The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • And the beat goes on

    It’s exciting being with soccer fans during matches, with their rib crackers targeted at outstanding players and the fumbling ones. After the game between Chelsea and Swansea, a colleague sent us all reeling when he said John Mikel Obi’s bench role had assumed a new dimension – “Look, wetin una dey talk? Which kind bench warmer be Mikel sef, since how many years now? Mikel bench role don get seat belt; abi una no get eyes to see say dem don strap Mikel for the bench? Abeg no tell me say Mikel wan make im contract end jare! Na so he go siddon look so tay this season go end.”

    Indeed, the seriousness with which this colleague lamented Mikel’s serial presence on the bench sparked the debate on his stay at Stamford Bridge instead of joining Al Ain, like his Super Eagles mate, Emmanuel Emenike.

    Another colleague took on this Mikel critic, insisting that the Nigerian international shunned Inter Milan to remain at Chelsea. Not one to run away from challenges, the Mikel critic fired back, referring to the internet to buttress his facts. If you think that was the end of the debate, Mikel’s apostle also went to the internet to show the story where indeed the Chelsea star was mentioned in an Inter Milan transfer rumour. Yes, this will be the trend anytime matches are played until the end of May 2016.

    My take on this Mikel-at-Chelsea saga is that we should respect the player’s decision. His plans are close to his chest. He will quit at the appropriate time. Not playing regularly for Chelsea is a function of the type of tactics Jose Mourinho has for each game. Besides, Chelsea has over 50 matches to play this season – if they play to their strength. It is only fair to expect Mikel to play enough of these matches, injury permitting. I would rather have Mikel play for Chelsea than to be a regular in smaller European teams.

    Mikel will learn more on the intricacies of the game under Mourinho’s tutelage than with any Lilliputian manager. Mikel’s game has improved since he joined Chelsea. The only difference is that he ceased to be an offensive player. Mikel has played for every Chelsea manager since he joined The Blues. And this says a lot about the quality of his talent. Who says Mikel cannot retire from the game after his contract at Chelsea next year? Must Mikel play the game forever?

    I thought I had seen the last of such post-match debates until I was confronted by a fan of Arsenal who screamed: “Oga, una wey dey talk for television, make una tell Mourinho make e come return our money wey we pay for Cech o! Cech kill us against West Ham. I never see that kind thing. Wo, I never enter my house since Sunday. I dey run from my friends. Dem go kill me.”

    I was awed because this raving Gunner was really pained by his team’s home loss to West Ham. Sadly his message amounts to shouting in the desert because I couldn’t help him. Of course, his rants wouldn’t get to Arsenal’s management in London. But I can bet that that angry man would be the first person to watch Arsenal’s away game against Crystal Palace.

    Fans must understand that every game has its own strategy. Gunners have lost their opening ties before. What counts at the end of the 38-match league is where each team finishes on the log. For Arsenal, they have been consistent in grabbing the UEFA Champions League ticket. Gunners have their own stadium and rank among the richest clubs in Europe. Losing an opening game shouldn’t be a problem for their aspirations. Arsene Wenger knows his onions.

    I wasn’t shocked that Victor Moses didn’t play for Chelsea against Swansea. He was elbowed in a mid-week friendly at Stamford Bridge against Fiorentina FC of Italy. He could have been benched for this Sunday’s cracker against Manchester City at the Ethihad Stadium. I also won’t be surprised if at some stage in the all-ticket game against Manchester City if Mikel is introduced – that is if he doesn’t start with Moses.

    Looking at the reviewed matches since last week, I felt happy about the exploits of Odion Ighalo at Watford. I wasn’t shocked by the uncanny way in which Ighalo waltzed his way past two Everton defenders before delivering a pile driver, which went into the net. Of significant importance is the cheeky way Ighalo dribbled John Stones, the defender that is causing transfer palavar between Everton and Chelsea to score for Watford. I admire Ighalo’s confidence on and off the ball. He showed that he is a technical player with the way he changed his team’s tempo of play when he was introduced in the second half.

    Osaze Odemwingie returned to Stoke’s squad as a closing stages substitute. He did quite well, trying to create openings for his side through his decoy runs, but it appeared Liverpool players were ready for Stoke, having lost this fixture last year 6-1. Though rusty, Osaze exhibited traces of brilliance, which could count in his favour in subsequent matches. Sadly, Osaze is out of this weekend’s match for Stoke, according to coach Mark Hughes on Thursday evening.

    “Unfortunately Peter has got a hamstring strain and is likely to miss the next couple of weeks. It’s disappointing for him because he has worked tremendously hard throughout pre-season,” Hughes said at the pre-match press conference.

    I was excited when Jordaan Ibe revealed that he would decide his international soccer future with Nigeria in 2016. It could be Nigeria or England. I pray he plays for Nigeria, irrespective of the abundance of talents at the grassroots. Eagles need players who can distinguish themselves, not those to be taught the rudiments of the game.

    At 21, Ibe is better prepared than any true 21-year-old at the grassroots. The ones from the grassroots are raw and may not have been drilled in the rudiments of the game. He may also not have played in any stadium. At best, such a lad from the grassroots is used to playing on school grounds with bamboo goalposts or at public fields where fans invade the pitch with every goal scored.

    The true 21-year-old in Nigeria wouldn’t have played before 20,000 spectators, let alone 60,000. But Ibe, having been through the mill in England, isn’t frightened by the crowd. Ibe won’t be struggling to use good soccer boots, unlike the grassroots chap.

    We have had brilliant young boys play for our age-grade teams. Yet, many have asked where these boys are especially when their contemporaries at the age-grade levels of other countries blossom. I plead with Oliseh to get back to Ibe for his decision, even if it means convincing him to opt for Nigeria. Ibe’s lifespan in the game barring injuries would be longer than any grassroots player in Nigeria.

    It’s great to report that Taiwo Awoniyi will soon be a Liverpool player. He has joined his Golden Eaglets mate Iheanacho in the quest to shake the Barclays English Premier League in the next two years. Awoniyi, we are again told, will be loaned to Dutch club SC Heerenveen. Report on Friday suggested that the Dutch club denied this arrangement. That is how most celebrated transfers start. Awoniyi will use the Dutch club’s matches to polish his skills ahead of making the biggest impact by any Nigerian player, since Nwankwo Kanu rocked the English game. With Awoniyi and Iheanacho in Europe, my dream of the Super Eagles being the Cinderella of the Russia 2018 World Cup is looking real.

    I wasn’t shocked on Monday night seeing Kelechi Iheanacho sitting on the bench. For me, it was a great improvement from the past where he watched Manchester City’s matches from the stands. Those picked ahead of Iheanacho are clearly better strikers, with rich pedigree of scoring goals at the top level. With time, Iheanacho will mature into a great player at Manchester City. Argentine star Aguero is an injury-prone player and I expect Iheanacho to take his chance any day he plays in Aguero’s place.

    It is not all sweet tales for Nigerian players in England, with the shocking news that two former Eagles players Brown Ideye and Victor Anichebe could be sacked by West Brom. It is rather ironic for Ideye because at this time last year, he joined West Brom as the club’s biggest buy. What could have gone wrong with Ideye’s game in 12 months? That is the way the cookies crumble. Anichebe joined West Brom from Everton but he has been troubled by injuries. We only hope that manager Pulis gives the Nigerians another chance.

    “People will look at Victor and Browny and think they have to move on, but they have wanted to play more regular football anyway. Does bringing Salomon in hasten their move from the club? We’ll have to wait and see,” Pulis told the Express & Star.

    The Scottish Premier League is on. Indeed, two Nigerians, Ambrose Efe and Juwon Oshaniwa, have made their marks playing for Celtics and Hearts. This season looks like one in which Nigerians will shine in Europe. We only hope that their performances should be enough to get them on the shortlist for the 2015 African Footballer of the Year award.

    It is been a long while Nigerians got the award. Let us pray!

     

     

     

  • Corruption, stability and accountability

    As  the anti  Corruption train  of Nigeria’s  President  Muhammadu   Buhari  gathers  steam, there  is no doubt that it is going to be an uphill  task and that those  who  know  they  are   neck  deep in the  murky and dubious game of using public  money  to feather  their  own  nests  and   coffers  are  bound  to  desperately   look  for a way  to escape their looming nemesis. Given  the   announced volume  and billions  of dollars  and  naira  stacked  away,  the Federal   government  must expect to traverse  a very rough road  in tracking these  fraudsters and  should   be on the look out for distractions and  diversionary tactics from  high  and low places in its quest to clean  our  Augean  stable  in  the life of this   Buhari  Administration.

    Today  we  shall  envisage such diversionary tactics  and the danger they  pose  to our political  stability as a nation and stress  the need  to surmount such  ploys  in order  to make accountability and transparency the bench mark  public  finance  and  socio –economic  and  political  system  in   our nation. The  first  of such   salvo  has been fired from  the religious sector by the  Catholic  Bishop of Sokoto Rev  Kukah  who  reportedly said that the  Buhari Administration should  concentrate on  governance  rather than probing past governments. That  is an unexpected  statement and in  bad taste coming from a Catholic priest  and  Bishop. I  wonder  what someone  like Anthony  Okogie  the  retired   Catholic  Archbishop of  Lagos and  a fiery  anti corruption crusader even during  our  military  regimes who  constantly  spoke  out against corruption, stealing of public funds  and military dictatorship,  would say  to  that.  Obviously  Bishop  Kukah  misjudged the public  mood  and should retract  his extravagant  and annoying  warning at this particular  time. He  probably  needs  to refresh his knowledge of  Liberation  theology especially in  Latin  America  where priests  like  him led the fight to bridge  the gap between  the rich  and poor which  our anti  corruption charge is all  about. In  addition  he should read  about the present Pope  Francis and his love for the poor and needy  which  Kukah’s  call on  governance  seem  to ignore. Surely  governance  does  not entail  a blind eye  to dishonesty  and theft and  a priest  should  know that. I think  Kukah should read  what the Emir  of Kano Mallam  Muhammadu  Sanusi II  said that government should plug all avenues  to leak  our  revenues  and he knew  what  he was saying because he  was  the Governor  of  the CBN.  In  addition  to that he is the religious  leader of Muslims  in  Kano  and was brave enough to speak  out against  Boko  Haram who bombed his mosque in the palace in  Kano   consequently. However  that  has not deterred him  in any way because he knows  a true leader must  stand up and be counted against anti  social and corrupt  practices if he is to lead correctly as he should  by  example and not  foot dragging and dithering in guiding  the polity  aright which Kuka’s warning entailed.

    Undoubtedly  the present  administration has  three main issues it must tackle if only  for the fact that the issues will  not  go away unless they are tackled head on  and defeated. The  first  is the anti  corruption battle  which  has already  started. The second  is the annihilation  of  Boko  Haram on which the President  gave the Chief of Defence and  Service Chiefs three months to achieve  when  he decorated them  with the Vice  President in Abuja this week. The  third  is  the relationship  with the legislature which is bound to get tough and testy  especially with the Senate  over  the forged rules the Police  have confirmed in the last  leadership elections in the  Senate. Let  me now comment    serially  on these  three  issues  of  great  public concern and  interest.

    The  fact  is that Nigerians  voted  for the present president  because  they were fed  up with the  corruption that was the hallmark  of the defeated Jonathan Administration. President Buhari  has a zero level  tolerance  for corruption and is a man of integrity as attested even by the American  President Barak  Obama who said  as much during Buhari’s  last  visit  to  the US. It  is gratifying to know that in spite  of taunts on the speed  of his administration  he has kept  to his goal  and road  map  on fighting  and  routing corruption in Nigeria. That  is clearly  visible  from  the actions and  utterances  of the new  helmsman at NNPC. It is also  palpable   from the president’s  personal  observation  that when he was Oil  Minister he used  to  get the  Executive  Council  approval  for his estacode  on official foreign trips  before  leaving  on such  journeys. So  you  can imagine how he felt when the US told him and his entourage  that a Nigerian Minister in the last  regime had over $6bn in his or  her   private account as reported  in the media  during  the US trip. Surely  the war  against  corruption  is  a war  that must  be won  by this  administration.

    Similarly  the insurgency  of  Boko  Haram must  be crushed  by  November  as the President  demanded and  I think the military  is in a right frame  of mind to deliver this time  around. It  is nice to know  that the military tribunals of our soldiers  for  cowardice  has been halted on the orders  of the president. How  can  soldiers  lacking equipment be tried   for cowardice when  at  long  last their  boss on  his  retirement admitted  he led an  army  that lacked  funds  and equipment? I expect  the new  Service  Chiefs  to shore up the spirit de corps  amongst  the commanders and officer cadre fighting  the insurgency  and the officers  in turn  should  make the welfare of their troops a priority  as advised  by the Commander-in-Chief, so  that  Boko  Haram can  be  sent  packing before  the end of the year as the president  has directed.

    Thirdly the President should  be careful  in enlisting the help  of the legislature  in fighting  corruption. This  is because  of the saying  that those  who  live  in glass  houses  should  not throw stones. The  Senate  especially  must  purge itself of the corruption of forgery of election rules which the Police is fighting rightly  to a logical  conclusion – which should  be the prosecution for criminality of those involved in the forgery. Which  means  that the legitimacy  of the present senate leadership  is  suspect. In  fighting corruption those  come  to equity  must come  with  clean  hands and the Senate  and its leadership  cannot  be an exception. In  our  practice  of separation  of powers under  the presidential system the legislature  can use its powers to delay approval  of appointments, budget and expenditure but even that prospect should  not be allowed to get in the way  of getting rid or minimizing corruption in our political  system as the present administration is  bent  on doing.

    Undoubtedly the war on corruption will  tax the mettle  of our present leaders but they  should be resolute  and focused  because they are  doing the right thing and it is never too late to get stolen money back. The  government  must  however be vigilant and be on the lookout for those who  want to derail the anti corruption brigade such that it does not reach its goal of sanitizing our system of governance  and free our economy from the killing and debilitating cancer of corruption. The  targets of the anti corruption war  have  huge means to pervert the law and even make an ass of it as we shall  soon see. What is important is that the government should never waver  in its resolve and the sky is the limit in  achieving success and bringing those  who loot  public  funds to  book  once and for all as a deterrence   to potential  and real crooks  in our corridors  of power.

  • The politics of war, peace and terrorism

    It  was shocking  to read in the news media   this week that  Nigeria’s top  military  chief  said at the pull  out ceremony of his retirement  that he led an army during his tenure  that  lacked funding and  equipment. If  you  remember that our President Muhammadu  Buhari, [and  not Ribadu as the printers devil  made out last week ]was  reported to have said on his  last trip to the US that the  US in not  selling arms to  Nigeria to fight terrorism  was inadvertently aiding and   abetting terrorism,  then  you wonder  about  the saying that there  can  be no smoke  without fire. Surely  the  two  statements compliment  each  other even though they  were said  at  different places.  More  ominously    though they  are as disturbing as they are credible  given the  political  stature and office  of the two  speakers.

    To  stop  any  doubts  on the authenticity  of the two  observations the former National  Security  Adviser  was  reported  to have  said  that Western  powers  sabotaged  the efforts  of the Jonathan Administration  to buy arms  to  fight  Boko  Haram and  terrorism. Surely  the jigsaw puzzle  is  unraveling on why  Boko  Haram has  become an unsolvable military  and  security conundrum  for the  Nigerian  nation, people  and their leaders.  A  clear case  of treachery  in high places  and  amongst  so called nations  that Nigeria  has come to rely on is  slowly  but  surely  emerging. That  is the problem  we shall  deal with today as we identify  the contents  of this betrayal  of our people  and nation.  We  shall   discuss  the  global politics  of war, peace, insurgency and terrorism that has claimed so many innocent Nigerian  lives  and does not seem  to be abating in spite  of assurances to  contain it by our leaders, both military  and elected.

    We  have  to confront  the problem war  and peace by thinking of what to do to those we call friends  but   who block  our capacity to defend ourselves when terrorists kill our people and such people show concern and sympathy  but refuse to sell arms to us to redress the situation and stop the killing of fellow  Nigerians. What  could be the motive  for such reluctance or outright denial and what is the grouse  of the so  called  Western powers against  Nigeria? That is a question  begging  for an answer. Could  it be that the Western powers  have started  to exact  their  pound of flesh from  Nigeria over the gay rights  issue and was  that why they  did not sell arms  to the Jonathan Administration?  If the  answer is positive then the action or decision is wicked  and  hostile  and the present Nigerian  government  must make inquiries and  seek  the appropriate  redress at  least  diplomatically as  soon  as  possible.

    This  becomes  imperative given the pledges  of western  nations  to  support Nigeria  against the terror  of  Boko  Haram. Really   of  what use  is such a pledge if the same nations or people refuse to sell  arms to us to fight what  they claim is a threat to their civilization – just as it is to our collective security  in the global  village that the world has become?  Surely  something is amiss on this development and  Nigeria  must demand  and deserves  an urgent explanation from  those  friends,  who  as things stand,    seem  tohave been shedding crocodile  tears on our bloody ordeal and  predicament in the hands of the perfidious   terrorism  of  Boko  Haram.

    Nothing illustrates  our befuddlement and consternation on this matter  more than the argument  of the US President Barak  Obama to woo the American  public on the newly signed Nuclear Deal with Iran. In  a one  off speech  delivered at the American University in the US  the US president  was appealing to the American people to talk to their lawmakers in the US Congress not to jettison the Deal because to do so will lead to war  and dent the credibility  of the US in the Comity  of nations. He  assured his audience  that Iran will never have nuclear bomb on his watch as he promised. He  acknowledged the fears of Israel’s PM Benjamin  Netanyahu  on the deal and his campaign  against  it but noted  strongly  that the Israeli PM was wrong on all counts and  that again  brings in another Gordian Knot  to unravel. Is  an American  President  more capable than an Israeli PM to determine the Security  of the state  of Israel? Must  Israel  abide by such  reasoning and conclusion because it depends on US largesse  for its security  and peace in a hostile environment?  Again  answers  need  to be found to these burning questions.

    Indeed the US President rested his case on the issue of credibility  and rightly so except  that in this instance credibility has become  a two  way street and not a presidential close. As  a law professor the US president  should  know that he who comes  to equity must come with clean hands and   that  trust  is an essential ingredient of human cooperation  and progress and the Iran Nuclear  Deal is no exception. At one extreme the Iranians don’t trust either the US or  Israel  but would go ahead  with the deal anyway to make sanctions stop  and ease the economic hardship in the Iranian nation, to reduce pressure on the Ayatollahs ruling the theocracy. On the other hand Israel under its present PM mistrusts  this sitting US president and would risk even its security  to say  it loud and clear as its PM  has  been doing in the life of the Obama presidency. The fact that the two are slugging it out to buy the acceptability or otherwise   of  the deal in the media showed the failure  of diplomacy and bilateral relations between two  traditional and ancestral friends  and neighbors. Either  side has said the alternative  to its stand on the deal is war and  that its view  assures global peace. But  then the nagging question is whose definition of war is correct and whose categorization of peace is wrong?

    Obama quoted   Reagan to the effect that the peace is not the absence of  conflict    but the capability to   control  conflict. However  the issue  seemed  to have drawn attention to the issue of trust   outside  diplomacy and that is the  disturbing fact that the Israeli  leader has  confused distrust of Obama as a person with that of a diplomatic mistrust  and that is a   fallacy. He  may  not like Obama  as a  person  but he cannot make that personal as Obama is the US  and  is not representing himself but the  great US which  has guaranteed  the security  of Israel  since 1948 when the state  of Israel  was established;   and  the  US is in a position to do so under Obama  as  he has promised, an act  which  should have credibility  with any  Israeli  PM who  should normally  be trusting of any US President,  except this Benjamin  Netanyahu.

    In  this particular  instance  the issue  may not be simply that of separation  of morals amongst individuals from that of morals  or  values  amongst  nations. In  personal relations great store is placed  on loyalty and consistency. In  international relations  however  there  are  no permanent  enemies  but  permanent  interests.  On  both scores US – Israeli  relations seem  to have nose dived steadily  on this Iran Nuclear  Deal and  both nations should  take a good look at the strategies being used to sell or jettison the Iranian Nuclear  Deal both in the US and globally  because credibility  is taking a hiding on the international stage as both sellers and buyers  of the deal are exhausting their  goodwill and trust  capital without showing a clear path to  peace. And  at the end of it all  that is really  the light at the end  of the tunnel.  Similarly  such  a debate  is necessary  in Nigeria too.  In  our  own case   it will  be to  find out why those we call friends have not been willing to sell arms to us to fight those killing our people with impunity.  Again  long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Our dream Super Eagles

    The Super Eagles will be the Cinderella at the Russia 2018 World Cup, going by the indices available. Pointers to this dream are the novel changes in the system, starting with the conscious attempts by NFF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick to run the body’s affairs differently.

    Pinnick’s insistence on scientific approaches to the way things are done at the Glasshouse is chiefly responsible for the new dawn in the Globacom Premier League, where referees have been exemplary in the manner in which they have handled matches. There have been startling results, with home teams losing games and the fans walking freely out of the stadia.

    Of significant importance is the new drive for getting the biggest sports brand solvent through interactions with the business sector in and outside the country. Gone are the days when NFF chiefs look towards the Federal Government for cash to fund all its programmes.

    Eagles chief coach Sunday Oliseh is billed to ring the bell at the Stock Exchange on August 17. Is this not the new dawn people have canvassed for? Oliseh’s presence at the Wembley Stadium last weekend to watch John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi is also remarkable.

    Seeing pictures of Oliseh and Moses raises the hope that the coach knows where the shoe pinches in the team. Gone are the days when Eagles coaches and key players quarrel over little things.

    If the players are happy and feel wanted, they will give their best. Coaches must be told that without the players, they cannot function. Only the players enter the pitch to play. There isn’t anything a disciplined coach can do if the players choose to play badly to frustrate him. Therefore, Oliseh’s visits to key players set the tone of what to expect from the players when the matches begin.

    I can see the light at the end of this tunnel, but Oliseh must be sincere in his choice of players. He must adopt the right strategies for the team to excel. Teams that have won the World Cup are not spirits. They are human. They achieved this feat using scientific methods, buoyed with good planning and adequate funding. We are not lacking in getting the players to actualise our dream of watching Nigeria play at the finals of the Russia 2018 World Cup. Please, don’t wake me up from this dream.

    Am I being too ambitious? What is giving me this conviction that Nigeria will shake Russia at the 2018 World Cup? Have I considered the troublesome NFF and its coaches? Have the players changed their attitude towards playing for the country? Who are the players in the Super Eagles who have given me this confidence? Or do I think the World Cup is another bazaar for everyone?

    The World Cup is the platform for excellence. It is the big stage for new kids eager to redefine their careers and expand the frontiers of the game in their countries. Besides, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) has sustainable developmental programmes meant to discover, nurture and exposed budding talents across the globe.

    Indeed, most of the new lads discovered at the senior level most times have made their names in FIFA’s age-grade competitions.

    Other discoveries have come from the integrated programmes found in the 209 countries affiliated to FIFA. The mill to produce talents is enduring for those who apply the extant rules to the letter – those aptly tagged the soccer nations.

    Countries serious to make an impact at the World Cup don’t do so with a pilgrimage of appearances. For instance, Senegal hit the quarter-finals of the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup in her debut outing, losing because the players lost focus and we were contended with what they had achieved.

    A star such as Lionel Messi hit our consciousness with his exploits at the 2005 World Youth Championships held in Holland, defying his morphological deficiencies to dazzle the world with his silky skills. Messi hasn’t disappointed soccer fans with his breath-taking performances since that time, churning out sterling performances which have earned him all the accolades that there are to be won in the beautiful game. Sadly, Messi hasn’t won the senior World Cup, even though he is being rated alongside the game’s greats, such as Erantes de Nascimento, aka Pele, and Diego Amando Maradona.

    Africa is always being tipped as the best outsider to lift the World Cup outside the Europeans and South Americans. Those who hold this view have it reinforced anytime African countries win the world cups at the cadet levels. Not a few cynics have sneezed at Africa’s feats in age-grade competitions, largely because the products fade away when the world waits for them to blossom.

    Nigeria has been champions at the cadet levels, producing great lads such as Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Victor Ikpeba, Jonathan Akpoborie, John Mikel Obi, Taye Taiwo, Tijani Babangida, to mention a few. Kanu and Ikpeba went on to be crowned African Footballer of the Year.

    Indeed, Kanu won this diadem twice. One player the system under-developed is Akpoborie – no thanks to the coaches that have handled our senior team. After he shone at the 1985 WorldU-17 Championships in China, Akpoborie became Nigeria’s biggest export in Europe. That Akpoborie isn’t one of the lads whose exploits with the Eagles we would not talk about, tells the story of our coaches’ fixation. Scoring goals yearly to rank among the top five in the strong German Bundesliga was enough to earn Akpoborie a regular shirt in even the German side. Not in Nigeria. This explains why the cabal ended late Rashidi Yekini’s meritorious career with the Eagles. A few players felt that the late Yekini was earning the glory of their collective efforts and shut him out. The Eagles died, their careers ended abruptly and new stars were discovered.

    Many have forgotten that Mikel and Taiwo fell behind Lionel Messi in 2005 World Youth Championships held in Holland. The difference then wasn’t as alarming as it is now, given the incredible manner in which Messi has transformed into one of the world’s greatest players.

    Attempts to change the face of the game here have been politicised. At other times, sentiments ruled decisions, such that we seemed to take a step forward only to realise that we have indeed engaged the reverse gear, crashing into the ditch. With every fall came the corrupt phrase – going back to the drawing board. For the coaches, rebuilding became a lingo, even when the teams were winning matches and trophies.

    Under such settings, what we recorded as pyrrhic victories came back to haunt us as we lost out in big competitions that opened new vistas for better prepared nations. However, the changes being put in place to ensure that the Eagles return to winning ways are such that throw up Nigeria-born kids, such as Jordaan Ibe, Alex Iwobi and Chuba Akpom as the missing links in the team. Our players’ attitude to matches must change now that we have an NFF that is willing to make them comfortable and resolve their complaints.

    Ibe (forget about the cheap talk that he has dumped Nigeria) Iwobi, Akpom and indeed the legion of Nigeria-born kids’ inclusion in the team will bring back the required mentality of playing for the country to win laurels, not playing because they think they are doing us a favour. This new mentality will eliminate the sickening tradition of protests and revolts that belittled us in the polity of football nations.

    Oliseh knows that the Eagles are a jaded side, especially as most of the players cannot make the Russia 2018 World Cup. He needs to get young boys into the team to increase its speed, endurance and zeal to excel. Most of the players are no longer motivated to give their best, having won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, been to at least three uneventful World Cup and honoured with MON, OON etc. The presence of players who are in the twilight of their careers explains why it is easy for them to be swayed into revolts. They have nothing to lose anyway.

    A top Green Eagles player told me how at half time during one of the Seoul 1998 Olympic Games qualifiers, the late Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji asked three big men in the team why they were not passing the balls to him. The late Okwaraji walked up to them as they sat together. He held his shirt and asked: “Is there any difference in the jersey that I’m wearing and yours? Let me know so that I can tell the coach to give me another one since I cannot understand why nobody passes the ball to me, even when I’m unmarked.”

    The former player said he was deeply touched by the late Okwaraji’s statement and talked with the clique to ensure that he got passes. The defender said Okwaraji scored in the second half and was awesome in the game and subsequent matches until his death on August 12, 1989 at the National stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

    This defender was buttressing the fact that the Eagles had cabals that determined those who should play and those who shouldn’t. Oliseh must crush them all. Players must accept to play for us without conditions or stay in their clubs. No player should be indispensable. Anyone who misbehaves should be shown the door and quietly dropped from the team until he shows remorse.

    Oliseh’s search for new kids who have been developed in other climes is because he wants to hit the ground running, knowing that coaches are as good as their last results. The Eagles’ camp isn’t for learners. Rather, it is a place where certain things are given. Players are told what tactics are to be played and when they need to change as the game progresses. Since systems are universal, it is expected that they know what every strategy demands. This is why Oliseh is insisting on those who play regularly and for top teams.  Isn’t he right?

  • Should we close churches to reopen cinemas?

    ONE of the ways that foreigners have mocked the slow growth of cinema business in Nigeria is to say that we have closed down cinemas to open churches.

    Indeed, while the cinemas of yesteryears have been bought over by modern businesses, and painfully axed down with nostalgia, it is not unlikely that some of them may have been replaced by annexes of some big church brands.

    The foreigners’ perception of the irony of cinema story in Nigeria is relative to the extent that cinemas dwindled until the recent but slow revamp, while churches have grown in geometric progression. This is not what you find in other climes.

    As you walk along tube stations in London, adore billboards on the streets of New York and Toronto, or take a pleasure trip round Johannesburg, or Durban in nearby South Africa, you can’t miss the captivation of film posters which rival most product advertisements. Whereas in Nigeria, posters of church revivals, bearing photos of the pastor and his Mummy Mission-wife compete with the popular MTN slogan of ‘Everywhere You Go’.

    Vono Andile, my South African friend who had imagined that Nigeria is such an unrivalled football loving nation came visiting last year, but found it amazing that there are more church posters than advertisement of local football leagues.

    We joked and laughed.

    The question that comes to my mind is, how do we see the future of African cinema, when apart from that ‘lousy’ comparison between film and church advertisement, there are more Hollywood posters in our re-emerging cinemas than Nollywood’s?

    The other aspect is that although the analogy of the church posters may sound heretical, it is illogical in my Public Relations’ media point of view for a charity or non-commercial and untaxed organisation, under which the church falls to rival a commercial organisation like Nollywood in advertisement.

    Of course, the churches are not to blame, for how else do you promote the work of the Lord effectively without the modern techniques of evangelism that also have more TV channels dedicated to ‘deliverance’ dramas than all the Africa Magic and Mzanzi Magic channels put together.

    The present government, in its readjustment of priorities, must begin to identify potentially viable non-oil sectors of the economy and give them some feathers to fly. This is talking about enabling environment that not only reduces the cost of film production, but also walking the talk of piracy minimisation.

    Cottage and community cinemas should be encouraged to change the cinema-going culture from the elitist recreation that some Nigerian cinemas have made it.

    With these in place, it can only be a win-win for the Nigerian motion picture industry and the Nigerian government, as filmmakers will not only be able to repay loans conveniently, there will be more employment and basis for government to tax the filmmakers and jump start the country’s GDP.

    Art and entertainment must continue to hit our psyche as real businesses and not the ‘play’ thing for which it has been carelessly underrated like other sectors of the economy, as against the almighty oil.

  • Security, diplomacy and emerging perspectives

    Nigeria’s  President Muhammadu  Ribadu, under pressure  to choose his cabinet in time,  was reported  to have retorted  that there was scarcity  of good honest  human  capacity.  According to reports he said so many knowledgeable  Nigerians have been compromised  by those who want  to use them to subvert our security  and loot  our  economy.  So  it is not as if the Nigerian president is wasting time or buying it.  He  is busy  working to live up to his mandate and his billing, especially on security and the anti  corruption crusade. But he  knows as well that what is what  doing at all is worth  doing well and  I  cannot  agree more.

     That really  is the name of the game today as  we  look  at  how what seemed to have hamstrung the Nigerian president  in living quickly up to the expectations  of those who elected him recently seem  akin   to  the same thing that has changed  the course of world diplomacy  in recent times. This  is because  on  the global   diplomatic  scene  solutions are not forthcoming fast enough and   where they  have surfaced they have been baffling and complicated, throwing up confusion in terms of expected appreciation  or  understanding. The result is an emerging trend  of world perspectives,  relations and alliances pitching strange bedfellows  together  in  bizarre     and   assorted relationships  both  in  the  volatile  hot spots as  well  as the   peaceful   regions of the world.

    Starting with  Turkey   in  the  EU,  NATO  had  to hold a special  meeting last week  to consider how to  defend  Turkey  against  the increased  onslaught  of  ISIS which  has killed several people in that  nation recently.  Yet  Turkey  has been  struggling for over 50 years to become a full  member of the EU  in  which  some powerful  member nations  are  suspicious  of  Turkey’s  Islamic credentials  and  background.  But now NATO  is  to  defend an Islamist  nation  against ISIS in the name  of humanity and for  its  own security.

    Similarly,  US  Secretary  of  State  John  Kerry  was busy  this week  explaining  to US  legislators why they  should not  throw out the Nuclear  Deal  the Obama  government  had struck with  Iran. This is in spite of the fact that even the  US  president  has sworn to veto  any turn down  of the deal  by Congress and  the  Ayatollah  Khameini, the real power in Iran  has questioned US good intentions on the deal.  So  on whose side  is the  US Secretary  of State? Definitely  the US legislators are  not going to take him  seriously as  most  of them  have sympathy  for Israel  and  its security and Israel  has said through   its vocal  Premier Benjamin  Netanyahu  that the Obama government  has been fooled on the deal because an  Iran spokesman still  recently said that Iran  will  never recognize  Israel.  So  the new  perspective is a US government pleading for understanding of a nuclear  deal with,  of  all  nations-  Iran,  whose Ayatollah  Ruhollah  Khomeini called  America   the ‘Great  Satan‘ during the  Iran  Hostage  Crisis  during the Jimmy  Carter  Presidency.

    More  bizarrely Iran  and  Saudi  Arabia  are  jointly  fighting ISIS  on  all fronts except  Iraq  where  sectarian violence between  Sunni  and  Shiite  Muslims  have made Iraq ungovernable  and a doomed  failed  state  in spite  of US airstrikes  to shore up  the country and preserve  the  territorial rumps  of its sovereignty.  Yet   it has  not  occurred  to  the ruling House  of Saud  which is the monarchy  in  Saudi  Arabia or  the Islamic  Autocracy in Iran  that  they  could bury the hatchet on their sectarian  differences  to fight a common ruinous foe that ISIS  has  become to them in their nations  and regions of influence.  Instead  the Iranian Nuclear  Deal  made  the Saudi  Monarchy  suspicious  of US intentions although they knew that the volume of trade  with  the  US  assured  that he who  paid the piper  should  dictate  the tune.  Even  then  however given  the enormity  of the challenge of ISIS  the  two  champions  of  Shiite and Sunni  Islam  should  have shown each  other some armistice  or respite  to get ISIS  out  of the way  as quickly as possible in the  interest  of their  religion and the  welfare  and security  of   the millions of adherents following their dictates and direction.

    In  the same vein  the  visit  of the US  President  Barak  Obama  to  Ethiopia a Marxist  nation almost  laid waste  recently   by IMF  conditionalities  which    it  rejected  when  it needed  economic  assistance is  instructive.  This time the US is asking for Ethiopian  military  cooperation  in fighting Al  Shabaab in the region  on the  Horn  of  Africa.  When  Ethiopia asked for  World  Bank  loans in the past  the American  funding officials  and bankers asked for such repayment arrangements   and  terms that would have crippled the Ethiopian  nation  and ruined  its social  fabric  and cohesion.  The  present  Ethiopian government rejected  such  anti  social  and anti  people  conditions  and did things their own way and Ethiopia survived  to  date   to be the new bride of the US  in the war against Islamic  terrorism  now threatening   the global  dominance and  security  of the US.

    Actually  the visit  of the new  Nigerian president to  Cameroun  should  be seen in terms of new  perspectives  and diplomatic  vistas. After  the  past,  bad  vibes  of Bakassi  and the trauma  of the World  Court verdict favoring our neighbour   our  president has done well  to let bygones be bygones  and allow  the two  nations to chart a new course  of  détente. Of  course the Boko  Haram  menace  was a stimulant  for the new  cordiality  and its security  input  are certainly undisputable.  But  then Francophone nations in  Africa especially   West  Africa  have always begrudged  Nigeria’s  size  and  leadership not through their own volition  or disposition  but because  they have been culturally  tied  to the apron string of  France  their  colonial  master  that  never  wanted them  to be truly independent  individuals capable  of being on their  own.

    President  Paul  Biya is over  80  and is much  older than our president but  the issue of security cooperation  transcends age as it  has to do with the present dangers  and the protection of populations  and posterity. Boko  Haram  has penetrated both  Cameroun and Nigeria with impunity  in recent times and especially during the life of the last  administration. We  even read  stories  of Nigerian soldiers  shedding their uniform  and surrendering across the border to be returned later in humiliating fashion. The  appointment  of new service chiefs especially for the Army  and the appointment  of a new Army  Chief  should show unserious military personnel  that it  cannot  be business as  usual  in the fight against  Boko  Haram.

    The  fact  that the  new  Army  Chief  was photographed as he set  his walking stick aside to do  press  ups  in front of troops in the war zone of the North  East  showed  that the  era  of pot bellied leadership of the Army is over and that indeed the days  of  Boko  Haram  are numbered under the new military leadership.  That  surely  is another  welcome perspective that  should  delight Nigerians in terms  of the expected turn  around of our security and economic  fortunes under  the present dispensation. Again, long live the Federal  Republic of  Nigeria.

  • Saint Saraki’s sermon on mount Abuja

    Saint Saraki’s sermon on mount Abuja

    It was impassioned. It was soul stirring. It was statesmanlike. It brimmed with moral fervour and patriotic ardour. It was the perfect speech clinically crafted to meet the demands of the moment. I call it Saint Bukola Saraki’s sermon on Mount Abuja. Senator Bukola Saraki had emerged Senate President on June 9 in controversial circumstances and against the preference of his party hierarchy. To achieve this feat, Saraki had swung the bloc opposition votes of 49 PDP Senators to his side by offering the minority party the deputy Senate Presidency. With nine rebellious APC Senators and in the absence of a majority of his party’s Senators, Saraki was elected Senate President in perhaps the hastiest leadership election in the history of Nigeria’s National Assembly. Some saw this as wily political pragmatism at its best. To others it was nothing but cynical Machiavellianism in which Saraki’s ends, no matter how ignoble and self- serving, justified any means no matter how foul or disreputable.

    The Senate had adjourned abruptly on June 9 ostensibly to let tempers cool and allow some form of compromise and reconciliation before the resumption of plenary. To strengthen his hands and pre-empt the APC leadership, Saraki had immediately announced principal officers immediately after his election. Perhaps his most clever and strategic move in this regard was the naming of Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who had lost to Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP in the contest for the position of Deputy Senate President, as Majority Leader. This not only broke the ranks of those opposed to him within the APC but was also calculated to shift the geo-ethnic balance of forces in his favour.

    It was against this background that the Senate President gave his impressive welcome speech on resumption of the Senate on Tuesday, 28 July. The speech was wide ranging touching on the economy, the country’s dwindling revenue profile, crude oil theft and the challenges of security among others. For me, however, the most important aspect of the address was Saint Saraki’s sermon on the challenges and demands of leadership at this critical juncture in Nigeria. In his words “Distinguished colleagues, we have our work cut out for us, we cannot afford to frolic. Nigerians did not give us our mandate to come and pursue leadership; their mandate was for us to pursue governance and bring solutions to their burning issues…Leadership is secondary to our primary responsibility of good governance. As Senate President you have given me responsibility to ensure that our primary responsibility is placed on the table not under the table”.

    What is remarkable about Senator Saraki’s pious admonitions to his colleagues on leadership is the wide gulf between his words and his actions in his burning, remorseless pursuit of the Senate Presidency. In his cynically single-minded pursuit of his ambition, nothing mattered to him – not the interest of his party, the sanctity of the Senate’s rules and conventions or the moral health of the National Assembly. Having attained his objective of leading the Senate at all costs, it is therefore quite convenient for Senator Saraki to advocate the virtues of placing service to the people above selfish personal quest for leadership positions.

    Even more damaging is the fact that the rules under which Dr Bukola Saraki was elected as Senate President seemed to have emerged mysteriously from under the table rather than from on top of the table to adapt his own phrase. No amount of sweet sounding words can deodorise the lack of transparency and credibility that characterised the way he emerged as Senate President on June 9. The truth of the matter is that the Senate 2015 Standing Orders (as amended), under which Dr Saraki was elected Senate President is of doubtful provenance and illegitimate paternity. All the acts purportedly carried out under its purview on June 9, particularly the election of principal officers is akin to constructing a structure on a non-existing foundation.

    How do we explain the magical leap from the 2007 Senate Standing Orders (as amended), which guided the 7th Senate between 2007 and 2011 and the 2015 variant, which is said to be the arbitrary contraption of some National Assembly bureaucrats in utter contravention of the extant rules of the Senate? Given the inexplicable haste with which the National Assembly bureaucracy conducted the Senate Presidency election in the absence of half of the Senators, they were obviously in partisan collusion with some forces to achieve a pre-determined outcome of the process. Can the leaders of such a bureaucracy be entrusted in future to carry out their duties in an objective and disinterested manner that will enable them enjoy the confidence of all partisan tendencies in the Senate?

    Of course, given the nature of Nigerian politics with most actors being largely self-seeking, Senator Saraki’s hands have been considerably strengthened by his emergence as Senate President no matter how dubious and questionable the process. He now has considerable largesse, including juicy Committee memberships to dispense. Thus, the vote of confidence passed on him and other leaders of the Senate by a majority of Senators on July 28. The prevailing sentiment among the majority of Senators is that they should put the unsavoury events of the past behind and move forward in the national interest.

    Some of the pro-Saraki Senators, obviously referring to the on-going investigation into allegations of forgery of the Senate rules; a crime that allegedly aided his emergence as Senate President contend that the affairs of the Senate should not be externalised. This they argue will amount to threatening the legislative immunity of the Senate. Indeed Senator Samuel Anyanwu urged “The Nigeria Police Force and all other security agencies in Nigeria not to allow themselves to be used by any person or persons to harass, intimidate or blackmail the Senate, Senators and/or their spouses”.

    Of course, the crime of alleged forgery of Senate rules is not an internal affair of the Senate. It is a crime against the laws of Nigeria for which there is no legislative immunity. Since the investigation into the alleged crime has commenced and has even become a subject of litigation, the process cannot now be aborted without doing grave damage to the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise of change.

    Senator Bukola Saraki concludes his sermon on Mount Abuja with the stirring declaration: “My distinguished colleagues, the job of changing our corporate destiny starts today. Though the challenges are huge, they are not insurmountable. Let these challenges inspire us as leaders to show courage, statesmanship and valour”. I agree entirely with Saint Saraki’s submission. But that process of change cannot preclude pursuing the alleged forgery of Senate rules to its logical conclusion and bringing to book all those implicated in the odious infraction.

    …still on the Unibadan vice chancellorship race

    Dear Segun,
    I read with keen interest your reference last week to the on-going race to fill the Vice Chancellorship seat of the University of Ibadan, which will become vacant in November. I am elated that our alma mater is taking steps to infuse greater transparency and credibility into the process. Perhaps because of space constraint, you were unable to write extensively on all the 12 candidates in the race. Like you said, however, I am convinced that only the best and brightest can be among those qualified to occupy this critical office at UI. Professor Adigun Agbaje whom you mentioned is surely a sterling example in this regard. I was not in his Department (political science) but as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (2003-2005), Professor Agbaje’s indelible imprints of academic and managerial excellence are still there. Many of those who graduated after me also speak with fondness of his outstanding contributions as Deputy Vice –Chancellor (Academic) between 2006 and 2010. I wish my Professor and all other distinguished aspirants for the exalted position the best of luck because only the best is good enough for UI. Please consider this as my own humble contribution to the process.

    Yours,

    Iyiola Falodun Agbo
    Isijiola Street, Ilupeju, Lagos.

  • Waiting for Moses

    Waiting for Moses

    Women cherish the opening of the European football league season. Their men sit at home to watch their favourite teams fight weekly for the points required to play in the prestigious UEFA Champions League competition next season.

    From this weekend, beginning with the Charity Shield “London derby” tie between Barclays English Premier League champions Chelsea and the English FA Cup kings, Arsenal at Wembley Stadium, till May 2016, soccer-crazy families will be broken by the clubs they support during the 90 minutes duration of matches. Winners laugh; losers frown.

    The scenario is most exciting if the kids’ teams beat the ones supported by their fathers. The kids tease their fathers, who momentarily surrender the right to discipline them. It gets very interesting if the mother is a supporter of the kids’ clubs. Indeed, my colleague Emmanuel Tobi of the New Telegraph named his first son Fabregas. No prize for guessing that Tobi is a Gunner. I wasn’t surprised that his wife didn’t object to naming their first child after an Arsenal great. She too is a Gunner. I wonder what they would tell their son, now that Fabregas plays for Chelsea. Such is the awesome power of soccer. But I digress.

    These weekly sessions further unite families, especially the homes where the fathers are engrossed with the demands of their jobs. But, somehow, they find a way of getting home early to watch the matches with their families. The women however love this period most because they are sure where their husbands are. Even when they watch the matches with the boys, their wives know where they are and could pay surprise visits to such centres.

    Nothing is spared to ensure a hitch-free session. People don’t rely on the regular supply of electricity because they don’t want to miss any moment in a game. Power Generators are pressed to service. Fridges are stocked with drinks. Family members sit to watch the games, wearing different jerseys (for fathers who allow siblings and their wives freedom to belong to teams of their choices).

    For those who love to “conscript” their wives and kids, the fun is lost when their favourite team loses. The fun is best appreciated if family members are divided among the teams. Indeed, the zero moment is here after the hectic European transfer windows where teams strengthened their ranks with quality players. The fans cannot wait to see the game and share in the sighs, joy and sadness of each weekly game.

    Again, the fans, mostly the youth, throng viewing centres on match days to watch their favourite teams. The atmosphere in most centres can be tense, depending on the placing of both teams on the league tables or the trophies at stake. At the business centres, you will marvel at the fact that many of the fans wear jerseys bearing the names of their idols. Some others wear theirs with customised names. It is really a spectacle to behold.

    But, there have been terrible incidents, leading to deaths in many instances. People have wondered how people could kill themselves for teams who know nothing about their existence.

    But for journalists and national team coaches, this is the period to monitor our nationals to see those who prosecute the country’s international soccer matches ahead of continental and global football competitions.

    Perhaps the best way for Nigerian journalists and coaches to begin the monitoring will be on Sunday at the Wembley Stadium where we ex

    pect two Nigerians – Victor Moses and John Mikel Obi -to star for Chelsea in the Charity Shield game against Arsenal.

    Until recently, the rumour mill had speculated the movement of Moses to Stoke in a swap transfer for goalkeeper Asmir Bergovic. But Moses sneezed at the arrangement, insisting that he would rather want a proper transfer from Chelsea to Tottenham Hotspurs, another Barclays English Premier League side than any demeaning deal to Stoke, where he played last season on loan.

    Moses has played three matches, lasting 45 minutes in each game. And Mourinho has spared no adjective in describing Moses’ exploits. Moses can raise his chin up from Mourinho’s comments because it paves the way for him to shake the world with his sublime skills. Moses has what it takes to tie down a regular shirt, except that most Nigerians who ply their trade in Europe, usually cannot string five good outings together, raising fears about their ages.

    For Moses, this argument isn’t tenable because he is a young man. But he must concentrate for the 90 minutes and play to the tactics rehearsed at the training. Indeed, Moses’ knack for goals underscores why he would command a regular shirt, only if he boycotts the social vices that have ruined many Nigerian players in Europe.  I also hope that Moses can whisper to Mourinho’s ears the need for him to play for Nigeria, whenever there is a clash between club and country’s matches. Besides, Moses must change this penchant of reporting late to the Eagles camp, even when he is released early by Chelsea.

    Again, Moses must return to Chelsea after Eagles’ matches instead of remaining in Nigeria and getting back late. Moses and indeed Mikel Obi are guilty of these traits and it is the reason why they lose their first team shirts.

    At 24, Moses should be the pivot of Chelsea’s games, having played for England as a junior international. Moses went through the coaching regime that most of the English players were exposed to. He, therefore, has no reason being benched by players who looked up to him to win games, when they were much younger playing for England.

    As Chelsea file out against Arsenal on Sunday, most Nigerians will want Moses to grab the headlines with a meteoric outing reminiscence of what Nwankwo Kanu did for Arsenal several years back, when he rose from the bench in the second half to score the hat-trick that decided the game in Gunners‘ favour. Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 and Kanu’s name reverberated in the media for months. That spectacular outing by Kanu forms some of the landmark ties of the English game, which his kids now cherish now that their dad has retired from the game.

    If Moses doesn’t start the game, he would be introduced as a second half substitute they way Mourinho did in Chelsea’s last game. He needs to seize the day with a stellar performance. Moses looks like our best bet for the 2016 African Footballer of the Year diadem if he remains focused and enjoys an injury-free season unlike what happened to him at Stoke last season.

    Where does one start to write about Mikel and Chelsea? The cheery news that Mikel is second on the log to replace John Terry as the next Chelsea captain says a lot about his contributions to the team. Mikel needs to score goals for the Blues. This has been the distinguishing line between Mikel and those who bench him. Ivanovic’s choice ahead of Mikel has to do with his spartan fighting spirit, playing for Chelsea. Ivanovic is a flank defender, yet he has scored goals that have earned Chelsea cherished victories. Ivanovic doesn’t sit back to play defensively. He moves forward to score goals when teams appear to have caged Chelsea’s strikers. No coach will have Ivanovic and not give him the captain’s band when the need arises. Ivanovic is a fighter and a winner any day. These traits are lacking in Mikel’s game. Common Mikel, grab the headlines by being Chelsea’s captain by exhibiting the typical Nigerian can-do spirit this season.

    If Mikel plays for Chelsea on Sunday, it would be for tactical reasons. Yet, he needs to play the Ivanovic way because he has what it takes to be the most exciting player at Chelsea only if he dares to be ambitious and score goals. Goals win matches and coaches don’t joke with scorers.

    It’s interesting that Mikel is being considered to captain a big side like Chelsea. It underscores the abundant talents in the country. Pundits hope that NFF chieftains get the puzzle right, with the recruitment of Sunday Oliseh and the other facets of his contract, meant to produce truly young lads from the grassroots.

    I expect Oliseh to be at Wembley Stadium to watch Moses and Mikel. I expect Oliseh to use this visit to rub minds with his former team mate Michael Emenalo. He could use Emenalo to establish a rapport with Mourinho. They could sit in a meeting to streamline how he hopes to effectively use Moses and Mikel without clashes in fixtures between the two parties. A synergy between Oliseh and Mourinho will foster better a relationship. A picture having Mourinho, Emenalo, Oliseh, Mikel and Moses walking out of the Wembley stadium after the game will headline most Nigerian newspapers, especially if Chelsea beats Arsenal. Please, I have not tipped Chelsea to beat Arsenal. The better side should lift the Community Shield on Sunday.

    I also expect to see Oliseh and his men at the stands, watching our players during matches, instead of relying on views from partisan agents and scouts to pick players for Nigeria’s games. Oliseh should learn how to interface with the coaches of clubs where our players earn a living. That way, he can find out why they are being benched or relate with them when they are injured. This idea of using boys to prosecute our matches and not care about their welfare must stop.

    Our players must feel wanted by Nigeria. It starts with taking interest in what happens to them in their clubs and how we respond to their difficulties. When these two parameters are met, the players will give their best.

  • Economic priorities, leadership and culture

    Before  leaving the US for Kenya,  his ancestral  home   this  week, US President  Barak  Obama  was  reported as telling some journalists  that he  would not relent on telling them in Kenya some home truths  he called ‘blunt talk‘on gay rights.  According   to him he  would  not  be intimidated in telling off anyone who  discriminates  on the basis of religion, race, sexual  orientation and  gender. Before  that however the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta   elsewhere had  bluntly told Kenyans that the issue  of gay rights  was  not on the agenda of the US president’s  visit to  that  nation. Of  course  it is easy  to see why either president spoke with  finality on the visit.  This  is because  economic  priorities tied  to security  concerns far overwhelm  the mutual  suspicion  on gay rights during and after the visit.

    By  now   I  am  sure  the US  president must  have seen  the real  strength of the disdain for gay rights in nations he had selected  to visit  in Africa and those he had avoided on this particular visit.  The  Nigerian President Muhammadu  Buhari was shown in a CNN interview  with  Christiane  Amanpour joking  that he would like to see the American president visiting Nigeria  some time later and he would be sending a formal invitation to  that effect.  That however  did  not prevent our president from telling them in the US  that gay  rights and  homo  sexuality are alien to our values  and  culture  as a nation. Yet  Nigeria  is expecting  a lot from the  US in  terms  of economic  aid, military  hard ware, intelligence  and training to  fight  and eliminate  Boko  Haram which  is ravaging our North  East with  its brand of religion. One   which does  not respect human rights or the dictates  and  direction  of the established and well known  Islamic sects  and organization that have promoted their religion as one of peace  right  from its establishment. In  case  of any US  attempt to  misuse or misjudge  its  economic  assistance or aid we heard that the  Nigerian president told  an  audience  in the US in his last visit  that the US would  be aiding and  abetting  Boko  Haram,  if it withholds selling arms  to  Nigeria to  fight the murderous sect which is an  ally  of  Islamic  State  an enemy that the US  under President Barak  Obama  has sworn  to  destroy.

    Let  me now dwell  somewhat  on the perspective of Kenyans on the presidency of the US  leader as he visited their nation as well  of the of  Africans generally on the Obama presidency and its import  for Africans and their economic  progress  dur ing his tenure.  We  shall  also take    look at the oil theft  charge leveled  against  Ministers in the last Jonathan  administration by  our President as  well as the news  that the Buhari  Administration has not disbursed funds for the education  of militants  abroad  as agreed by the Yar Adua   under  the Amnesty  Agenda  and  pursued by the Jonathan Administration. In  the context  of today’s  topic  it is necessary to  highlight what  one sees as propelling the  Nigerian President and  his American   counterpart  in the various strategies  they have adopted in leading their two nations at this point in time in their  history.

    Starting with Kenya  it is a fact that Kenyans are proud  to host a son of a Kenyan who  has become the President of the most  powerful  nation on earth. That  is the stuff  of legend and  patriotism and  no one can take that away  from  Kenyans and their  nation. That  is heady passionate stuff  that  can  be satisfying  and exhilarating like good  African liquor. But  Kenya   also needs the US  under their  son  to help  in fighting the lethal,   militant  Somali  group Al  Shabaab  that has made Somalia a failed  state and  is trying to make the nations  bordering  Kenya  around the Horn of  Africa ungovernable.  The  Ethiopians  are helping in this regard  as Ethiopia is an ancient war faring nation while  Kenya’s only  military experience  was that of Mau Mau fighting the Colonialists to secure Kenya’s freedom under the leadership of  Jomo  Kenyatta, the  father  of Kenya’s present  president,  aptly  named  Uhuru    which  means freedom, by  his father, Kenya’s  first  president.

     President  Obama is visiting Ethiopia tomorrow  and would be the first  US  president to address the African  Union in that  nation.  He  would do that at the beautiful 20m dollars Head quarters  of the AU  donated by the  Chinese  who  are doing a lot to outpace the Americans in providing  economic  aid  to African  nations. Without asking  too many questions  and  creating  debilitating  conditionalities on  repayment terms and schedules like US  driven financial  and banking  institutions like  the World  Bank and  IMF which has milked Africa dry from such  inhuman financial  strategies.

    Kenya  of course is expecting a lot of aid in millions of dollars  from  the US to  fight Al  Shabaab  which is trying to carry  the  terror war  to the streets  of  Nairobi.  The  fact  that the US  has  deployed drones  to bomb and kill Al  Shabaab   leaders in the area showed that military  collaboration and cooperation  on security is a priority for both Kenya and the US at this point in time in spite of the blunt talk on both sides on irritable  even  though  unshakeable   culture  matters.

    It  is in this light that one should see the  reluctance  of the Buhari Adminstration  to continue  with the Amnesty Policy  of training militants from  the Niger  Delta  oil  Creeks. It  was a dubious policy at best to make state  funds available to train people blowing up the nations oil wealth. It  was a policy based on blackmail and sustained by choice  and convenience by the Jonathan Administration. It was a security problem deliberately transposed to an economic priority in a political culture that we had,   and still  have, which  does not  subscribe to the fraudulent dictum  that you  can  always  use a thief  to catch  a thief.  Anyway that policy  was bound to meet its Nemesis  the moment a person like  Muhammadu  Buhari  became the President of  Nigeria and that is what we are witnessing     right  now.

    The  word  blunt  has been bandied about a lot in this write up.  Yet no where is it more apt than when the Nigerian  President reportedly said that  ministers in the government of his predecessor were  oil  thieves  milking  about  one million barrels of oil a day. He  went on to promise to prosecute such ministers after blocking their  foreign  accounts in the US which was part of the economic aid expected  of the Americans. Which  must  have sent many potential oil  prisoners looking for  escape routes ever since  the presidential  disclosure from a president who  was a former  oil minister and certainly  knows what he is looking for and what  he has seen in the toxic oil waters  of economic  mismanagement in  Nigeria.

    Definitely  it can  not  be business as usual with the sort  of information in the files the Nigerian  president said  have  been put  on his table. He  does  not  need to plead for patience  as those asking for speed at the expense  of sight  must  have their  agenda . Anyway who told them a presidency  is a sprint event as in Athletics. It  is not.  As in politics, tenure is assured and  that is the ultimate  political consideration  to judge  and   time  an elected  president’s  legitimacy   and  performance  in any democracy and this cannot be  an exception as  time even  is on his side.

    Effectively  then the economic priorities  of the Buhari  Administration are emerging. The first is to use economic  intelligence  to identify the looters and their loot then go after them to cough out the ill gotten money which can be made available  for public use. The  second is to make sure  Nigerians are not destabilized  by the sudden removal  of oil subsidy which  can  make oil  unaffordable even  if available  and create predictable  social  violence that disrupt  social  cohesion  and   investment   in  the economy. The  third  is to create  an  environment that  makes corruption  unattractive and shameful as  discredited treasury  looters  are disgraced,  imprisoned   and  made to return their  loot.

     No  family  wants it name to be tarnished and the  average  Nigerian  family shies away from being labeled  with  the opprobrium  of theft.  In  all these  I   am  certain that justice will be served as this  was what this president assured Amanpour  on  CNN.  Definitely  the pursuit  of justice  in catching the oil thieves is one that the Vice  President, a professor of law,  Professor  Yemi  Osinbajo   is more  than capable in handling and  making sure  that justice, swift  and deterrent,  is served   to  the delight  and relief  of all  Nigerians. Again  long live the   Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Buhari, Obama and the battle of ideas

    When  Nigeria’s  President Muhammadu  Buhari visits  US  President Barak  Obama next  week it will be a meeting of two titans or leaders  at  the crest of their popularity and  leadership  charisma. They  meet with their heads held high as proud  representatives of their nations  very  much in cordial relations in terms of diplomacy , economic cooperation, political  and   military  collaboration.  Indeed in  mind as  in  spirit  the two  leaders  are in harmony as are their two nations. It  is in the area  of ideas  however that they  must wrestle to fashion out a solution that will  not throw their bilateral relationship  into  disharmony or be an harbinger of discord or friction.

    The  two leaders meet at a time when terrorism or precisely Islamist militancy  is threatening world peace and harmony and in particular is attacking  global  democracy and the free market  economy which are the ideologies the US and its allies in Western Europe or the EU have been marketing around the world as the best  form of government in our time.

    The  two  leaders come with  impeccable  democratic credentials to their  meeting although their age and the experience in the practice of democracy  is inversely proportional. Obama is a young man compared to our president but the US is a far older democracy  than Nigeria. Buhari’s  tall  and stately figure is equally matched  by the  imposing  basket baller height  of the US  president. Both have arresting and dignified presence. Yet our president brings into this meeting the full  weight of  Nigeria’s  travails and challenges with democracy which  he expects the US president  to appreciate and understand and help without any loss  of face on the part of the Nigerian  people  and nation. That really  is the Gordian knot of this visit  as Nigeria goes  to  Washington to get help  not only to fight Boko  Haram  but to kick start  our  economy and our  presidential system  after an unexpected legislative hiatus so  soon after a smooth election that the US was amongst the first  nations to congratulate us on its  success.

    Let  me state clearly from the onset here that Nigeria and the US  face a long  and challenging  battle of ideas in their relations and this meeting is just  the tip of the icebag. Both  nations have a shared background in terms of their big size and  diversity and cultural  plurality. Nigeria’s  motto is Unity in  Diversity while that of the US is In God  we trust.  Nigerians  in  particular worship  God in mosques  and churches so  much that religion is such a booming  business nowadays  such  that pastors are  the  most   eligible bachelors amongst our youths, outpacing youthful bankers, oilmen and  IT magicians who  used to be favorites of our fairer sex before. That  however has not prevented the emergence of  Boko  Haram the terrorist  group  that has been  killing Nigerians with impunity  for some years now and whose blood  letting must be the priority  on the agenda of the meeting of the two presidents next week.

    In  the last  one month  Boko  Haram  has killed about  5OO innocent  Nigerians and this no doubt  has prompted  the replacement of Nigeria’s  security and military  chiefs  by the Nigerian  president. A move that has made Nigerians to heave a very heavy sigh  of relief  of  hope that Boko  Haram will at last be contained and destroyed  by the Buhari  Administration.

    More  importantly  and  unbelievable as it might sound Nigeria faces difficult  problems on the issue  of  democracy  as a concept and its understanding and practice  which  the Americans have  to be apprised of  before  it is too late. I presume it was some knowledge and anxiety in this direction that prompted the unpopular US prediction that Nigeria will  collapse in  2015. Now  Nigeria has seen  2015  and  has had a successful  election that has brought in a president of hope contrary  to this US doomsday prediction. That president  is needed  by the US to lead the ECOWAS region  in the fight against  ISIS  which  is the sole and  worst enemy  of the US in  the war on terrorism which  the US   has  finally, if belatedly,  admitted is a battle  of ideas stretching far beyond the global theatres  of war in the Middle  East  and the rest of the world.  Boko  Haram  is the proxy  of ISIS in the  Sahel covering Niger Republic, Cameroon and  Chad   and  Nigeria’s North  East  and has continued  killing Nigerians even  during Ramadan , the holy month  of  Islam.  Yet it claims it is,  together with ISIS, trying to establish  borderless caliphates in which  it hopes to practice its bloody  brand of religion that says No  to western  education.

    In  addition the two  presidents have to make each  other know the way democracy is understood and practiced in their two nations.  Former US President  Abraham  Lincoln defined democracy as government of the people by the people  and for the  people.  On  the other  hand  Tony  Blair the  former  British  Prime  Minister in his Memoirs called  simply ‘A Journey ‘ – in explaining  the creation  of New Labor  which kept him in  power  for  a decade as the  British  PM, identified  a situation whereby government was not for the people but above  them and  used  the correction of  that  anomaly  to change the Labor  Party and  defeat the Conservative  Party  led  by John  Major  at that time. Nigeria I  am afraid  is in that dismal  situation right now  whereby the  government has been  above the people and   not for them in anyway even though it got elected into office by them  in the 2011  elections.

    That  really was the  origin  of the  momentum of change and expectation  that saw President Buhari elected into office on the platform of his party the APC and  his assumption of office on May  29 2015. However  the  legislative elections of June 9  2015 which brought into legislative power a new leadership of the  legislature unknown or approved by the party in majority in the legislature has brought back  the hand of the clock in the progress made by Nigerians in electing the APC into power and Buhari as president. The  June 9 legislative leadership elections  in  Nigeria  has created what Tony Blair and  New  Labor  uprooted in winning the mind  of the British electorate which is government above the people  as  opposed  to the much needed government for the people and for the people which is what  democracy is all about.

    It  behoves  the US  president then to  direct  its  foreign  and  diplomatic  officials  as well as those of  its allies in the EU nations  to steer  clear  of  the leadership of the Nigerian legislature  until  it is democratically  sanitized  from the opprobrium it brought  on itself  from the June 9 2015  electoral  malfeasance.  This  is really  is to save the face of democracy as promoted  by the US and EU  as many Nigerians were  nauseated  by the trooping of Western  European and US ambassadors  to the legislature to congratulate both the Speaker and President of the Senate while the Nigerian nation was still in a very  deep  shock  and trauma over the manner of their emergence  and election.  Surely  democracy in  principle  as well  as  in practice either  in  Nigeria or  globally deserves better recognition and acclamation  than  the one put on display by those marketing it as the best and fairest form of government  in the world today given  their  reaction  to our last  leadership  elections in our  legislature.

    We  recall  that in August this year it will be 30  years since our new president left office as a military  leader.  He  has moved on since to contest elections thrice and losing before being elected last time around.  He  has paid  his dues in terms  of leadership  experience and he knows his nation and his people like the back of his hands.  He  is a devoted Muslim and has condemned  Boko  Haram in the strongest terms as anti  Islam.  Undoubtedly  on gay rights he will  not mince words in telling the US president  that that is a no go area in terms of any change of attitude   on  the part  of  Nigeria   which  he presides  over  and its  people. He  can say  this clearly and mightily because he was  just  newly  given  his mandate. Unlike  the US  president who is  fastly running out of time and tenure and has become a lame duck  president giving parting gifts  to the US electorate. Unfortunately  he has had to use threats  of presidential  veto to  cement his departure presents to the  US electorate such  as the threat to the US legislature to veto any  opposition  to the controversial Nuclear Deal  with Iran.

    Historically  however the two leaders saddled  with containing  terrorism globally  and  in their  domain remind me of one or two famous world  leaders.  Obama  reminds me of  Abraham  Lincoln who  fought the US Civil  War  to  free slaves  although  I wonder  how  Lincoln  would  react  in his  grave on the gay rights that Obama  has given legality  to.  Our  president reminds me in terms of  his  figure and stature  of Field  Marshal  Bernard Montgomery  of Alamein the Second  World  War British   military  hero  nicknamed  the Spartan  General  who defeated  Erwin Rommel  the  German  general in the same war. Which  really  is  my own way of wishing our new president every success in defeating , first  Boko  Haram, Corruption  and  false  democracy over fake election  rules.  Just  like Montgomery  became  the nemesis  of Rommel in the hot deserts of  Egypt in Alamein so many years  ago. Again  long  live the  Federal Republic  of  Nigeria.