Issa Aremu
15 November 2009
opinion
Abuja — The 2009 edition of FIFA Under-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria is over. The concluded round leather tournament has revealed that if there is the political will to resolve the country's knotty problems of underdevelopment, there would always be some ways just as we have just muddled through the recent competition triumphantly.
Collecting this singular trophy for the fourth time was a formality for Nigeria and the better too as a hosting nation. The real victory however was the capacity to dare to host the world at all, amidst power outages, serial internal party chaos, kidnappings and road accidents. It would be recalled that President Yar Adua rightly and legitimately opposed hosting a multi billion Naira soccer tournament in the face of other pressing national needs. Hosting high profile soccer tournaments is not part of the 7-point agenda. Yet Golden eaglets have humbled almost 7 nations that included great soccer nations like Germany, Argentina, Spain, Honduras, New Zealand and Switzerland.
The lesson here is clear: it is not the quantity and quality of national agenda we put on the table but the singular resolve to excel against all odds and score the goals. The nation's founding fathers in the old three regions did not parade the quantity of visions and visioning processes we have been inundated with in recent times. And yet the legacies of the founding fathers in all aspects of national life are yet to be surpassed.
Many thanks to the Golden Eaglets for reminding us of the obvious: national achievement is not necessarily an academic exercise as such, but audacity of hope to achieve. It is a food for thought that a wholesome homemade- team raised amidst the retrenched over-aged initial team has taken Nigeria to the height of excellence. The lesson here is again is crystal clear: let's act local but think global. My last score count before yesterday final reads: Nigeria 3-3 Germany, Honduras 0-1 Nigeria, Argentina 1-2 Nigeria, Nigeria 5-0 New Zealand, Nigeria 3-1 Korea, and Nigeria 3-1 Spain. With total number of 17 goals scored by Nigeria, in a tournament that lasted just a month, why would meeting eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 prove a tall order? Nigeria signed on to MDGs programme along with 189 other countries in 2000. That was almost a decade before we bid for FIFA under-17 tournaments.
If we exhibited much passion for football trophy with scores of goals to match, then we lack any excuse to recognise that the dramatic growth and development of Nigeria had not translated into prosperity for many Nigerians, the truism that led to the historic declaration of the MDGS in the first instance. Let us please devote same energy we devoted to football trophy pursuit to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity, and achieve peace, democracy and environmental sustainability in the 21st century. The point cannot be overstated that trophies for soccer are desirable. Soccer trophies are indeed marks of honours nation's strive for. But all said, the ranking of nations is not done according to number of goals scored on football fields. On the contrary.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) does the ranking of nations based on life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate, per capital income, combined school enrolment and education, among other indices. If we then go by UNDP ranking, it is a scandal that we are the lower rug of the ladder of all the nations we proudly defeated in the field of soccer.
In all the countries we defeated in this historic tournament, life expectancy was on the average 80 years in 2008, in Nigeria was 47 years. Combined gross school enrolments in Germany was 88.1 per cent, Honduras 74.4 per cent, Argentina 88.6 per cent, New Zealand 107.5 per cent, Spain, 96 per cent, Switzerland 87 per cent and Nigeria, 53 per cent.
Of course in terms of GDP, Nigeria is an underdeveloped champion. Spain's GDP per capital was $31,600, Germany $34,401, New Zealand, $27,333 compared to Nigeria's $1969 in 2008. What is good for FIFA competition must be good for national economy. We cannot say we lead the world in soccer as we rightly, commendably and legitimately just did if we fall down the pit of development globally.
This soccer victory is nominal unless it translates into development victory. Ironically we do not need skyrocket advisers to see how we must translate soccer victory to development victory.
All we need is to do what we have done to get the latest trophy to get power supply fixed, refineries work, schools to function again and boost industrial capacity utilization to create mass unemployment and generate growth. Ordinarily football is in the realm of private sphere. But as long as this tournament lasted, we did not hear deregulation or any policy dogma, which government officials are uncritically applying to the petroleum downstream sector. What we have witnessed was corporate governance of the golden eaglets with Chief Coach John Obuh in charge. Within a month tournament as much as 15 billion naira of unbudgeted funds had been released. What is good for Under-17 competition is good for 2009 national budget. The money was not only paid but 100 per cent spent. Of course as long as this tournament lasted there was unprecedented political support by all leaders from Vice President to governors. Let them show similar political support for mass literacy campaigns and halt rising maternal/infant mortality.
If governors can spend 4 hours watching two soccer competitions at the stadiums, let them devote similar time and even more to checking the performance of pupils in schools and performance of their respective civil servants at work. If presidential team ably manned by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State can by hard work and stroke of luck take us to South Africa 2010, please let us raise another presidential team to make refineries work, deliver uninterrupted product supply at affordable prices and ensure power supply. Apart from Kano when power went off briefly, through out this tournament, Nigeria's soccer cities/stadia were like any in Europe and America. What is good for soccer and foreigners in terms of power supply and security is also good for national economy.
Our charity must have started with visitors, please let us continue same charity at home a day after the visitors have left us. Above all let all ministers imbibe the passion of eaglets, their grandchildren! Congrats golden eaglets!
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This is a very good write up. I think if d govt shuld observe wot is written in dis writeup ,take note of it nd implement it,d nation wil be a pleasant place 2b.kip up d gud work.
This is a very good write up. I think if d govt shuld observe wot is written in dis writeup ,take note of it nd implement it,d nation wil be a pleasant place 2b.kip up d gud work.