for broadcast equipment. The same broadcast equipment the NTA acquired for Nigeria '99 and the 2003 All Africa Games. After Chief Raymond Dokpesi told Nigerians that the LOC doesn't need that amount for the equipment the country already had, they came up with another excuse that it would be for digital equipment. The AIT boss has told them his outfit can handle the broadcast of the U-17 World Cup but no one from the LOC has invited him for discussion on that.
The annoying aspect of the whole Senate rigmarole was the insult from Lokpobiri that "Nigerians are crying wolf over N37 billion when South Africa is spending over $70 billion on the 2010 World Cup".
He failed to say that the South Africans are raising most of their funds from the private sector and that they have estimated the profit that would accrue from hosting the event. Lokpobiri did not tell the LOC people that, in South Africa, the people don't suffer the deprivation Nigerians suffer despite her oil wealth.
South Africans drive about six hours from Johannesburg to Durban, about double the distance from Lagos to Benin but never suffer the discomfort of potholes and craters along that stretch of road which causes constant accidents, breakdowns and so many other unpleasant calamities.
List them, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Rev (Dr.) Moses Iloh, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, Chief Alex Akinyele, Barrister Adokie Amiesimaka, Elder Bode Oyewole, Mr. Dan Ngerem, Barrister Richard Obienu, all these people, respected Nigerians, have all said the N37 billion budget was outrageous and yet Lokpobiri is describing their 'cry' as "unnecessary".
Who among these men is the Senator bigger or better than. That he is in the Senate does not make him a better or more patriotic Nigerian than them or other Nigerians who have equally condemned the budget. The Senate Committee could as well go ahead and assist the LOC to raise the balance billions if it thinks that N37 billion is paltry.
Lokpobiri's Committee just showed Nigerians that the invita-tion of Adamu, Mainasara and Abdulrahman Gimba before it, last Monday, was an avenue to give the LOC and the major brains behind it a clean bill of health while indicting Gimba for a budget he may not have contributed or known anything about.
Nigerians are tired of the Lokpobiri Committee which is fond of probing activities of the NSC to promote Dr. Adamu like it did with the Super Eagles' failure at the 2008 Africa Nations Cup in Ghana early this year.
The Senate, instead, should concentrate on making laws that will benefit majority of Nigerians and stop dabbling into affairs to promote some selfish Nigerians. The poor have no jobs, the retired are owed gratuity and pensions while the sick have no hospitals to attend or drugs in the hospitals to cure their ailments. Enough of this deceit or Nigerians may rise up against these enemies.
L ast Monday at the Senate, the Committee on Sports led by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri took on the LOC big wigs and the Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Amos Adamu in what seemed like an image-laundering exercise and virtually condemned President Umar Musa Yar'Adua's decision to scale down the bogus and outrageous N37 billion drawn by the LOC for the U-17 World Cup which the country will host next year.
While Senator Lokpobiri said Nigerians were crying wolf over "a paltry N37 billion" and that the money would not even be enough for the championship which is the least among the FIFA competitions, Dr Adamu said the President was "deceived" by the former Minister of Sports and Chairman, NSC, Barrister Abdulrahman Gimba into taking "a wrong decision" of either first cancelling the hosting of the event or slashing the budget.
Nigerians reacted angrily over the circus show by the Senate Committee and poured invectives on the LOC members as well as Senator Lokpobiri for daring to compare the U-17 World with the 2010 World Cup South Africa is hosting,
Former President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Mr. Dan Ngerem, who was a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Sports which recommended a restructuring of the NSC for effectiveness and efficiency, said the comments by Senator Lokpobiri, Dr. Adamu and Mainasara Ilo, CEO of the LOC were an affront on the President of the country. He wrote Saturday Vanguard and we publish it for Nigerians to read:
What is really happening with the Under-17 sports sector in our beloved country? Why is the LOC quoting different, conflicting and confusing figures?
The LOC media machinery issues one press release; the CEO and Vice Chairman LOC (Mainasara Ilo) issues another.
For example, ICT was N4 billion from the LOC media release but now it is N2 billion from the CEO.
Furthermore, if N9 billion is enough - what was the point of the press release and the show of 'arrogance' at the Senate Committee of Sports a few days ago where the LOC issued a press release saying N35 billion was not enough and the Committee said they will increase the budget.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
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.
