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Tag: uppercut

  • Anatomy of an uppercut

    For the sake of boxing neophytes, an uppercut is probably the deadliest punch in that fistic game. If you have never been dealt one before then Hardball dares say that you need to reassess your masculinity in this brawny world. Think of the school playing field bully, the roughnecks of the bus-stop brawls or the ‘hood toughie’ who thinks you are too cool for his liking and determines to undo your cool at the street corner one of those festive seasons.

    My man you just must have gotten stung by one upper cut at one point or the other. It is often better experienced. In fact, it gives a man the stiff upper lip which is the mark of every true man.

    Depending on who is dealing it, an uppercut has the capacity to daze, unsettle, jar and if professionally executed, an uppercut is bound to lift you slightly off your feet. And whether you return to your feet or crash on the canvass in a mass also depends on the power and intensity of the puncher.

    Is Hardball about to take to boxing? What is the meaning of this treatise on pugilism? Well, in a manner of speaking or better still in a manner of his speaking there may be a punch up soon between the World Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria. And the World Bank (WB) may have drawn the first blood with an uppercut right under the chin. According to a report emanating from that bastion of capitalism, Nigeria is considered not serious with the much touted diversification of her economy.

    Africa’s Pulse, WB’s biannual analysis on economic trends in Africa, has predicted that growth in 2016 would fall deeper than projected. But in a more direct jab (uppercut if you like) the bank picked on our dear country noting that African countries like Nigeria which depend on commodities are not serious about diversification of their economies.

    Some of the countries performing badly on the continent currently, going by the bank, are: Nigeria, Chad, Angola, Madagascar, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, The Gambia and – well, South Africa.

    Hardball cannot agree less with WB. Being man on the ground and about town, the street indications are pretty bad. Apart from the dollar rate that is soaring away like a vile eagle, misery pervades the land like an early harmattan haze making the environment pale. Jobs have gone, salaries are late and far between.

    But just as the bank has noted, not much has been done to find a replacement for crude oil earnings. No aggressive drive towards replacing imported food items with local substitutes or even curbing ostentation and waste among public figures and politicians. No drastic reforms being proposed or being put to effect. It remains largely business as usual.

    It is not often that WB throws hard punches; this is why we consider this an upper cut.

     

  • OPEN LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI, GCFR ON THE STATE OF SPORT IN NIGERIA

    Your Excellency,

    I wish to extend to you my warm compliments and to congratulate you on your victory in the last election that paved the way for you to once again occupy the position of the President of this great country. It is my prayer that God will satisfy you with good health and sound mind to lead the people of this great nation.

    Your Excellency, I have decided to write this open letter to your esteemed office because of several factors first among which is the fact that I am convinced that with your reform agenda in Nigeria, our industry need to key into the current movement in order to benefit from your leadership. Mr. President I wish to present to you the cries of millions of Nigerian Youths that are interested in sports.

    Your Excellency, Nigeria is a blessed country when we talk about abounding talents of sports men and women in the country. But unfortunately, sport has not been given its rightful place in the scheme of things and as such it has not been able to contribute positively to the GDP of this great nation.

    Mr. President, Nigeria lacks adequate sport facilities and we are unable to maintain the existing ones not because we don’t have the personnel to do the work but simply because sport has been neglected for several years. Our stadiums that used to be symbols of our national pride are now shadows of its old selves some have become homes to destitute and the homeless.

    We have a situation in Nigeria whereby state governments are not building new stadiums and most state governments have also not seen the reason why they should vote sufficient money for the renovation of existing sport facilities. The very structure available to govern and regulate sport is currently been threatened as we were made to understand that it may no longer exist.

    Mr. President Sir, I wish to recommend that you consider sport as a critical sector that needs to be listed as part of your administrations reform programme. We need to activate sport economy in Nigeria so that our youths and indeed everyone and anyone can be able to be positively engaged. Mr. President, I wish to inform you that sport has the capacity in Nigeria to create over a million job directly and indirectly annually with the capacity to expand if given the right opportunity to function.

    Your Excellency, we need you to please consider making sport development part of your priority areas under your administration. Contrary to the thinking of many, sport can drive itself with the right environment through adequate legislation. Also we need people that understand the intricacies in sport to be allowed to manage sport.

    Your Excellency, sport is a leveller and the best projector of any country beyond it shores. It is the pride of Nigeria and our athletes have over the years shown that they have the determination to perform well. Mr. President the sorry and dilapidated state of our various sport facilities across the country calls for a declaration of state of emergency on sport facility reconstruction and maintenance across Nigeria.

    Mr. President, I will like to bring to your notice that in Nigeria today, most primary, secondary and tertiary institutions have got very poor sport facility for their use. Some out rightly do not even have any of such facility for their use. Our Federal Stadiums are also not left out and our sport commission and various sport federations are feeling the heat because they not only lack adequate financing to activate the sector they also suffer from poor infrastructure to train athletes.

    Your Excellency, I am aware that you love sport but please we need you to take it as one of your critical projects to revive sport in all the states in Nigeria. Our first step towards achieving this is to get the law establishing the National Sports Commission to be passed by the National Assembly. Secondly, we need to work very hard in ensuring that all sporting facilities are upgraded to meet the current international standards

    Mr. President Sport has the ability to create wealth and jobs for youths in Nigeria. The only problem that sport has is for the political leadership to see it as another area that needs to be explored for the good of the nation and its citizens. We can generate wealth for this nation through sport, we can reduce unemployment using sport, we can reduce crime and criminality using sport, we can change lives using sport and above all we can easily project this great country to the international community through sport

    Your Excellency, whichever way you may want to look at sport please remember that we have all the human resources available to put our sport in the track for economic viability. But before we are able to achieve these lofty ideas we will need to first develop all the dilapidated sport stadiums across Nigeria

    Mr. President on behalf of the thousands of youths that have no access to write or speak to you but whose lives have been conditioned in sport participation, I wish to strongly appeal that you look into sport with the notion to develop the structures and legislation so that cooperate organizations will have confidence in sport and return back to investing in sport.

    I thank you for finding the time to read this letter.

  • Stop the horseplay

    The prevailing circumstance within the Nigeria Sport Circles has left those of us that are active observers to be fascinated by the emerging trends within the system. I particularly cannot think of other things to say than to address ways through which we can finally put to rest the prevailing challenges and problems experienced in our sports with particular reference to football administration in Nigeria.

    We need to look at the current situation critically in order to appreciate the magnitude of the problem and also identify ways of resolving the problems if possible. I am sure that for every problem that confronts humanity there is a corresponding reaction towards its solution and this available solution is expected to be exploited by man.

    Furthermore, we need all the help we can get from genuine stakeholders in resolving the current problem in the absence of this collective effort we may be heading for a continuous brouhaha that will not do us any good. Football is currently been suffocated and needs an urgent oxygen to be administered to it and those to do this are as I said earlier the genuine stakeholders.

    For the purpose of clarity let me define those I am considering as genuine stakeholders of our football, please note that this definition is only operational and should not be likened outside the context of this discuss. By genuine stakeholders I am referring to the following: National Sports Commission, Members of Nigeria Football Federation, Sports Editors Forum, Senate and House Committees on Sports, Sport Writers Association and other critical partners and friends of football.

    These groups will need to agree and chart a course for all to follow in order to restore the glory of the beautiful game.

     

    I Digress………

     

    A lot has been said about the need for sport to be given its rightful place in our various schools but till date we have not seen any strategic plan towards actualizing this noble cause. I am sure that our various tertiary institutions have the capacity to deliver a very sound sport programme. All that is needed is for them to be given the infrastructure and financial support.

    Also we need to have a national integration sport programme specifically designed to encourage our sports men and women in our various tertiary institutions. We have in most institutions deplorable sport facilities and this cannot encourage students to participate in sports even as a recreation.

    What we need is for us to have institutions that are properly equipped with the right sport materials and equipment in all our tertiary institutions and I can say with all sense of responsibility that if we are able to achieve this we will be reducing the involvement of our youths in all unhealthy behaviours you may think of that strive in campuses across Nigeria.

    The youth of any country  is the engine room and heart of the nation and as I have once written about the negative effect of producing youths that are unhealthy as a result of their non-involvement in any form of sports  during their school days. Fundamentally, we need to create a system of filling the old legs in our sports and only then shall we begin to appreciate the combination of education and sports.

     

    My heroíne Courtney Dike

     

    This lady is my heroine today not because of her superlative performance in the concluded FIFA U-20 Women World Cup in Canada where the Falconets came home with Silver as the second best team in the World after been defeated by Germany in the final match.

    This young lady is an undergraduate of Oklahoma State University in the United States of America where she is currently enjoying a scholarship. I was shocked when I was told that she refused to collect the match bonus that was meant for her throughout the tournament. She simply told the officials of the Nigeria Football Federation that all she wanted to do was to play for her country Nigeria and that she was not interested in collecting the match bonus.

    This came as a great surprise and shock to many people that are used to players refusing to collect their match bonus only when the money is less than what they are expecting. I feel that this lady should be celebrated as a heroine in Nigeria football and should be emulated by our sports men who put money first before service to their Nation. I rest my case.

  • School sport mythology

    We have over the years forgotten the need to properly invest in school sport programmes and to a large extent this act has made us to forfeit the derivable benefits of investing in school sport. We have youths these days without any form of locomotive skills and yet we expect that the country will continue to produce sporting stars that will excel in sports.

    While it is expedient for us to appreciate the effect of sports participation by students to the overall health and development of students one is constrained to note that we have jettisoned this noble venture and have decided in doing the things that doe not have any direct bearing to the development of sport.

    There is the need for us to begin to address the fundamentals that are militating against the achievement of these noble objectives. I am very much aware that there are lots of schools that had school playground and sport facilities in time past but today such is no longer in existence and where you still have in existence it is a mere shadow of its old self, meaning they are all dilapidated.

    We need to visit our schools if truly we want to address the issues that are confronting the participation of students in sports. We also need to have a definite policy on education that will be all inclusive and should be such that will spell out the basic sporting requirement for each school category.

    The Ministry for Education and the National Sports Commission should come up with a workable frame work that will see the National Sports Commission investing heavily in the development of sporting facilities across Government schools while the operational license of private schools should be given only to people that have the capacity to provide sport facilities to their students.

    While it is always very easy to criticise I must also say that we need to look into our sport policy and answer the following questions: what do we want as a nation in sport? What are our plans for sports related jobs in the nearest future? What is our national sport ideology? Of what significance will educated youths that are not physically fit be to a growing nation? There are many more questions that we can ask ourselves but the above are critical and pointers.

    Recently I was opportune to attend a seminar where the future of Africa as a hub for sport excellence was discussed and I noticed that from the various contributors it is confirmed that Africa is considered as one of the fastest growing economy in the world and as such a lot is been looked at by these experts that are currently looking at the cumulative value of such growth on sport business within the territory of Africa.

    However, most African countries have failed to see this glaring opportunity and are busy looking at sport from the perspective of being just a social duty rather than seeing sport as a fundamental catalyst for growth and economic advancement. Now how and where do we go from here? The truth of the matter is that we need to go back to the basics by re-engineering our school sports and ensuring that we have sport facilities that are up to date.

    Fundamentally speaking we need to be serious minded of the fact that the school setting is one of the basic sources of talent identification and we must be committed towards ensuring that we develop the various school sport programmes. I am aware that in South Africa there is a policy direction towards the development of sport facilities within schools and communities.

    I am also aware that there is a deliberate Government action plan to kit all students with sport wears and ensure that coaches are sent to schools why Physical Education is been encouraged at all educational levels and this in effect will produce the next generation of sports men and women in South Africa.

    Let us imagine that we have all schools that are properly equipped with sport facilities and sport instructors coupled with a comprehensive sport programme for the students and pupils all year round. I’m sure that such will boost the education and skill growth and acquisition of our youths to such an extent that we will readily have a pool of young athletes that will easily take the place of our aging athletes.

    Our sport managers should understand that the potential in sport is too great to be handled with levity we need a corroborative instrument of engagement between all ministries of sports and education in our various states and at the Federal level. With this, we would have addressed a fundamental problem that is currently steering us at the face.

    It is my hope and desire that we do the needful so as to reap from the inherent benefit thereof.

  • Sport rejuvenation

    Working in a system that is structurally designed for failure is not new, however, the ability of the current actors in our sports to redesign the foundation of our sports is more critical, if we are to move to the next level.

    Nigeria has come a long way in sport and we are also expected to be among the beneficiaries of the new prosperity that is derivable through sports, especially because we have, over the years, enjoyed great followership in our sport and thus generated the needed interest in people for sport.

    However, when we look at the sporting sector in Nigeria and ask ourselves some very fundamental questions, you will agree with me that a lot still needs to be done. As an expert in sport administration and organisation, I find it very difficult to comprehend what we were able to learn in the classroom and what is obtainable on the field. From my experience as a practicing sport administrator, I will say there is a great gulf between theory and practice.

    We have in Nigeria a system that does not encourage the promotion of professionals in the management and administration of key areas in our sport. When I say professionals, I am not limiting my definition to only sport professionals, I’m talking about professionals from all sectors. We need professional marketers that will help us sell our product, we need lawyers that will advise us on legal matters, we need professional accountants to help take care of sport funds and, of course, we need professional sports managers to manage sports.

    Unfortunately, looking inward one can say that we have seen a distorted arrangement of persons without adequate knowledge in the areas they are being asked to function in and as such they always constitute a clog in the wheel of sport progress. A lot has been said about the aspect of managers and administrators.

    The coaches are another group that needs to be told the truth as most of them in Nigeria have failed to see the need for them to act and behave as professionals. They fail to understand that the job of a coach is a highly cherished and respected position in the sporting world. Most coaches probably due to their limited exposure have been made to belittle their status. In fact some coaches don’t understand that they are the drivers on whose shoulders the existence of the administrators is dependent upon.

    A very funny scenario played out that I will never forget. I was discussing with a self-acclaimed, experienced sport administrator without any qualifications when he told me that ‘these coaches and players think we are their servants, they have no regard for constituted authority, they just sit down and spend all the money we labour to get without any good result to show for it.’ I looked at him and said, ‘well, the truth of the matter is that you can only be regarded as a successful sport administrator if and when your team is doing very well.’

    Another problem in our sport world is the rivalry of suspicion that pervades the entire sporting landscape. I don’t think there is anywhere else that we can witness this type of suspicion of one another besides during a war when two enemy forces come to the table for dinner. I have observed that people in sport don’t trust one another and I tried to find out why it is so. Honestly, you won’t believe that it is because of mere distrust for loyalty

    Anyone who is not of integrity that cannot match words with action does not need to be in sports business because sport is all about integrity, and any doubt arising from one’s character is not good enough for sport business. To this end, it is only proper that we encourage men and women of impeccable character that can bring some fresh air into our sport environment, as failure to do this will see our sport continually in a state of failure.

    Let us come together to salvage our sport and project a sports sector that is viable, transparent and, above all, above board, thus projecting a new era for our sport. We encourage professionals from all walks of life to be free to come into sports business to contribute their quota towards the development of sports.

  • Sport facility development

    The development of sports facilities are basic for the growth and advancement of sport in any country and for us as a nation to develop in sport we need an updated sport facility across the country to enable our athletes to train and have a feel of the best facilities which in turn will better prepare them for good performance in their chosen sport. Also, the availability of a good sport facility will attract new sport athletes to try out a given sport within their locality.

    While it is often said that we need to develop sports facilities I think we also need to look at the availability of such facilities in schools, colleges and universities. Over the years most schools and higher institutions of learning have been suffering from deplorable state of their sports facilities and this honestly, calls for a great concern. In some institutions we have seen school authorities convert sport fields to classroom construction sites as well as management or staff buildings.

    The question that can be inferred from this act is the fact that why is it that we have lost our first love for sports in our various level of educational life? Am aware that most institutions do collect monies from students in the name of sports fee during registration period yet we hardly see any development in the areas of school sport facility development

    More worrisome is the deplorable state of public sport facilities across the country. We can only boast of a few states in the country that have overtime sustained their public sport facility and also built more sport facility in their domain. The National Stadium Surulere is another national disaster as it reflects reckless abandonment by the authorities

    I would have expected that considering the great success recorded in the sport sector the Federal Government should have considered the commencement of immediate repair works of the national stadium Lagos to commemorate our centenary celebration. Even though am not sure of the current government position as it relates to revamping this historical sport edifice I feel I should join my voice in the call for an urgent attention to be given to this once pride of the nation.

    Fundamentally, we cannot have any of the sport developed if we fail to do something in the area of our sport facility development because this is a key area which we need to concentrate our efforts in ensuring we make to work for the good of sport and benefits of our athletes.

    It is very important that we begin to look at sport as an integral aspect of our national life development the situation in which we will abandon sport facilities without any form of maintenance is not healthy for the development of the sector. Because the sector can only be better with the construction and maintenance of sport facilities across the country.

    Another angle to this approach is the contribution of the private sector in the construction and ownership of sport facilities in Nigeria. Companies and private individuals are not left out in this area because they can also complement government investment in the real sense of it in this areas and be sure to make some money from the use of these sport facilities.

    It is worthy to mention that the organised private sector have not been visibly present in the ownership of sport facilities in Nigeria and this is a very good ground for business to strive because such facilities have the propensity of generating income for its maintenance by users. Most sport facilities are maintained from internally generated revenue which is a basic source for generating income for the maintenance of such sport facilities

    I have also asked the role of our various local government areas as it relates to sport promotions and development a case to consider is the role of the local government in the construction of sport facilities within their domain or area of jurisdiction. I want to call on local government areas to see the need of including sport facility construction within their locality as a must done deal for the benefit of their people and more importantly the youths in those localities.

    Sport facility development should be seen as a very important component of our overall sport development policy because without the facilities the athletes will have nowhere to train neither will we have the opportunities of identifying new talents to take over from the old legs. This aspect must be collectively executed if we must achieve the desired mark of sport excellence in Nigeria.

  • Playing football abroad

    Often we have youths that are interested in plying their trade as professional footballers abroad and some have gone to the extent of selling almost all the property of their parents as well as borrowing money from friends and relations all in the name of processing the needed documents to travel abroad through so-called agents that claim to have made arrangements with a foreign team.

    I am very disturbed at this development that has seen many youths stranded in various parts of the world and most of all living in very deplorable conditions as most of them do not have the skills to survive outside playing football. Some have been detained and the lucky ones have been sent back home while others are languishing in perpetual hardship and have refused to come home because they are unable to pay their way back.

    I think there is the urgent need for the government to step in to stop this crude act of taking our youths outside the country only to be abandoned with no money and no direction. Drawing from my experience, we hear stories like ‘there is a tournament abroad being facilitated by a foreign club’ and as such they want an academy or youth club from Nigeria to participate and ‘if you do well you are automatically signed on as a player of the said foreign club.’

    First of all, as much as I will not want to say that all of such proposals are lies, I am very much aware that there are some people who have made it their trade to come to Nigeria and recruit young talented players and take them abroad to participate in tournaments with the belief that the players are all going on trial in a Europe-based club.

    I remember meeting a young man in Liberia who informed me that he came to Liberia to play professional football he claimed to have been doing well at home while playing in a Nigerian club, but that the temptation came when a friend of his travelled abroad to play and came home better than when he left. So, he had to make sure that he also played abroad, unfortunately, his ‘abroad’ ended in Liberia and he was stranded with no job, no money, no football.

    A similar story was told to me when I visited China by a group of Nigerians that we met at the African restaurant in Beijing that they came to China to play professional football and after arriving in China they were checked into a hotel and abandoned by their so-called agent. In South Africa, the case was worse as we met a lot of boys who claimed that they came to play professional football but the deals were never sealed and now they were stranded, loitering around the Nigerian restaurant

    While in Germany, we also met a young man who claimed that he was brought to Germany to play football only to arrive at the airport and the number of the man he had been talking to was not reachable anymore. It took him great courage to step out of the airport. Luckily, he had a return ticket and a hotel reservation but as at the time he was speaking to me, he was a waiter in a restaurant

    I have also had been receiving phone calls from parents and guardians of football players asking if I know anyone that can assist their wards to travel abroad to play professional football. I can’t help but advise that it is not as easy as they are made to believe by some criminally-minded individuals parading themselves as agents. I am also aware that so many players have been duped right here in Nigeria by these fake agents and till date both their money and in some cases their international passports are in the hands of these agents.

    While I’m not out to state categorically that there are no genuine player agents in Nigeria, I think the authorities governing our football as well as the Nigerian Immigration Service should work out a pact that will protect these innocent young Nigerians that are taken out of this country through the borders and in some cases our airports only to be stranded abroad thereby constituting a nuisance to their host communities and an embarrassment to Nigeria.

    The reason why I won’t dwell much on the role of the parents is because most of the parents of these lads are not literate and the lads are always so aggressive to pressurise their poor parents to go the extra mile in borrowing money for them to travel abroad. Most of these boys hardly finished secondary school and as such may not even know how to read and write, thus worsening their case as what they say is never coherent.

    My advice therefore is that if you want to play professional football, please do not turn your back on education because that is what will sustain you even after you have secured a professional football job.

    Education is key and as such any one that wants to play football should be interested in going to school because after football what will you be doing? And to those youths that are of the opinion that without football they cannot do any other thing, I think you need to rethink very well.

  • Investment beyond politics

    Many have advocated for the involvement of the organised private sector in sports and, of course, today the reason for the less patronage in this sector is obvious. While some may adduce the reasons to the fact that the managers of our sports are not transparent in their dealings, others are of the opinion that the private sector is not committed to investing in sports as they have not been able to derive the required benefit from such investment.

    However, today I wish to talk about investment beyond politics in sport. Whereas, it can be said that sport requires huge financial investment for it to produce the much needed result, we must also be concious of the fact that most contributions to sport which we most often mistake for investment is simply politically motivated rather than ideologically instigated.

    This condition is what has made many sport programmes in Nigeria to die prematurely, because once the favourable political permutation is no more, the donor simply quits, thereby bringing a total halt to the operations of the given sport. I am sure that some may want to argue that even in religion there is politics let alone sport. But my angle of analysing investment and politics in sport is that which gives precedent to companies with political interest coming out to show solidarity with the government of the day by way of supporting a sporting event.

    We should begin to have in Nigeria people and organisations that will love to support a given sport because of their sincere commitment towards the development of the sport. We need investors that are intrinsically motivated rather than those that are motivated by the spur of the moment.

    Advancing regional sport development

    By way of digressing from the main discuss, I want to quickly mention the need for us to have a regional sport development agenda or policy that will be driven by the various regions. A classical case is that of the NDDC. Since its inception this commission has been mandated to develop the oil-rich region in Nigeria and they have been involved in various projects ranging from construction of roads, building of hospitals and carrying out intervention programmes on poverty eradication.

    Surprisingly, many people are not aware that the NDDC has got a sport department that is managed by a Director. My concern today is basically on the need for the new NDDC leadership that is to commence work shortly to look into the areas of sport as a critical component that needs to be supported. The NDDC should assist in upgrading all sport facilities in all tertiary institutions within its regions as well as secondary and primary schools.

    The NDDC should also see the need to begin coaching clinics and education in various sports that are advantageous to the regions. I have not seen the NDDC working to enhance sport development in the Niger Delta, yet you have restive youths that are all in need of jobs. Let me affirm here that there is no industry that has the capacity to capture the interest of all groups and age grades like sport and if properly organised it can be a great source of job creation for our teaming youths.

    Back to the main discuss

    The introduction of political inclination or affiliation by some private companies to the development of sport is something that has made our sport stagnant. We must understand that investment in sport should not be used as a bait to show support to friends in politics, neither should those occupying political positions see the investments of their friends in sport as an antidote to prove their political versatility.

    What we need are people and companies that are dedicated to advancing the course of sport in Nigeria in respective of who is at the helm of affairs. Another laughable experience I have come to observe over time is the aspect of some political leaders who are occupants of highly exalted offices playing politics with sports.

    They are only seen to be identifying with sport when a national team has successfully done the nation proud by winning laurels for the country. Only then will you see the ‘sport-loving’ politicians queuing up to identify with the players’ performance. A recent show was experienced in Kano State when the government of that state invited the Under -17 World Champions to a show of dishonour.

    I am still trying to understand the rationale behind inviting these World Champions and then treating them as if they won a secondary school championship. I can’t but be angry at what was done in Kano State; it was a public exploitation of the rights of the world champions, a situation where two hundred thousand naira was given to each player and five hundred thousand naira to the chief coach. It is laughable and condemnable when compared to what happened in Cross River State where all players and officials were given a house each. I think politicians should stop exploiting the rights of these world champions and be serious, if, and when, they want to honour them. I rest my case.

  • Averting football management crisis

    While we relish the superlative performance of our under 17 boys in the ongoing FIFA Under -17 World Cup taking place in the United Arab Emirates(UAE)we cannot but also acknowledge that so far, within the domestic scene we have also witnessed the end of a season filled with interesting intrigues as some will succinctly put. Moreover, there seems to be a new drama within the domestic administration of football in Nigeria

    This drama if not carefully managed has the potential to expand and become more of a crisis hence, my decision to advice and counsel all concern while also calling the attention of those in authority to quickly intervene before we begin to experience another round of brouhaha within the administration of football locally

    Nigeria is currently in the spot light as far as world and continental football is concern and it is only expected that we show some level of maturity in managing our domestic affairs. With the advent of the worldwide internet connectivity, one will be shocked to know that a pronouncement on any tabloid or media channel is received round the globe in a matter of seconds.

    Last week, I was away for a short training on Sports Law and to my greatest surprise one of the resource persons who is a Professor of Sports Law made mention of the scandalous results recorded in Nigeria Amateur League in which case two clubs recorded outrageous scores during one of their league matches. Although, decisive action have been taken against these clubs and their officials , the issue is that the Professor was as informed about the issue as would have been any Nigerian that follows football yet he had never visited Nigeria all his life.

    That is the effect of negative publicity and how far it can go when we consider the reach of the World Wide Web. We have in the last two years or thereabout, enjoyed relative peace within the management of football in the local space called Nigeria and to such an extent these peace has created an enabling environment for football managers to concentrate on doing the needful the resultant effect of which has produced great results for Nigeria and once more have also announced the rebirth of football in Nigeria

    My concern today however, is on the latest news about the dissolution by club owners of the league management company whether they are right or wrong is not my focus but mine is for there to be a process that will address all that is needed to be addressed before we plunge again into another rounds of crisis in football management.

    Let me say that the process of change has a principle that has been tested and trusted and it has also been developed into what is referred to as the change theory whereby a systematic approach is followed towards effecting the needed change. As much as I will not want to commence a lecture on change management I think it is expedient that I give some tips for those in authorities who care to intervene in this matter as a guide to their approach.

    Firstly, we must understand the change theory that there are three steps or what is referred to as categories namely the Comfort Zone, Stretch Zone and Panic Zone. In effecting any change we must understand that human beings don’t always welcome changes because they prefer to remain in their comfort zone whether good or bad. Hence, there is the natural tendency that a sudden change will push people into panic and this is considered as the state of the panic zone. While in the panic zone their reactions will be counterproductive to the desired change as they will revolt against the change agent and this I must say is considered by behavioral scientist as a natural human phenomenon

    Hence, for any change to be effective there must be adequate consultation with all stakeholders, none should be excluded, there should also be education and comprehensive enlightenment on the expected benefits of such change if and when implemented, and there must be consensus by all parties which will be the outcome of an extensive negotiation involving all parties. It is important that we note, that negotiations are in various forms. We have collaborative and coercive negotiation however, we should adopt the collaborative form of negotiation so as to be on the same page with all. All cards must be placed on the table no tricks and no secrets.

    If the above is followed then we will not have the lingering problems in our sport because from what I know we are often not patient enough to discuss and convince people in a negotiating table we are still stereotyped in our manner of approaching issues that we seldom recognise the rights and privileges of the other parties involved. There is a popular saying from where I come from that you can’t slap a child and ask him not to cry.

    My appeal today therefore, is for all football stakeholders in Nigeria not to take the current peace and unity we are enjoying for granted because without peace, we are only inviting anarchy and these will not do our football any good. Let everyone come together and finally fashion a way forward for our football management in Nigeria. It is not a rocket science and it can be achieved if there is genuine sincerity of purpose on the part of all concern. I wish Nigeria and its football stakeholder’s good luck.

  • Promoting user groups service delivery at sport arenas

    Much is being said about the in ability of our various sport programmes to attract people back into the stadium to watch either athletics or football league games or other sports. Fortunately, we have been able to identify some fundamental problems militating against this mass movement of people away from the stadium.

    Most league operators need to understand that times have changed and as people now have various contending factors that are sharing their interest and in most cases these other factors are more appealing to sport user groups than the idea of going to watch a match at the stadium.

    Sport managers should understand that one of the greatest priorities of organising a sport event is to ensure that there is adequate security, safety and good service experience for all user groups. This should not be compromised for any reason.

    For the purpose of this discuss I will like to define the term user groups as all those that are direct beneficiaries of sport services provided at sport venues and during sport events and they are as follows; players, officials, spectators, television and the media and sponsors.

    Unfortunately, we have not been able to witness a shift in organisational culture from the old way of providing the needed services to only players and officials and sometimes sponsors to other user groups especially the largest being spectators. Most sport organisers have failed to understand that sport is purely a form of entertainment and for people to be entertained, they must enjoy certain level of safety, security and above all first line service.

    We cannot continue to have teams and officials playing games in fear of the unexpected or being attacked on the pitch or field of play yet we want spectators and sponsors to come to the stadium and watch games and sponsor games. Such dastardly acts will definitely not motivate any of these groups mentioned to come to the stadium.

    Some people have also advocated that if matches are televised live it may reduce the case of hooliganism at sport venues. However, most advocates of this position have failed to understand that the television and host broadcaster as a user group will require safety and security before they can transport their equipment to match venues.

    Also people who purchase tickets expect that their tickets should have specific sitting area provided and guaranteed, they expect to be safe when they attend sport events, they expect to see adequate signages and ground staff who will direct them to their appropriate sitting area. They want to be able to access the stadium and also find functional and clean toilets for their use whenever they need to use it. They also expect to be able to access refreshment points or vendors during half time and not to be starved of refreshment because they came to the stadium; to watch a match or a game.

    Spectators don’t want to be kept in cages as prisoners, they want to enjoy their experience at the stadium by way of observing some form of entertainments at the stadium this is hardly seen in our league matches. Sport managers today must broaden their thinking as they currently restrict themselves only to the specific sport event organisation without any form of additional side attractions for the enjoyment of spectators. I think sincerely that we need to properly get our organisation into a right perspective by collaborating with professional event organizers to help us spice up the environment.

    Sport managers must understand that there is the need for them to organise a strategic session before major sporting events including but not limited to league matches and they should also know that their part of their duties is to provide a worthwhile experience for all user groups especially the spectators and fans.

    Although we can see some sport managers engaging the services of stewards during sport events, but unfortunately these stewards are not properly trained for the task neither do you find them rehearsing before event day except when we are hosting international competitions and events do we comply with specific demands by the right holders. There is the need for sport managers to clearly define their rules of engagement knowing that without the user groups being satisfied we are out of business.

    Nobody will leave the comfort of his house to the stadium if his or her safety, security and service is not guaranteed and the whole essence of going to sport events apart from watching the specific sport live is to experience firsthand an enjoyable experience in an electrifying environment that is charged with passion and emotions.

    Sport managers must learn to understand that sport has moved on from a mere limited edition of just concentrating only on players and officials’ welfare and safety to an overall experience by all user groups. We need to know that spectators and other user groups have specific needs some of which have been enumerated above with specific interest in spectators, thus we need as sport managers and sport event organizers to plan on how to satisfy these needs apart from delivering a good game.