The gains and pains of Nigeria 2009

On the eve of the final match on November 15 in Abuja, FIFA President, Joseph Sepp Blatter said the championship had surpassed the expectations of FIFA. According to statistics from the world football governing body, Nigeria 2009, before the final match, which had over 60,000 spectators in attendance, the average match figures across the eight […]

On the eve of the final match on November 15 in Abuja, FIFA President, Joseph Sepp Blatter said the championship had surpassed the expectations of FIFA. According to statistics from the world football governing body, Nigeria 2009, before the final match, which had over 60,000 spectators in attendance, the average match figures across the eight centres was 13,576, compared to Korea 2007, which had 8,347 and Finland 2003 that recorded an attendance figure of 5,738.

Nigeria 2009’s figure was only surpassed by the inaugural edition of the competition in China in 1985, which recorded an average of 38,469, Egypt 1997 with average figure of 19,781 and Peru 2005 that had 17,244.

Coming to goals scored, Nigeria 2009 recorded a total of 150 completed strikes, as against Peru’s 111, Finland 2003’s 117 and Trinidad 2001 with 102. Only the Korea 2007 edition had more goals with 165 completed strikes.

However, those who followed the championship from the preparatory stage to the actual competition will agree that FIFA’s statistics can not be faulted but it can not be said it was a smooth sail all through. Apart from the pleasure of watching the greater tomorrows’ exhibition of wonderful football artistry, the organization of the cadet tournament left much to be desired. Nigerians were as usual exposed to so much pain as the organizers struggled to successfully stage a youth championship.

Agreed there were lapses in full measure, but that is not to say it was tales of woes through out. No matter the short comings, the players gave a good account of themselves. For the days the tournament lasted, football fans were entertained to beautiful football.

In addition, our poor maintenance culture not withstanding, Nigerian youths will still benefit from the renovated facilities at least for some time. Furthermore, within the duration of the championship, global attention was on the country. Tourism in the country also got a big boost just as there were decent and ‘indecent’ businesses for many.

Although nobody expected flawless organization from those entrusted with its organisation, when the championship commenced elementary challenges almost made nonsense of the tournament. The pain felt by those who had one thing or the other to do with the event was better felt than imagined. From accreditation of volunteers and other officials to mobilization of fans, organizers displayed gross ineptitude. It was a shame that most of the matches were poorly attended such that the host state governments were compelled to bribe spectators with free tickets for the stadiums to be filled up. The cases of Abuja and Kaduna centres are good examples.

At Kaduna centre, it almost back fired as the organizers could not manage the crowd. Distribution of free tickets, an unprecedented act as far as FIFA organized competitions is concerned certainly embarrassed the world football organizing body. It was tax payers money that was used in purchasing tickets that were meant to woo fans to the stadia. It was a pain that hit many discerning minds who know the implications of expending tax payers’ money in such a manner.

There was pain for those wanted to watch hitch free matches following the billions of naira that were expended on renovation of stadia facilities. Against the background of earth shaking praises which FIFA Vice-President and Chairman of the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Mr. Jack Warner had heaped on the recently renovated stadia, nobody expected the kind of embarrassing moments witnessed at some of the centres as a result of heavy downpour which rendered some of the pitches unfit for playing.

In Enugu, the match between Burkina Faso and New Zealand was concluded one hour after it was abandoned due to the deplorable state of the playing turf, a direct consequence of the heavy down pour. Calabar centre too had its own share of the shame when the match between Costa Rica and Turkey was shifted to the next day because the rains refused to stop thereby making the pitch waterlogged.

There was greater pain when Abuja National Stadium which prides itself as being among the best in the world fell victim of a heavy downpour which made nonsense of the opening match between Argentina and Honduras. It got worse when Nigeria took on Germany in the second match of the night. In all, the embarrassment steams from the fact that despite billions that were sunk into the stadia, they still lack basic requirements of modern stadiums. The floodlight failure witnessed at the Kano centre added to the pain.

Furthermore, after so much cacophony over broadcast rights and the rest, it was expatriates who manned the cameras that were used in beaming the matches of the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup to the rest of the world. The question remains, what happened to the indigenous staff of AIT and NTA?. If they were not given basic training on how to handle the cameras, it will be hard to say how they as staff of the respective organizations benefitted from the championship.

All said, the most excruciating pain being faced by Nigerians is the pain of sordid revelations concerning corrupt practices associated with the Nigeria 2009 LOC. Even as the championship was on, allegations of corruption and other unwholesome practices were leveled against members of the LOC. This led to petitions which are currently receiving the attention of anti-graft agencies.  

It is therefore not so much of a surprise to many Nigerians that few days after the championship which ended on a low for the country, the sordid financial transactions of the Nigeria 2009 LOC have dominated all the headlines.

At the moment, a fire emanating from the presidency is burning seriously and threatening to consume those who allegedly soiled their hands with the N13b naira which the federal government grudgingly released to the body. Members of the SSS are seriously sniffing around in search of proof to nail members of the cabal that audaciously converted funds meant for the championship into personal use.

It is too early to forget that even in the beginning, the government of President Umaru Yar’adua did not have any iota of confidence in the LOC whose secretariat was in the firm control of Mainasara Illo, a disciple of former Director General of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Amos Adamu.  It was for this reason that the federal government scorned the whopping N39b request by the LOC. The first clear indication that the LOC members were up to mischief emerged when the body  hurriedly accepted to organize the championship with the sum of N8b which government first approved. The amount later swelled to the N13b which is currently in the news.

Considering  the fact that Nigeria is not good at marketing such international championships, it was hard to explain where the organizers were going to make up for the remaining N31b if the cadet championship was actually meant to gulp the N39b initially submitted by the LOC to the government.

Already, Security agencies led by the State Security Service have begun investigation into the matter and there appears to be no end to the sordid revelations. As it is normal with such unpalatable developments, there is serious portioning of blame.

Meanwhile, accusing fingers have continued to point at the National Sports Commission under Engineer Sani Ndanusa and Illo for relegating to the background, the board of the LOC in the disbursement of funds.

Reports had it that while the NSC directly disbursed funds to the LOC through Illo, the Committee Chairmen with their sub-seats counterparts were left in the dark. It is said the head of LOC secretariat, Illo never attended any of the meetings called by the board of the LOC to thrash out issues relating to the N13b released by government for the championship.

This obviously informed the decision of the LOC board which comprises of the Committee Chairmen and Chairmen of the eight Sub-seats to publicly disassociate itself from the corruption allegations. It will be recalled that few hours after Jonathan’s declaration of government intention to probe activities of the championship organizers, the board in a press statement said its members can only account for N900m being the money that was released to them by the LOC out of N13b.

This question on discerning minds is where did the balance of N12.1 b go? The implication of the unfolding drama is that only a paltry sum of N900m was actually expended on the championship. Surely, the minister of sports and members of the LOC particularly Illo who is said to be at the centre of the on going investigation will always present a different picture but for now, that is the situation.

This is not good for the image of the country and it is for this reason that sports enthusiasts and football stakeholders have urged the government to thoroughly investigate and brought to book those who have soiled their hands with the tax payers’ money which was meant to be used in organizing the cadet championship.

Already the minister of sports, Engineer Sani Ndanusa, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Nigeria 2009 LOC, Illo and most of the sub-seat chairmen have been quizzed by SSS. Nigerians are therefore of the view that this should not be another cosmetic probe. For if not properly handled, Nigeria is at the risk of missing future opportunities to host international competitions.