Abdullahi: He came, saw, achieved but fell

Bolaji who hails from Kwara State was first appointed minister of Youth Development from where he was appointed supervisory minister of sports when Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman resigned from his post to pursue his gubernatorial ambition in Sokoto State.He was made substantive minister of sports and chairman of the National Sports Commission, NSC, on March 23, […]

Bolaji who hails from Kwara State was first appointed minister of Youth Development from where he was appointed supervisory minister of sports when Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman resigned from his post to pursue his gubernatorial ambition in Sokoto State.
He was made substantive minister of sports and chairman of the National Sports Commission, NSC, on March 23, 2013. Interestingly Abdullahi was sacked in March after spending 23 months in office.
Going by his achievements in office, it can be said that in recent history of Nigeria in sports, no minister of sports has achieved as much results as Abdullahi.
Although not a known figure in sports before his appointment, he brought a lot of enthusiasm, commitment and dynamism to bear on his assignment.
Consequently, he was able to deliver results which stood him out as a man on a mission to engender the much needed renaissance in Nigerian sports, especially football.
During Abdullahi’s tenure the Super Eagles won their third Africa Cup of Nations title in 2013 in South Africa. The cadet team, the Golden Eaglets conquered the World in UAE where they won their fourth title. For the first team, Home-based Eagles picked the ticket for CHAN 2013 and won the bronze medal at the event held in South Africa.
The Super Eagles, Falconets and Flamingoes have all qualified for FIFA World Championships coming up this year.
Furthermore After the disappointment of the London 2012 Olympics which was his first major assignment, Nigeria returned to put up a spectacular show in Paralympics clinching six gold, five silver and one bronze medals to emerge Africa’s best performing contingent.
Nigeria emerged third at the 2012 Senior African Wrestling Championship in Morocco and was the overall winner at the 2012 Senior Africa Weightlifting Championships in Kenya.
Another first under Abdullahi was D’Tigers qualification to represent Nigeria and Africa at the London 2012 Olympics.
The Nigerian cricket team also for the first time ever, made it to the highest cricket league in Africa – League Five.
The setting up of the League management Committee by the minister is also seen in some quarters as a move that has helped immensely in correcting some of the evils that have bedevilled the elite football league.
The former minister also introduced the National Youth Games which if sustained would help in discovering budding talents at the grassroot.
However, even as he would be remembered for some of these positive strides, the former sports minister by his actions courted so many controversies which undoubtedly dented some of his achievements.
It can be said that even as his intention was good, the manner in which he set up the League Management Company did not go down well with many football stakeholders. He was accused of indirectly plotting to arrogate to himself the right to administer football and other sports through the LMC even when he must have left office.
His administration also conducted elections into sports federations but not without controversies that almost marred the elections. Some handball stakeholders are still in court where they are challenging the emergence of Dauda Yusuf as the president of the handball federation.
It is also said there were also allegations of corruption levelled against principal officers of the sports commission after the 2012 Paralympics but he did not wield the big stick.
For those who are in sympathy with the sacked minister, his achievements far out-weighed his failures and so he should have been allowed to complete his tenure.
But going by reactions which have trailed his sack, it can be said there is political undertone in the fall Abdullahi. It is said he attempted to eat his cake and have it by remaining a ‘loyal servant’ to Senator Bukola Saraki, the former governor of Kwara State who has since dumped PDP for APC.
It is an open secret that Senator Bukola Saraki made Abdullahi the politician he is. Consequently, his fall from power was a just a matter of time because his loyalty to PDP came under intense scrutiny the moment his ‘godfather’ defected to APC.
Therefore on the basis of performance, Abdullahi did not deserve such ignominious sack but somewhere along the line, he had to pay the price for attempting to dine with the devil using a short spoon.