Daily Independent (Lagos)
Julius Okorie
3 July 2009
opinion
Lagos — With the successful completion of this year's Confederation Cup held in South Africa, attention of the world will now shift to Egypt and Nigeria, as they host FIFA U-20 and U-17 World Cups respectively.
Though this won't be the first time Nigeria will be hosting FIFA championship having done so in 1999, expectations this time are expectedly higher.
It is exactly 10 years after the event of 1999 and as if it is maintaining a form of decade routine, Nigeria won the right to host the 2009 edition of U-17 championship.
Since change is seen as the only constant thing in life, those that were privileged to witness the event of 1999 as coaches, players, referees, administrators and even fans would look forward to something new.
If there were shortcomings in 1999, they would expect that such shortfalls would have been taken care of 10 years down the line. To fall short of standard is to tell the world that the country has indeed been stagnant.
Minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), Sani Ndanusa, on Tuesday at Abuja National Stadium inaugurated 14 committees charged with the responsibilities of ensuring that Nigeria hosts a hitch free championship.
The committees include voluntary services, ceremonies, information and communication technology, accommodation, transportation, infrastructure, broadcast media service, print media service, medical, security, accreditation, marketing, public mobilisation and protocol.
The U-17 and even U-20 championships are seen as the bedrock of soccer development in the world, which explains why these cadet championships attract much attention. What this means is that the host countries are expected to present world-class standard and nothing short.
This is why the various committees set up for whatever purposes must not only deliver but must be seen to have done their jobs as flawlessly as possible.
Committees are not and should not be a place for hibernators that disappear when there is a job to be done only to reappear afterwards demanding for allowances and refunds for job not done and items not purchased. Ironically, such people support themselves with Biblical submission that a labourer deserves his wages when in actual fact they were using the time and resources of the committee for selfish ends. The committees should not also be a place for light fingered people that constantly seek opportunity to enrich themselves even at the expense of leaving shame and disappointment on the faces of Nigerians, who would collectively bear the shame should the championship be found wanting in terms of hosting.
Aside from the committees that were inaugurated on Tuesday, committees also abound at the sub-seats in the venues earmarked for this celebration of youth soccer excellence.
Being a world event, time and accuracy is of essence, which implies that the usual fire brigade approach to issue will only succeed in denting the country's image. A few lessons need be drawn from the just concluded Confederation Cup in South Africa. For instance, some of the visitors and teams complained about congestion at the airport leading to delays on arrival. In our own case, the protocol committee should know actual arrival date and time of teams and dignitaries. Since most of the teams and indeed dignitaries, judging from the fact that it is a football event, would get in touch first with NFF, communication flow between the Glass House and protocol, and even other committees need not to suffer under the usual bottleneck of buck passing because this for sure would make headlines around the world.
However, former Chairman, Nigeria Cycling Federation (NCF), Rev. Moses Iloh, said Nigeria has lost credibility in virtually all fronts. According to him, sport is the only thing that appears to be keeping the country in the front-runner at the international arena.
He warned the committee members against sharp practices that have become the norm in the country.
"They must understand that we have lost credibility in different forms, the only thing left is sport. Therefore, anybody given an opportunity to serve in any capacity in sports should know that it is a redemption job. They must be careful not to further dent the nation's image. I want to beg them to forget their pockets for once. That is why we should, when setting up such committees, seek people that want to serve and not lobbyists because when you lobby, your interest is always selfish," he said.
He also called on the sports minister to arrange special recognition for committees that live up to expectation, adding that it may encourage those that still believe in the principle of 'take money and nothing will happen' to repent for good.
Also, former Chairman, Gombe Football Association, Ahmed Gara-Gombe, said the committee members should see the assignment as voluntary service and not an opportunity to cut corners. The country, according to him, has suffered credibility problem right from when outrageous budget was submitted for the championship to the missing money at the Glass House and more scandalous issues. Attempts, he said, must be made to avoid more image damages.
"There is no doubt that some may have lobbied to serve so that they can get small, small contracts, but it is important to impress it on them that it is not a jamboree. They need not be paid. If they are to be given any thing at all, it should perhaps be accommodation and nothing more. "That is the only way you will identify those with genuine interest to serve," he said.
Former international, Paul Hamilton, advised those in the committees for selfish reasons to feel free to resign and send in their apologies.
"This is a national assignment and the entire world is involved, so personal desire must take the back seat. Those that know they cannot serve or have selfish reasons for accepting to serve should opt out now and send in their apologies, it is not late to do so because we don't want any disappointment," he said.
Some said the issue of credibility coming on the heels of inauguration of the committees should not be seen as a surprise.
Controversy over the actual budget for the event triggered off a lot of interests not just among Nigerians but also within the international community.
The Local Organising Committee (LOC) reduced the cost of hosting from N37 billion to N17 billion a day after Federal Government announced its withdrawal, citing over bloated budget for tis action.
The LOC general manager, Emeka Inyama, had explained amidst the controversy then that FIFA had told them there was no need for broadcast allocation in their budget.
He denied that they ever requested for N37 billion as speculated in the media, stressing that they asked for N35 billion instead.
"What the LOC presented was N35 billion, not N37 billion," he said. Certainly, not many Nigerians were amused by the impression the controversy left about the country in the minds of close monitors of event in the country.
Inyama expatiated that the total budget is now N17 billion, since FIFA team has advised that the allocation for broadcast was not necessary.
That some people that initially backed government's decision to dump the championship made a rethink after the reduction in the budget underscores their desire to avoid anything that would dent the country's image on one hand and create opportunity for a few people to enrich themselves on the other.
The committee and their members need not be told that they will henceforth be the cynosure of all eyes. At a time when the country is talking of rebranding, they cannot but deliver a hitch free event as charged by the sports minister. Controversies arising from non-performance, corner cutting, hibernating, pursuit of selfish interest and outright abandonment of duty cannot help the rebranding process in anyway.
An opportunity to tell the world that Nigeria has the capacity to deliver a masterpiece is here. The committee members are the torchbearers and, according to many, must deliver.
To put it in the words of Hamilton: "Those who know that they cannot deliver should be courageous to turn in their apologies because Nigerians will not accept disappointment let alone embarrassment."
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