The Nation Newspaper

Category: Louis Odion

  • Banking with the nuns

    In biblical times, manna was said to have rained from Heaven to save Israelites from starving to death in the wilderness. In Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, a group of Catholic nuns chanced on what could perhaps be described as the fiduciary equivalent of that special heavenly delicacy a few days ago.

    It was a princely cash haul amounting to $7m in assorted foreign currencies like dollars, yen and euro. But the difference this time: the cash did not cascade from heaven. The plastic money bags were reportedly tipped over the wall into the monastery where the nuns live. But rather than help themselves, the sisters alerted the police. An impromptu manhunt led to Mr. Jose Lopez, Public Works Minister in the immediate past administration of Christina Fernadez de Kirchner under investigation for massive corruption. Earlier, Lopez was questioned for illegal possession of a rifle.

    Now, the charge of money laundering has been added. Besides the cash, other valuables like expensive wristwatches in their glittering cases were also found in the bags. “It’s almost out of a movie,” said Marco Pena, a senior government official. With forensic search being conducted by the Argentine investigators of the financial system, corrupt officials in the the last administration which lost power last December have apparently realized the futility of hiding stolen money in banks. For Lopez, thought of a monastery as safe haven for his loot was, it must be stressed, a testament to prodigious ingenuity. Who would have ever ascribed bales of dollars to the usually sedate, if not penurious, air around such a religious community – the habitat of those assumed to have sworn to the oath of asceticism? When the security agents finally caught up with Lopez, more smoking guns were allegedly unearthed. More wads of cash were found in the car he was traveling. But all told, Lopez would only seem to be rehearsing a page from the manual of infamy people are long accustomed to in the United States and Nigeria. A little over a decade ago, a black congressman was accused of collecting $100k bribe from a high-ranking official in the Obasanjo administration.

    When the FBI agents stormed his residence, they found the cash neatly hidden away in – wait for it – a refrigerator! Even the otherwise stone-faced investigators could not resist the temptation to pause and salute the accused’s sense of proportion. Of course, being “hot money”, no better place could have been found to allow the dough “cool down”.

    Few years ago, when a Kano-born federal lawmaker who chaired an investigative panel looking into the subsidy sleaze was given over half a million dollar bribe by one of the tycoons being investigated, he reportedly could not think of a better place to hide the bales of green-back than his commodious iconic Zanna cap. By the time he emerged from the “fattening” suite in his flowing Senagalese and cap still in place, it was as if nothing had happened.

    Like Lopez, our own one-time Air Force chief, Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosun, came under national spotlights after being allegedly found to have buried sacks of dollars in the soak-away pit of his country-home, apparently to evade the prying eyes of security agents. (An improvement on the record of disgraced Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, who stashed away billions in Naira notes in the underground vault in his home.) Amosu is presently under trial for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars through bogus arms contracts while he led the Air Force under Goodluck Jonathan. It is easy to understand why looters are growing wary of hiding their loot in the traditional financial system. Technology has knocked down all the old barriers. When the hunter learns to shoot without missing, as they say, the bird learns to fly without perching.

  • Edo: Political obsequy of the godfather

    SO, after all the feint and razzle-dazzle, the victory dance of Osagie Ize-Iyamu would be aborted even before it started. For the gangling matador expected to lead PDP’s chariot against the foe on September 10, how ironic that the first attack came, barely 24hrs later, in form of a vicious daggerstab in the back from within his own party.

    By disclaiming the primaries that crowned Ize- Iyamu as PDP’s standard-bearer in the Edo governorship contest some 80 days away, factional national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, has effectively set the cat among the pigeons in what remains of a once formidable party.

    Pray, in the days ahead, on what moral ground, high or low, will PDP be perching to promise Edo people salvation and prosperity when it is in disarray itself? It is clear the aspiring physician himself is in dire need of healing to begin with. In a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Sheriff dismissed the Monday event staged by the Ahmed Makarfi faction at the Sam Ogbemudia stadium as an exercise in futility because the “caretaker committee is illegal”. For doubters, he has since unfolded an elaborate timetable for the “authentic” congress beginning from yesterday and climaxing June 29, barring any unforeseen circumstance.

    Even before Sheriff threw a spanner in the works on Tuesday, the two challengers Ize-Iyamu trounced to the ticket, Solomon Edebiri and Mathew Iduoriyekemwen, were already sulking before the last ballot was counted, typically alleging irregularity. Now, it remains to be seen if they are principled enough to resist the temptation to make a gamble for Sheriff’s own ticket. In the circumstance, pundits have now found themselves in a frenzy of permutations. If Sheriff goes ahead to issue his own ticket, will two “candidates” then run parallel campaigns in PDP’s name in a shared determination to win the election first before seeking court’s interpretation on who is right? Will Edo people accept to be part of the ensuing circus? Which faction will INEC recognize? While contemplating the prospects of such dark scenarios, the significance of Ize-Iyamu’s emergence Monday should however not be lost.

    If nothing at all, it has hammered down the last nail in the coffin of Tuketuke politics once glamorized by Tony Anenih, Mr. Fix-It. For easy reference, that brand of politics refers to the cartel species in which the word or even silence of the introverted godfather is binding. Politics was played under a depraved ethic that normalized rigging. Power was allocated at the pleasure of and exercised to the benefit of same godfather. Tellingly, on the day Ize-Iyamu was coronated by the dominant faction of Edo PDP the old fox from Uromi was missing in action. Or, the worst of all fears: could Anenih be in cahoots with Sheriff? Whichever the case, with Sheriff on the offensive today, it would seem the wheel of perfidy has alas turned full cycle for PDP.

    In case the Kanuri-born undertaker is now derided as a Frankenstein monster, his creation dates back to more than a decade ago under PDP’s old order dominated by barons like Anenih. As ANPP governor of Borno beginning from 2003, PDP recruited Sheriff to subvert his own party, to the pleasure of puppeteers then holed up at Aso Rock and Wadata House. AT home, the band of thugs he nursed as sitting governor is believed to have formed the nucleus of what is today known as Boko Haram.

    When Sheriff failed to corner the headship of nascent APC in 2014, PDP top brass like Anenih rolled out a red carpet to receive back home their Prodigal son, the wrecking ambassador. Now, the proverbial Karma is on the prowl. Returning to Edo, at the height of his imperial reign as “Mr. Fix-It” twelve years ago, Anenih had the likes of Ize-Iyamu defenestrated from PDP for taunting him that “No man is God”.

    Intoxicated with misbegotten power and consumed by an animal rage to avenge that obloquy, the ruthless godfather drew a rare weapon. He floated the idea of “re-registration” of members. By the time a new register was unveiled, all the “rebels” had been summarily deleted. Such arrogance! The other day, Anenih declared before a Catholic altar in Benin City that he had forgiven those who wronged him.

    That is expected of any true Christian. But while extending unsolicited amnesty to perceived transgressors, one would have expected his gesture be prefixed with an unqualified apology to all Edo people and indeed all and sundry across the nation who, over the years, were made to bear the affliction spread by his own toxic brand of politics. That the old godfather could no longer afford to stand in the way of the train that ferried Ize-Iyamu to the Markafi’s ticket last Monday in Benin City only helps to underscore not just the tectonic shift in the intra-party behavior of PDP, but also the changing texture of Edo politics generally.

    Now stripped of the federal talisman and with the proverbial “oxygen mask” from Abuja effectively demobilized, Anenih has overnight morphed into a political vegetable, swallowing his once elephantine pride, forced to make peace with his ancient adversary in sheer desperation for mere survival. Indeed, when the old godfather gnashes his sparse denture at his growing misfortune and inability to impose candidates on his party anymore, it simply means the stocks of democracy is rising. Voter power is on the ascendancy.

    To an extent, it could be said that this tendency was also reflected in the countdown and outcome of the APC primaries which preceded PDP’s. Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s open endorsement of Godwin Obaseki was hardly enough to extinguish the burning desire of eleven other aspirants, with no fewer than three of them putting up a titanic fight to the very end. So much that no one was sure where the pendulum would tilt until the umpire’s trenchant count of “Obaseki !, Obaseki !!, Obaseki !!! …” became dominant in the small hours of that wet Sunday.

    That fellow party stakeholders like Pius Odubu (deputy governor), Chris Ogiewonyi and Ken Imasuagbon could go that far in defiance of the governor is a testimony that our democracy has left the Tuketuke harbour of old where no one dared look the godfather in the eyes. But if any doubt ever lingered on who remained in firm control of Edo APC, it was emphatically erased last Sunday with the wide margin Obaseki, Oshiomhole’s anointed, won.

    Nonetheless, with the staccato of lightning, thunder and sheer turbulence that had preceded June 18, the former labour president should have been cautioned as well on the limitations of his own charm. At no time in the past eight years has his authority within his own very political home been this fiercely challenged. On account of that tumult at the backyard, he must by now be fully awakened to the monster his own creation has transformed to. Obviously, the “one man, one vote” advocacy he had launched in 2006 then as a contender to the Dennis Osadebey house has since assumed a life of its own. And long after the tale of the moulded bricks and erected mortals of the past eight years would have become stale, posterity will certainly credit the man from Iyamoh forever as the game-changer in Edo politics.

    On the whole, what I consider a big minus on the part of the party establishment was denying the roughly 2,600 delegates, nay the Edo public, an opportunity to hear the horde of aspirants speak, however briefly, in the true tradition of party convention. That way, an aperture would have been opened to directly view the minds and assess the thinking of those wishing to succeed Oshiomhole. But if any man truly emerged from the Ogbemudia Stadium in the wee hours of last Sunday greater than he went in, it is undeniably Odubu, the first runner- up who polled 471 votes. As Ernest Hemingway tells us, to be defeated and not surrender is the ultimate victory. Indeed, no one gave Oshiomhole’s own deputy any chance early in the day. Not only did he throw his hat in the ring when his boss was thought to prefer someone else, he thereafter ran a vigorous campaign despite all odds.

    At the end, he proved he was no push-over after all. Interestingly, in a rare show of gallantry, five among those defeated have individually accepted the verdict and congratulated the winner. They include Charles Airiavbere (the retired Army general who carried PDP’s flag against Oshiomhole in 2012), Peter Esele (immediate past president of TUC), Emmanuel Arigbe- Osula, Ebegue Amadasun and Blessing Agbomhere. But the same cannot be said of Ogiewonyi and Imasuagbon whose lack of grace in defeat is worsened by the incoherence of argument. Incidentally, both are decampees from PDP. Before the election, they had raised the alarm that INEC PVCs were being mopped up by Obaseki. They only stopped beating the gong after being reminded of the inherent illogic.

    PVC is used in general elections, not party convention. For a contest supervised by Governor Bello Masari of Katsina State (assumed to be observing the Ramadan fast as a devout Muslim) and conducted in the open before live cameras of no fewer than three television stations, it is quite disturbing that Ogiewonyi and Imasuagbon are now alleging massive rigging by way of “abduction and detention of delegates” by Obaseki’s promoter and “smuggling cloned ballots” to the election venue. For instance, in one breath, they alleged the venue was flooded with “mercenary” delegates to vote a particular candidate. In another, they reported: “The announcement of the final result immediately provoked a general condemnation and rejection of the result by delegates that voted in the primaries.”

    The same “mercenary” delegates? Haba! Being bad losers is already despicable enough. Peddling such wonky theory is carrying self-ridicule too far. Curiously, the duo were silent on the use of money in the exercise. On that note, there were only a few saints. The delegates all had a field day feasting around. Just the way Obaseki was called “Oshio Baba’s pikin”, Ogiewonyi (a.k.a oil sheik) and Imasuagbon (a.k.a Rice Man) were generally seen as freespenders. In fact, according to The Nation account last Sunday, shortly after Oshiomhole left his seat in the state box for the field while voting was ongoing, the duo, suspecting some mischief, literally leapt in rage from their seats onto the arena and raised hell. While enjoining the State Police Commissioner (Chris Azike) to stop the governor, Ogiewonyi reportedly thundered: “Do you know how much I have spent? The governor should go to his seat!” Visibly agitated, Imasuagbon spoke in similar vein, claiming to have spent hundreds of million of his own money over the years buying and sharing rice around the state.

    But there are other interesting aspects of the drama that transpired among the contestants inside the Ogbemudia stadium last Saturday that the zoom lens of the television cameras missed and have so far not been documented by the print media. Before voting commenced, Ogiewonyi, known to enjoy the strong backing of John Oyegun (APC national chairman) the same way Obaseki had Oshiomhole’s support, engaged the governor in banters and theatrics in the state box. Later, Odubu was locked with his boss in Azonto shuffle for several minutes, dancing to an highlife number blaring from the loudspeaker. Ditto Arigbe-Osula.

    And down the front roll in the state box, Osariemen Osunbor, flanked by his spouse, sat throughout, looking absent- minded, except for when he devoured a cob of boiled maize. WHENImasuagbon materialized, he moved over to where Oshiomhole sat and genially snatched a finger from the bunch of banana the governor was snacking on, to the applause and admiration of onlookers including journalists. In all, if there was any shocker, it is the fact that Ogiewonyi miserably failed to live up to the hype after billions of naira he sunk. Swindled by charlatans and conmen masquerading as political strategists, the one-time Works minister continued to live in denial of one grave inadequacy. He was still a PDP contractor at the birth of APC between 2013 and 2014 when the list of delegates was compiled.

    Without having his own men on the original list, how could he have hoped to come in and upstage those who dug the foundation of the castle? Considering the spirit of camaraderie, the bear hugs that had permeated the state box last Saturday evening, the puzzle is: at what point did Ogiewonyi and Imasuagbon wake up to the litany of infractions or the “programmed fraud” now alleged? Was it after they finished dancing Azonto with Oshiomhole that evening? It is high time our politicians imbibed the spirit of true sportsmanship and stopped the flatulent habit of crying wolf in defeat. Truth is: the strongest candidate won the APC primaries. Edo: Political obsequy of the godfather The BOTTOM LINE e-mail: louisodion@yahoo.com (08055001941 – sms only, pls) Louis Odion THE NATION, Friday, June 24, 2016 7 •Godwin Obaseki •Osagie Ize-Iyamu Just like

  • Osun’s macabre dance

    IN moments of social dilemma when power is thought to be tainted by partisanship, it is often to the temple of the bar that a society looks for clarity and direction. In the hand of the conscientious judge, the spirit of the law in fact comes alive over the iceberg of technicalities. Then, the wise judge will creatively sidestep the usual bogey of precedents with an interpretation that best captures the essence of justice in both letter and spirit, thereby ensuring continued harmony and balance of the society at large. Sadly, the exact opposite of the foregoing is what is presently playing out in Osun State. A strange ruling by a ,judge is stoking sectarian tension and could potentially ignite a conflagration with dire implication for national security and stability. Specifically, the past few days witnessed a theatre of the absurd at the Baptist High School, Iwo, as students of the Christian faith came to school wearing all manner of regalia associated with the church. To the Tesbir their Muslim classmates had brandished, the Christians flaunted rosaries.

    It was all supposed to be their own affirmative action against a judgement entered on June 3 by Justice JideFalola giving students of Muslim faith freedom to wear hijab to schools as “part of their fundamental rights.” In their own reaction, the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) reckoned it would amount to dignifying the judgementby going to a superior court to challenge 1.

    To them, what makes it even more unbearable is that the very school where hijab is now welcomed was originally built and owned by Baptist missionary.Not to be outdone, they simply resorted to encouraging their wards to, wear any church costume imaginable to the classrooms. Not to take chances, some Christian parents volunteered to accompany their wards to the school to ensure no one molested them over their sartorial preference. One of the CAN leaders, Paul Olagoke, a catechist and head of the Catholic bloc in the Iwo district, put very bluntly: “We’re here to defend our religious right, to ensure that nobody chases away our children for deciding to wear choir robes and other churchrelatedclothes to school.

    “We told the government before the school merger that we did not want Christian schools to be merged with other schools to avoid this kind of situation. We’re determined to make sure that Christianity is not eradicated in the schools established with the sweat of our forefathers in the faith.” As if acting a comedy script, the pupils in the conflicting attires were however said have remained cordial as they exchanged pleasantries. A fact confirmed by the school’s principal, OmotayoArowolo, with a cynical emphasis. To those who might be losing sleep, he quipped: “You can observe by yourself that there is peaceful atmosphere in the school compound and learning is progressing well withoutdisturbance.”

    But the atmosphere of normalcy and tranquility painted by Arowolo is nothing but false. Otherwise, the Osun State Government would not have ordered the school’s closure yesterday. Before the recourse to the self-help by Christian parents, the state director of the Department of State Security (DSS) was said to have hosted CAN leaders with an appeal that they back down for the sake of peace. A plea that apparently fell on deaf ears. For now, no one can tell what happens next. But the truth must be said: the June 3 ruling was most unreasonable. It is most unfortunate that a judge, without regards for the religious sensibilities of other citizens in a supposedly secular state, could take liberty to interpret the constitution in such a reckless manner.

    It is the most insensate thing to do at delicate times like this when the fissures in the nation’s fault-lines appear to be widening by the day. Coming to think of it, it is even incorrect to assume only Christianity and Islam define our religious identity as a nation. Among the citizenry will be foundpractising traditionalists as well, =for instance. Pray, if Muslims and Christian kids were allowed to don the hijab and the white collar respectively in the classrooms, on what moral basis shall we be stopping children of juju worshippers from tying amulet around their wrists if they so wished? Even more dangerous is the exposition of innocent pupils at this tender age to the sectarian politics that has more or less corrupted the larger society.

    Rather than teaching love and the virtue of peaceful co-existence, we are inadvertently infecting the little ones with the virus of hate. What a shame. Already, Governor Rauf Aregbesola has responded in a manner anyone so caught in the middle would have by clarifying that the hijab approval was only a judicial pronouncement and not the policy of his administration. Unfortunately forOgbeni, the negative publicity this sartorial dust has generated at the Iwo school appears to have suddenly overshadowed his inauguration lately of a number of reconstructed public schools elsewhere in the state which ordinarily is praise-worthy. His burden is not lightened by the fact that he is Muslim himself, though generally seen as very accommodating of those who share different faiths. But rather than merely directing school authorities to deal with pupils who come to schools in uniform not approved, Ogbeni can show greater sagacity in the circumstance by directing his Attorney General to take legal steps to set this divisive ruling aside expeditiously, in case no NGO had alreadydone so.

    Beyond that, it would also not be out of place if the National Judicial Council, as the custodian of the juridical tradition, weighs in to spare our society the anarchy likely to germinate from this kind of toxic ruling.

     

  • Nigerian soccer & the culture of abuse

    PHYSICS teaches us that lightning rarely strikes the same spot twice. The depth of shock experienced by the nation last week is therefore better imagined when, within a space of 72 hours, the lightning of death did not only smite Nigeria’s two most accomplished football coaches but curiously at the same location: Benin City. The sudden death of Stephen Keshi and Shuaib Amodu is easily the worst sporting tragedy to befall Nigeria in a long time. Ironically, the latter had penned a moving tribute to the former in the condolence register opened in Benin penultimate Wednesday. Not knowing the terminal bell had begun to toll for him as well. Both champs personified what could be described as the golden era of the Nigerian football. Keshi (aka the Big Boss) pioneered the migration of our talents to Europe in the 80s, thereby initiating the country into the world soccer community.

    Later as coach, he continued to perform magic. In 2013, he would assemble a team of nobodies who, despite poor incentives, proceeded to shock the nation by winning the 2013 Nations Cup after a two-decade drought. It is, for instance, a testament to his genius that new stars like Sunday Mbah and Kenneth Omerua were discovered from the local league and unleashed on the global stage through the continental tourney in South Africa in 2013. Being a star himself, he therefore had no difficulty spotting another gem, even in the most unlikely place. Truly, only the deep can call to the deep. It is easy to define the Keshi edge. His organic approach to talent hunt and team-building sharply contrasted the lazy opportunism of the fly-by-night “world class coach” our soccer administrators always seem obsessed with. Of course, the tactical secret of such expatriate is often not a little more than the commonsense to simply compile the names of our soccer ambassadors “doing well” in the European league for the purpose of winning international engagement.

    Once the show is over, the smart “world-class coach” would hop on the next available flight to his home country, to return at the next payday or match. Amodu, on the other hand, signposted the coming of age of the local ingenuity in coaching that however remains un-acknowledged, much less celebrated, till date. With the Clement Westerhof-inspired superb showing of the Super Eagles in 1994 first at the Nations Cup and later the World Cup, the Nigerian football was thought to have matured into a distinct character roughly described as the “rattle snake style”. Its strength laid in the syncopation of swiftly clinical wings, sleek midfield and a rock-solid defense. Its power and beauty were very much in evidence in the KanuNwankwo-led Eaglets who, two years later, dazed the world by winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics. But typically, the talisman was soon lost by those who took over the management of our football.Years later, Amodu brought some redemption. By qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup in 2002 and2010, he defied all odds characterized by shoddy institutional support. Even at those sterling feats, he was hardly accorded the respect he deserved. A sad reminder of the biblical saying that prophet isnever recognized at home.

    Sadder still is the high probability today that both Keshi and Amodu died with some bitterness in their hearts on account of maltreatment they suffered at the hands of a nation they toiled so hard tomake great. The details of Keshi’s autopsy are yet unknown. But relations reported symptoms of heart attack. On the other hand, Amodu’s remains were interred last Saturday in accordance with his Muslim faith. But given that he also reportedly complained of chest pain, the cause may also not be too far from cardiac arrest arising from complications from a nagging diabetes his wife confirmed he had nursedover the years. Not surprising, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), which meted indignity to Keshi and Amodu while alive, almost emptied the dictionary the next moment with the torrents of adjectives deployed to describe their contributions to the growth and the development of the beautiful game in Nigeria. But the sick joke is actually on those who have been shedding crocodile tears in the past ten days. While I only met Keshi casually twice, Amodu I knew very well. While I served as Information Commissioner in Edo State, his path and mine inevitably crossed several times.

    Incidentally, the Information Ministry and the Sports Ministry share the same modest building in the Ezoti wing of the state secretariat. That proximity furnished us the opportunity to engage in debate from time to time. Ordinarily taciturn, he came alive whenever our chat veered to the subjects of values and leadership. In that mode, he would gesticulate animatedly to give depth to his words and emotions. Nothing ached his heart than watching the upcoming ones, some of whom were benefitting from his coaching clinic, thinking lasting success could be achieved without hard work and dedication. He was a study in humility. I can still picture hisregular boyish smile, accentuated with trademarklow-cut, with a parting on the left. He had a way with the little boys forever loitering the verandah of the Sports Ministry, dreaming a future of soccer, their boots often dangling on their shoulders, tied by their laces.

    Since the tragic news last Saturday, the social media has been awash with sometimes outlandish theories, some speculating on the list of debtors and enemies he kept. The most sensational perhaps being a letter purportedly written by him widely published by the traditional media Tuesday. It not only claimed that Edo State owed him up to N25m but also barely concealed his anger at being shoddily dribbled and maltreated specifically by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    Thankfully, a clarity was brought to the new controversy a day later with the state government making public a memo, said to have been submitted by Amodu to the office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) penultimate Wednesday, which content and tone sharply contrast with the angry one earlier circulated. Contrary to the N25m earlier bandied, Amodu only claimed N8m arrears in the version presented by the state government. The big puzzle: who then could have doctored a letter presumably submitted to the state government confidentially and caused its circulation?What could possibly be the motive? Really, it would be very strange indeed for an ex-worker soliciting payment of a claim and desirous of quick result to adopt the insolent, if not incendiary, language of the first letter. Given the pervading grief, this obviously cannot be the most auspicious moment to seek answers to these big questions. But whatever the misgivings he might have had over the non-renewal of his contract last year, I believe the worst assault anyone could do to Amodu’s memory is suggest that he had forgotten or, even for a moment, became unappreciative of the solidarity andsuccour given him by someone in hishour of need back in 2010.

    True, there will never be a perfect working environment or relationship anywhere in the world. But I can attest that once to twice that our chat veered to his past ordeal at the hands of the nation’s soccer administrators, Amodu drew solace from the fact that his native Edo State came to his rescue when itmattered most after being literally humiliated twice on the national stage by the football federation. His reward for helping to qualify Nigeria for the 2010 World was an unceremonious sack. He had similarly helped qualify Nigeria for the World Cup in 2002, only to be dumped for someone else to leadthe Super Eagles to the tournament.

    While NFF quickly raised millions of dollar to hire a foreign coach and fund a jamboree to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, Amodu was left in the cold in Nigeria. It was at this point that Oshiomholeinvited him and made an offer to wipe his tears. As national coach, his earning was said to be N800k circa. So, there was now a snag: Commissioner’s net pay after tax was around N400k while governor’s was a little over N600k. To make up, Oshiomhole decided to designate Amodu as a consultant with a compensation package of N2mmonthly plus other fringe benefits. Apart from the payment of a sign-on fee. His job description was to run a coaching academy to discover and groom soccer talents from primary and secondary schools in Edo State. So, the state-owned Sam OgbemuduaStadium became his workshop.Was Amodu satisfied with the package? I bet he was, particularly given the spirit behind the gesture.

    Nothing best expressed this than the accustomed passion he brought to the job until the contract expired last year. That coincided with the onset of the cash crunch in the federation with more than twothird of the states owing back wages, with most left to reorder their priorities to stay afloat. Once it became certain that Edo was no longer buoyant to renew his contract, Amodu moved on to another job with the football federation as a technical director. It has been confirmed that his last employer (NFF) was owing him arrears of salaries before his death last week. One account even stated the cash woe had seriously weighed him down. It was most likely against this background that Amodu had no other option than return to Benin last week to file a claim for the period between when his contract expired and when the NFF job came believing Oshiomhole, who related to him more as a big brother, would approve on compassionategrounds.

    On the whole, Amodu’s case is quite reflective of the pervasive culture of abuse by the NFF that seems more fixated on dollars-earning foreigncoach but feels no qualms subjecting Nigerians performing tasks even more demanding to starvation, if not destitution, like the foregoing story clearly illustrates.While the NFF executives appear to lead champagne lifestyle with the guaranty of First-classtravels and hotels worldwide, players and coache mostly spend their latter lives in pain and penury. This endemic culture of abandonment, it would seem, is what in turn breeds the mercenary mentality among players still active in their careers. It speaks to the growing craze for instant gratification. Soccer internationals invited home to wear national jerseys would insist flight ticket and bonuses be paid before they even enter the field of play. Unsureof what tomorrow holds, they want to make the best of today when their feet can still carry them.If nothing at all, the Amodu case should serve as a wake-up call to reorder football administration in the country in a manner that will profit, not the fat cats at the Glass House exclusively, but also the hardworking coaches, players and club owners/ managers whose sweat and toil give life to thegame in Nigeria.