5 January 2009
opinion
Happy New Year.What will really make this a happy year for you, with particular regard to sports? I know: a magnificent victory for every national team, especially the Super Eagles, in each match. From that point of view we might then say that the year 2008 was not a very, very good year. All the reviews I have read agree with that view. But we can't go on harping on the mistakes and misdoings of the past, though it is said that the past is history, and should therefore be studied.
Most of the pundits also had clear ideas about what went wrong and who was to blame, or rather, what was to blame. They give it the title of "administration". That was personified by Dr. Amos Adamu, who was the Director of Sports Development before ascending to the administrative peak of the Director-General of the Sports Ministry, in over a decade of doubtful achievements. Well, he has been re-deployed - at least for the nonce - so we must look for another doorstep to lay the reasons for our failures, or successes, in the years to come. There are strong indications that it would be - or it should be - the latter.
Whereas the Sports Ministers in the past have been people who had their first close acquaintanceship with sports at their appointment, Sani Ndanusa comes into that position with a promising history of sports administration at an appreciably high level. That is what we have been asking for, and that is what we have now got. Acting in the position of the chief technocrat is also someone who was a denizen of the sports arena. Although being a sportsman and knowing how to manage sports are two different exercises, Patrick Ikeji has also been with sports administration for quite a while and should be able to pick his way around the shoals and shallows of sports management at this time.
The combination of these two sports personalities at the helm of our sports has been freely commented upon favorably in recent weeks, and that seems reasonable. There are other factors that should make their collaboration a happy one, but here is not to divulge everything yet. Suffice it to say they have common grounds on which they can both walk comfortably in a harmonious relationship. The cooperation between them will establish a solid foundation for a desirable progress in our sports ventures.
Indeed, it is time we laid more emphasis on the art, or science, of management in our sports organization. We are always turning back to complain about administration without taking a good look at the competence of our administrators. It might not have been entirely correct to acquire technocrats only from the body of sports itself, as we are wont to do in the past, at the expense of professional managers, especially from the private sector.
Our inhibitions about that are wrapped in the unsavoury reputation of businessmen in Nigeria as out-and-out "businessmen" - that is without any imputations meant to reflect on any particular person's character. But we cannot have any worthwhile sports administration without a sound basis in management, and there are several elements in the business world of Nigeria from whom we can obtain that support.
Management, whether in the fishing trade, or tailoring enterprise or, indeed, any kind of industry, thrives on the first principles of the Three M's- manpower, machinery and money. So I was taught all these are made to blend in the effort to make progress and attain objectives through the expertise of the man in charge - the manager. When we apply all that to sports, we discover that the personnel situation in the Sports Ministry has been deficient in depth for a long time. A little history may come in handy here.
The first herd of sports administrators was weaned on the principles of a sterling civil service structure in what was then the Department of Social Welfare. A sizable part of the managers was from the section of the Isheri Approved School, and was made up of psychologists - people who were trained to know about human behaviour. They stayed with sports for a long time through the glory days when Nigeria emerged as a strong force in West African sports and beyond. How many sports psychologists do we have in sports today?
When things began to wobble, we backtracked to the old days and providence brought us Ikulayo and Makanju, academics and psychologists who demonstrated their worth for all to see. But we could not understand that the manpower element in management refers to the human element in administration. We turned our back on psychologists in our approach to coaching, and then complained that are coaches are no use when they lose matches.
And then we throw them out.Let us stay with the issue of manpower and examine the fate of our coaches, who are at the core of the manpower section of management in sports. We are even still only half-convinced that our coaches are good enough, by and large - that is if Shuaibu does not fail. When a foreign coach failed, we would rightly give him another chance, except on the past two occasions when those concerned were simply very bad. A Nigerian coach, badly paid, and scarcely appreciated, gets just one chance. Sports is a dynamic proposition with changes and innovations occurring by the season, but we leave our coaches on one spot to vegetate and rot, insulated from the myriads of progress swirling around them all over the world.
Indeed, we had good coaches, and we still have them. But there is a managerial insufficiency, which feeds on self-interest, installed in our system. That was why good coaches seem to have become an endangered species. You might remember what happened to Broderick Imasuen, or Tunde Disu, or even Christian Chukwu whose claims are yet to be settled by the football authorities. They were all displaced in the interest of foreign coaches, only one of who delivered on the long run - and it was a long run full of unique opportunities.
If you look into the matter of materials, now we are talking about facilities. The basic item here is the stadium along with the gymnasium, as well as the personal equipment required by the sportsmen. When the idea of the establishment of professional football was being mooted, I submitted then, as an official of the Nigeria Football Association, that a period of three years should be granted to any club which wanted to be accommodated in that class, to build or acquire a standard stadium along with a club house and, if possible, hostel.
The proposal was given an approval on the basis principle. There is probably less than three clubs that have those facilities in Nigeria today. And, of course, we are not running professional football. What we have is a sham.
We also pointed out, at that time, that the number of the first batch of clubs in the professional class should not be more than ten, all told. But we went on to start a top-heavy league with more on top than at the bottom. No wonder so many things have gone awry, with the perennial running battle between the Federation and the League. With all the financial input, the control of which the bickering is really all about, we still seem to be unable to establish an adequate crowd control because of the deficiencies of our stadiums. So much for our facilities.
Of course, we all know the problems of funding. The money comes out too little, and then too late. That simply has to stop. We must be able to prepare a viable budget and enhance it as much as possible in other ways apart from government subvention. We have said so much about this in the past that it will not bear repeating, here and now. It is only a matter of reality that we have to "finance success", if we desire it (with appreciation for the word-smithery of the ebullient K.O.Mbadiwe, of fragrant memory,)
In short, to really make it a HAPPY new year, let us here and now declare an emergency on sports. I can think of no better way to start the year. Let us gather together those who know what it is all about and make them bring out proposals about every branch of sports development in our beloved country, where the strongest bonds that hold us together are still our common love of sports.
Did you hear?
'It's a big shame that the NFF chiefs are not here in Oghara. I have searched for them but cannot find any member of the board. They are busy junketing abroad... If the NFF men had been here, they would have seen things for themselves and tasked the coach to bring out the best players. It hurts to see Nigeria struggle at this level when you and I know that there are more than enough players to choose from..."
That was the former Secretary-General of Football, and a former member of the House of Representative, Sani Ahmed Toro, expressing his disappointment at the absence of the NFF Board Members at the Ibori Cup Competition. That represents the over-all character of the NFF members throughout the year, 2008. And, my Lord Secretary, as I used to call you, Alhaji Sani, we hope they can change - or be changed - to make 2009 a truly happy year for all of us. And a Happy New Year to you and your family.
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