Nigeria

Before the sacking of Amodu…(again)

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

Is Amodu the problem with Nigerian Football? I don’t think so. Does he have roles to play in the development of our game? I think so. Has he done everything right? No.

There are thousands of question one could ask and there will be thousands of opinions for each questions. In Nigeria everyone of us is a potential coach and analyst.

If Amodu is sacked, history will probably repeat itself. In France 1998 and Japan/ Korea 2002 Nigeria suffered humiliation in the world cup championship. Coaches that didn’t qualify Nigeria for the championship were drafted in as the so called “world cup coaches” and Nigeria was humiliated in both tournaments.

In 2010 we are about to repeat the same mistake. Sometime I wonder if Nigeria learns! For some people it is business as usual. Let’s bring in a new coach and collect our share of the deal and contract!

Amodu is not the problem with Nigerian football. The administration of football in Nigeria is a joke! You find men in agbada running around with big stomachs and calling themselves sports administrators. These men are pure contractors and they have been blinded by what they stand to gain from the sport rather than what they can give to the game. In some instances, you will find people who cannot even spell football correctly. Some of these people have no real knowledge of the game.

And they blame the coach and players.

Indeed when you watch Nigerian games sometimes you can take a swipe at the players and coaches. Often it appears that they don’t know what is at stake. But believe me, they know. We should never forget that Nigerian footballers are big time pros. Who doesn’t want to win games or who does not want to play at the world cup? It is the dream of every footballer.

So what is wrong?

The thing is in Nigeria; almost everything is done wrongly at the national level. The system is bad. So it is not even a football affair. For all I care, let them change the coach, then they will discover that the problems might even get worse. Foreign coaches don’t understand the Nigerian mentality or factors and they have failed woefully. It took Westerhof quite some time to get used to the system, then he achieved some good results. His saving grace was continuity. After him, Nigerian football has lacked continuity. We want instant achievements; we are always in a hurry.

The administration of football in Nigeria just like every thing about our public life needs a new face and a new life. When those who know about football and those who are good administrators take over the running of Nigerian football, we will return to our glorious past and start to achieve better results again. This is the same thing with our political dilemma. When we learn to do things the right way, we will get back on track and save ourselves from the poverty that now dominates.

For the Super Eagles, they don’t need a new coach. While I am not professing to know it all or to have the magic formula, I will offer my own suggestions.

Since the world cup is around the corner, it will be foolishness to sack Amodu. Amodu should be allowed to go to the world cup. It is under him that we got the ticket. Ha has done so before and was rudely sacked. It should not happen again.

I think we should work on three areas for the world cup:

1. We should work on the technical aspect of the game, and this does not mean a new coach. There are ways to go about this. Amodu can learn a lot in 3-4 months. How this can be achieved is known to those who know about football. This is what the NFF should be thinking about. How can we, in the short time we have to the world cup, give Amodu the best Technical knowledge that he needs? Can we do this by bringing Siasia or Keshi to the national team? Nigeria must find a Nigerian answer to the technical problems in the team. A foreign coach will destroy what is left of Amodu’s Super Eagles. The outcome of finding a new coach may be negative as we saw in France 98 and Japan Korea 2002.

2. The second aspect is divided into two and it concerns the players. Their collective mentality and physical strengths should be worked on. The team has a psychologist as I will like to believe. He or she must work on the mental strengths of the players. How that is done is left to the professionals in that field. There is something wrong with the way Nigerian players perform on the field of play that is now right. That must be addressed. Sometimes it appears that they are concentrating on something else instead of the game. This is just my opinion. AND I sincerely believe the team needs a physical trainer to work on their perseverance, endurance and strength.

3. The team does not have a maestro or libero. In the 80s we had late Muda Lawal in the midfield. In the 90s we had Keshi and then Oliseh followed by Okocha. These men controlled the game and dictated the pace of play for the Nigerian teams. What these men do or don’t do really mattered for the Nigerian team. After Okocha, we have had no new commander for the team. There is no one in the Nigerian team who can hold the ball as needed and distribute “sharp” passes with precision.

Yobo is the captain but playing in the defence does not really give you the possibility to dictate the pace of play. Kanu is definitely not the one as age has caught up with him. Uche and Mikel Obi have not been able to play that role. I am convinced that there must be a Nigerian player either in the local league or abroad who can do this job. We must find him!!!

This is where I have my criticism for the coach. As a coach you must find a libero or commander for the team. It doesn’t have to be the captain. You need someone who the game revolves around. It is an essential element of football. I watched Nigerian games and I see a sailing boat without a steering captain. I see an auto-pilot plane. It doesn’t work when your opponent is well equipped.

I know that my views are not perfect but I am very uncomfortable to read or hear about Nigeria looking for a new coach. That is definitely fattening of some people’s pockets and the beginning of new problems.

The issue of the ages of our footballers and how this affects the quality of their outputs is another matter entirely-beyond the scope of this discussion.

Good luck Nigeria..!

A New Tribute To The Good Nigerian Woman

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

I have been through another round of paternal leave. This means I’d taken some time away from work to take care of my children. It came on the heels of my wife having spent 8½ months at home with our children. In what can be described as the transformation of roles I have looked after my children by providing material, emotional and social supports for them while my wife went to work Mondays to Fridays during that period of time.

This is not my first parental leave. However my reflections were more intense on this occasion. I grew up in a normal Nigerian family with brothers and sisters. What I knew about my childhood is probably typical of majority of Nigeria homes. Our mothers have the obligations to see to the running of the homes while our fathers worked all the time.

In some circumstances the women are not only running the homes but also providing the daily bread. In a way it appears to be an integral part of our culture to place the burden of domestic chores and child-raising on the women. But my experiences as the house-man for a combined period of over 12 months with the dual responsibilities of taking care of my children and the home generally have led me to the conviction that this aspect of our culture in Nigeria needs to be modified or changed.

However without the intervention of the government or some very strong recommendations from the Ministry of Women Affairs it may be technically and bureaucratically impossible to implement policy changes in both private and public institutions that will lead to creating a greater degree of flexibility for parents with respect to the fostering of their children.

It appears that the issue will become a hot debate which will face serious opposition and even condemnation because we run an undesirable system where we think that women are inferior to men. In Nigeria I would imagine that advocating for equal rights and opportunities for women with respect to family values may be asking too much. But it shouldn’t be.

We should provide extended maternal leave to mothers of new babies irrespective of where they work or the nature of their work. In addition we need to do a study or survey of how parental leave works for both parents in countries that have successfully implemented such programmes. I know that the UK is now paying more attention to this program. The backbones are functional public institutions, well-thought out government policies and well grounded elementary educational systems.

I don’t think that it will amount to adopting an alien culture if fathers are made to undergo the same experience as mothers in terms of nurturing their children in the early formative years or throughout infanthood. After nine months of pregnancy, labour and subsequent delivery the women need both moral and emotional supports and giving them extensive maternal leave and social supports should be the least of efforts that the society can contribute.

I think that one of the probable reasons why Nigeria’s population continue to explode despite the harsh economic reality and the unfavourable political climate is because the Nigerian man is not always physically at home to see to the running of the house.

When he is at home, he prioritises watching TV, reading old newspapers or entertaining friends as he keeps calling on mama junior to do this or do that. Men need to understand the pain and plights of the women and they must come to realise that there is more to being fathers than being sperm donors or money-droppers.

The importance of the family as the unit of the society cannot be overemphasized. The bond within the family and the values taught within it are essential elements of the immediate environment and the nation as a whole. There are strong indications today that the communication gaps within the family are widening and may have contributed in no small measure to the socio-economic problems that we have in Nigeria.

Some fathers do not know their children and many children do not know their fathers. Sexual recklessness is even on the rise leading to having children with non-definable parentage. Rarely, it is the mother that is missing in action. Once these gaps are created in the formative years it is usually difficult and sometimes impossible to bridge. The holes may deepen and persist for life.

Divorce or living separately is not even supposed to be a license to reckless parenthood. Many separated parents continue to nurture and supports their children as they would have done if they’d live under the same roof.

My experience gave me an opportunity to reflect daily. Usually I thought not just about my mother but the African woman as a symbol of strength, courage and determination. I asked myself several questions. How did these women cope with six or more children? Did they ever complain about tiredness to their husbands or the fathers of their children?

Was there always someone they could share their pains and frustrations with? What did they do when there was no one to complain to? How did they handle all the stress and situations around them? What did they do when they felt like sleeping and the children kept crying for attention and comfort? In short I asked myself, how did they cope with all of these problems? How are they coping now? In millions of homes the African woman continues to fulfil her obligations as the housekeeper, in sickness and in health!

I pay tributes to the African woman. I pay tribute to the good Nigerian woman. I can’t stop thinking about single parents too. I wonder how much repatriation can bring comfort to them for their roles, their resilience, their courage, their forbearance and their sacrifices as they struggled to keep their homes and work together.

Nigeria more than ever before must start to promote the rights of women and gender equality. With gender equality and recognition for the rights of women and children, it will be easier to control birth rate. Nigeria’s economy is suffering from persistent austerity measures and unemployment remains very high yet birth rate is not on the decline. This is an abnormal trend as Biological laws dictate otherwise.

It is particularly annoying and irritating to read or hear about women giving up homely lives because of their careers and vice versa. There is a need to create flexibility to allow for a reasonable integration of work and home as a source of both fulfilment and happiness. Nigeria must create or review the situations regarding nursing mothers in terms of social welfare packages.

We don’t have to wait for a perfect political climate before we start to live and enjoy our lives. There is nothing wrong with initiating programs that will bring succour to the citizens of Nigeria even if the political class is populated by unrepentant liars and corrupt people. It is another aspect of our collective responsibilities to rescue ourselves from such anomalies.

By carefully studying the processes of parental leave in countries where successes have being achieved Nigeria can start a corrupt-free national insurance program that will cater for nursing mothers of all ages and categories. That should be the starting point.

In the foreseeable future the integration of fathers into the policy will be very useful in rebuilding the family and ensuring that our women are not overburden or abused. Finally, the government must re-energise and re-engineer the family planning policy while emphasising the need for it. The benefits of family planning compliance by all and sundry cannot be over-emphasised.

May the Glory of Nigeria come, soon..!

African Cup of Nation: Old Rivalries Rekindled

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

Ghana vs. Nigeria and Algeria vs. Egypt. These are classical games. On paper, Egypt and Ghana should be heading to the finals. This is because Egypt has won all the matches played so far. They are also out to prove a point that losing to Algeria in Sudan was an unfair result for them. The Algerians have emerged from being humbled by the Malawians to a great force after seeing to the exit of highly rated Ivory Coast.

Ghana has not been spectacular but they have shown more enthusiasm than their Nigeria counterparts. Nigeria struggled to beat Zambia and only after the penalty shoot out did Nigeria manage to scale through to the semi-final.

I hope that security are in place to prevent the ugly scenes from Sudan, Egypt and Algeria that we had 2 months ago during the world cup qualifiers that Algeria finally won by a lone goal in Khartoum. It will be shameful it the North Africans come to Angola to show their violent tendencies. We have had enough of that and please let us see some beautiful football and live in peace.

One also hopes to find a good centre referee. Officiating has been disastrous in this tournament. Ivory Coast got an equaliser against Algeria but it was wrongly ruled as offside by a careless linesman. The demoralising of Cameroun was completed by another catastrophic officiating that ruled for a goal when the ball didn’t even touch the line.

If FIFA has been reasonable to introduce TECHNOLOGY into this game, it would have taken less than 1 minute to verify these “2 disasters” among several others. Until then, cheating and useless decisions will continue to take the beauty of the game away.

May the better team win on Thursday and may we get a beautiful final.

Murder in Ogun State: The Killing of Dipo Dina

/ Adeola / 4 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

A prominent son of Ogun State has been assasinated. Mr. Dipo Dina was a vibrant opposition figure and the Ogun State gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress in the April 2007 election. He was assassinated near Covenant University in Otta, Ogun State on Jan 26 2010.

My parents are from Ogun State. I have been there maybe 4 or 5 times my whole life. Ogun State is home to Obasanjo, MKO Abiola, Awolowo and several prominent Nigerians including Ernest Shonekan.

Ogun State will continue to occupy a central place in the Nigerian Political Sphere. But that we have killed one of our brightest minds is a big shame to us. We have allowed politics to ruin our sense of value and belonging.

The killers of Dipo Dina should bend their heads in shame. They are no better than wild animals in their show of stupidity, madness and extreme barbarism.

This is one murder too many.

There are people who are already concluding that the Ogun State Government headed by the governor Mr. Daniels should be held responsible for this killing. Such allegations may be careless or reckless.

But what are we going to get in a country where assassinations and murders of ordinary and prominent people have never been solved before? With the wicked and evil minds in control of governance, we may be asking for too much if we ask for the perpetrators to be apprehended and prosecuted. Still it is a necessary call!

The police may be out already calling this an armed robbery attack! This is what they always say. This is shameful and scandalous. We want better results from the police and security agencies.

Anambra Elections is coming soon in February, I hope that the people will allow peace to reign and that the electoral committee will count only the votes casted at polling booths.

In 2011, and before, we hope that the nest of killers would have been dismantled and brough to Justice.

The killing of Dipo is despicable, highly unacceptable and should never have happened. It is sad and the scar will remain with Ogun State and Nigeria forver.

May his sould rest in perfect peace and May the family find the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Wasting Nigeria’s Money, Wasting Our Time and Lives

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

In the last 60 days The Presidency in Nigeria may have spent nothing less than N30 Billion in lobbies only. This is to prevent the debate on Yar Adua’s health in the National Assembly. I continue to insist that Nigeria is governed by mad people!! It can only be madness to do this type of thing. Whoever is approving the money and whoever is accepting are also part of the madness in Nigeria’s government.

Last year one man spent over N2 billion naira oscillating the universe because they call him the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Add these sums to the billions of naira that are stolen daily across Nigeria and you may arrive at the reasons why Nigeria is populated by poor people living on less than a dollar a day. You will arrive at the point where you will understand why the quality of lives in Nigeria is depictive of a failed state despite the oil wealth of the nation and the vast unutilised agricultural and natural resources.

I will consider as a HUGE JOKE the idea that Mr. Yar Adua will be brought back to Nigeria on a stretcher and made to rule from a life support machine. It will be the BIGGEST joke in the history of man to have an invalid at the helm of affairs of a nation of 150m strong, capable, determined and indefatigable people. Nigeria will not only continue to be a laughing stock, we will by that time be erased from world map if that ever happens!

How much more money and how much more time do we have to spend on this wasteful family holding 150m of us to ransom? So they want to build a life support machine in Aso rock? Let them also go ahead and build a life-prolonging machine as well. Life support will not be enough!

I salute Nigerians who have began to take to the streets to make their voices and frustrations known. I salute the Wole Soyinkas, the Chinua Achebes and the Femi Falanas of this world. I salute the Nigerian worker, I salute the Nigerian woman and children. I salute all the brave people who are now talking and acting for the rest of us.

The revolution is starting slowly and that is exactly how it should be. I salute all the Nigerians abroad especially those who have defiled the cold weathers to join the long march to freedom. All of these actions will converge in the days ahead to get the evil and wicked people out of our government. They will be gone soon.

We must ensure that we keep up the tempo, the pressure and never to neglect ourselves in these trying times. I salute Nigerians for what they have done so far and I know that with such actions, will and determination, the journey on the long road to our liberation, to our freedom and to our real independence have just started.

Together we will get there and freedom and peace will come to our children and children’s children. I still believe in Nigeria..!