Adeola Aderounmu.

Ole!, Ole! (Thief! Thief!).

This is what is going on in a house where people are supposed to be making laws and seeing to the welfare of the Nation.

Sometimes, I wonder….where are all the intelligent minds? Do we really have good products from our schools and Universities?

In Nigeria, politicians have no shame. They don’t quit in the face of scandal. They rough it through thick and thin. They must steal at all/any cost and get away with it.

In some other countries, politicians will commit suicide or resign when their shameful deeds become public knowlegde. Those who are prosecuted go to jail.

What would it take to bring a legitimate government to Nigeria?

What would it take to make a man or woman resign after stealing public funds?

What is the meaning of shame sef? 

With ridiculous shameless tropical gangsters in power…this is what we get-Madness in high places.

Adeola Aderounmu.

After more than 100 days in office, what does one expect from a typical Nigerian?

“Leave him alone; let’s give him time to see how well he will perform”.

“Give him a chance, it’s God that put him there”.“Who do you want, is it Atiku?

Is he not better than Atiku and Kalu put together”?

“Is he not even doing better than the Baba that put him there”?

“Ok, is he not better than Alamieyeseigha”?

Nice comments and questions! But 10 wrongs do not make a right!

All the names listed above and thousands more on our political landscape in Nigeria represent the names of thieves and rogues.

Alamieyeseigha was given a royal welcome in Bayelsa State. Indeed, Nigerians remain the greatest enemies of Nigeria.

The time that has passed since the last charade called elections has neither heal the deep wounds that were created nor bestow any form of legitimacy on the fake government.Indeed, we have seen more expositions of how idiots have taken a firm grip on the Nigerian nation, entrapping it in the process.

Setting up an electoral reform committee is not a recipe to acquiring legitimacy. Obasanjo should be in chains now explaining his role in the scandalous election of 2007. Iwu should also be fished out. They committed serious crimes against Nigeria.

Sweeping dirt under the carpet can make the house look clean but the house will stink at the same time. And for as long as the house stinks, the occupants will be sick. A stinking house can also cause deaths! This is the situation we are in in Nigeria. 

We pretend like it is alright, it is under control but it is not! We are talking about the existence of 140 million people, not a few privileged people.

It is not alright to renovate a new house with 6 million dollars.

It is not alright for a servant leader and self righteous chemistry teacher to accept the result of a shameful election.

It is not alright to have David Mark as the senate leader. His past does not merit that. He stole, big time!

It is not alright because your dad, mum, brother, sister or cousin is a beneficiary of this stupid government.

It is not alright that the EFCC allowed all these thieves to go on plea bargaining.

It is not alright for petty thieves to rot in jail without trials while big time-pot bellies, pen robbers- politicians walk around as free men and (now women too). 

It is not alright to allow Patricia Etteh to stay one day longer as the 4th most powerful person in Nigeria.  It is ridiculous. More salt to an existing injury!

It is not alright because majorities are suffering.

What is alright is to do things the right way. Conduct credible elections (like in Sierra Leone).Prosecute and jail thieves called politicians, (stop plea bargaining).

What is alright is for Nigerians to sit down and discuss about their lives, how they want it to be 10, 20, 50 and 100 years from now and the legacies that they want to bequeath to their generations unborn. These were some of the steps taken by powerful nations of today. The foundations were laid many years ago.

The time has come for Nigeria and Nigerians to make the first bold step and lay the foundation. The alternative is everlasting poverty and misery! Manna stopped falling over 2000 years ago! 

Nigeria, may your glory come!

Adeola Aderounmu.

The victories of the Golden Eaglets at China in 1985, Japan in 1993 and Korea in 2007 boils down to the determination of the boys wearing the National Colours. The same is true of the lads that won Gold at Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Left to track records of the NFA, these achievements are mere impossibilities. Without dissecting the NFA in to-to, I think keen observers of Nigerian Football are sick and tired of this scalar quantity organisation.

 

Does anyone know the true story behind the on-going dilemma of the NFA and her inability to get the ball rolling for this season in Nigeria?

 

What kinds of people run Nigerian football or even our sports generally?

 

Where are the plans for Nigerian football?

 

How informed are our appointed or selected sports football administrators regarding the round leather game, its organisation and all that?

 

Are they seeking the development of the game or just earning a living and ripping where possible?

 

Of course there are more than 21 questions. Where are the answers?

 

In the ongoing women world cup, the Super Falcons of Nigeria were not one of the favorites to survive the group that they found themselves in (the Swedes are still crying when they arrived back home). However, that should not have been an excuse for them to be treated as slaves by the NFA which was exactly what happened to them!

 

The words of Maureen Mmadu below…….

…The NFA is deliberately doing this to the Super Falcons so as to frustrate some of us who cannot cope with their antics. As far back as 1999 when we took part in the Third edition of the World Cup in USA, the same NFA paid us $2,000 for our victory against Denmark. A draw in that competition fetched us $1,000 and our daily camp allowance was $100. Now, the same NFA is offering us $75 as daily camp allowance, $500 for draw and $1,000 for a win. Is that not madness? Are we going forward or backward? (source: The Guardian sept 19 2007)

 

 

·         Yes Maureen, that was madness and only mad people display madness.

 

·         Generally Nigerian football is going backward.

 

 

Let no one be deceived by the victory of the Eaglets in Korea. 95% of these boys will be nowhere to be found 2 years from now IF we follow the pattern that we know since 1985. The Phillip Osondus, the Christopher Nwosus, the Fatai Ateres and a host of others melted away. Dimeji Lawal did not reach his potentials as we all expected. So, in no way do the victories we enjoy at these youth level translate into the glory that is needed at the big stage. The senior world cup is the true measurement of football glory.

 

 

As we celebrate and bask in the euphoria of the success of our Eaglets, let the truth be told, there is something all Nigerians are hiding away from concerning these boys and one question that hunt my conscience is this one:

 

How old are these boys really? Luis Figo played in the Scotland ‘89 under 17 team for Portugal and he is still playing football to this day. Can we point to any Nigerian in that tournament that is still active today?

 

In 1991, Del Piero played for Italy as a homeboy and Sebastian Veron played for Argentina. Del Piero remains a Juve great till this moment in 2007.

 

Kanu and Oruma are stars of Japan 1993 but what about the rest of the team that won gold?

 

As far as football is concerned, if we had found a way to do things the right way since 1960, there is nothing that stops Nigerian ranking joint first with Brazil (or any other country occupying that position at any point in time) on FIFA’s scale. The real and true talents to achieve this lofty goal abound. It seems that corruption is the only thing that is organized in this country. That may explain why we have not been able to get to the root of it at individual and government levels.

 

 

Back to Maureen Mmadu…..

…..What it means is that each time we are participating in a competition, we have to force the NFA by quarrelling and fighting over money before we can get our rightful entitlement. I am not ready for that trouble anymore. The NFA is claiming that they reached an agreement with the players before departing for the World Cup. What a nonsense? What kind of agreement is that? How long shall they continue to cry of no funds. As I said earlier, I am true with the national team”.

I am saying it loud and clear that the Super Falcons need a foreign technical adviser now. That is the only thing that can bring sanity to the team. With a foreign technical adviser in the Super Falcons, I can reconsider my stand and return to the team, but anything short of that, count me out.

” Look at the male teams for instant, the NFA cannot try this rubbish with Berti Vogts. They are paying us peanuts and our coach won’t say anything. The same NFA spent so much money on the U-17 team (Golden Eaglets), in the recent junior World Cup in Korea. They paid the players so much money. That was a junior World Cup. We are playing in the senior World Cup for God’s sake. The Falcons have won so many championships for Nigeria. Five African Cup of Nations, five appearance in the World Cup, two All Africa Games gold medals and two Olympics Games appearances. We even made it to the quarter final of the World Cup in 1999. We deserved so level of respect from the NFA”, she noted.

 

 

I am not an advocate of foreign coaches but things do work better under them especially for the Super Eagles even if the best was a Cup of Nations’ victory. Still, I do not go for that concept. Maureen, you have my sympathy just as I sympathize with anyone who is into sports and wearing the National colours.  Indeed, it is a great honour but Nigerian sportsmen and women have never received the respect that they deserved. Else, how can one girl be receiving daily allowance of $75 trying to bring honour to her fatherland in far away Asia while another girl is renovating a new house in Abuja with over $6 mn?

 

How come the NFA had to borrow money from private individuals in China to pay the Super Falcons? Why was James Peters, the money carrier, still trapped in Nigeria when the Falcons were suffering and struggling in China? The problem with the NFA is again traceable to the problems of Nigeria. How many things are we doing right in Nigeria? We could not even conduct credible elections in the 21st century. For how long shall we put round pegs in square holes? To me personally, it all still looks like a madhouse, a place where corruption and sycophancy thrives no matter what!

 

I think it is time to start putting things right in the NFA glass or stone house.  Let Nigeria get indigenous sports professionals to run our Ministry of Sports. Let us put the best people into this branch of our existence and provide the optimal conditions for their perfomances. Let us make a road map that will ensure that a Lagos boy will put on the jersey of Stationary Stores and an Ibadan boy that of 3SC.

 

May the glory of Nigeria come, soon!