Killing the Unborn Child
By
Ezugwu Benson Whyte
ezugwu2008@yahoo.com
ʽIn grip of political psychosis,
reason and common sense give way to instinct, passion and base
emotion'', ---Karl Marx
As at the time of writing this piece,
the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) were still
meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, its corporate headquarters,
deliberating on the surprise withdrawal of Nigeria from hosting the
2009 world U-17 football championship.
The terrible news of the country's
withdrawal hit the sports community like a thunder storm. As usual it
all started as rumour mill until the media confirmed the obvious.
Media reports said that the president had frowned at the budgeted
amount to be expended by the country in hosting the event. We are told
that the country required about N37 billion to successfully host the
world at the cadet level of the FIFA organized championship.
It would be recalled that the country
hosted FIFA organized championship for the first time in 1999 at the
U-20 level. That was during the dying days of the last military junta,
General Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd). The success of that event in
Nigeria motivated the country to bid for the hosting of the
Commonwealth games and the 2010 world cup, all of which later ended
unsuccessfully.
My worries are not that the acclaimed
giant of Africa has pulled out of the hosting right which, in the
first place it won on a platter of gold owing to the brilliant
performance of our cadet teams in the tournament in recent times.
Rather, I am worried for the reasons given by the presidency. Media
reports quoted the president as having asked of what Nigeria stands to
gain for hosting the tournament with such a huge amount.
The president might be right by asking
such question, but is it his constitutional responsibility to allocate
funds for such event? I think it is the responsibility of the National
Assembly to approve such funds if they find it to be in the interest
of the electorate. And since the Legislators represent the people
whatever they say is generally assumed to be the choice of the
people. We are aware that many state governments have pumped in money
for the rehabilitation of the venues to be used in their respective
states. States such as Enugu, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, Kaduna,
Kano and others have injected funds to rehabilitate the stadiums in
their respective states so that they can meet the FIFA requirements
as venues for some of the matches of the tournament.
It is difficult to say if the president
actually consulted with these state governors before taking a position
on the matter. If actually the entire government machinery have found
the hosting as a burden to the country, there must be a consensus
among the affected state governors and the president, more especially
when the governors are seen to be representing the people of the
states. The issue would have been a tripartite system where both the
national assembly, the affected state governments and the presidency
put heads together and take a holistic decision based on the needs of
the populace. What of the minister for Sports or Chairman of the
National Sports Commission, which input did he make in convincing the
presidency on the desirability of Nigeria hosting the tournament?
And this brings us to the issue of
putting square pegs in square holes. Since 1999, till date the
ministry for sports have been occupied by people who ordinarily have
nothing to do with sports. If the current minister for sports
Abdulrahaman Gimba is versatile in sports administration he would have
been able to convince the president on the importance and benefits of
hosting such very important event.
It is very ridiculous for Yar'Adua to
ask the economic value of hosting such tournament by a country
adjudged as the giant of Africa. And even more ridiculous for him to
have given finance as an excuse for not hosting the tournament. This
is a country that is ranked as the sixth largest oil producing country
in the world. This is a country that, the world over, is regarded as
one of the most corrupt nations in the world. This is a country that
her citizens own the best houses in London, America and other cities
in Europe and Asia. This is a country where a head of state once
boasted that money was not the problem but how to spend it. This is a
country where government office is regarded as a gold digging venture
where one can convert billions of naira meant for the development of
the local governments and still pose as a senator and nothing happens.
Yet it can not spend a paltry N37 billion to make its citizens happy.
What a country!
Now, what has the government that is
claiming to be thrifty done to the electorate since it was sworn-in on
May 29th 2007. In less than one year from now, the present
government will begin campaign for a second tenure inspite of the fact
that nothing visible has been achieved by the administration since its
inception. Across the states of the federation, federal roads are in a
state of disrepair, no electricity, no portable water, no employment;
virtually everything are at a standstill. Yet sports which is the
only instrument that glues our fragile nation together is regarded as
luxury. Something must be wrong somewhere.
I agreed, as a friend posited in this
regard, that the president can not be everywhere or know everything at
the same time, but then since he takes the responsibility for failure
of his administration, Yar'Adua should consult marabouts if need be
before selecting ministers during his cabinet shakeup soon. People
should be appointed on the basis of merit and not necessarily on party
inclinations. Technocrats should be appointed rather than politicians
if we are to move forward. For a lame lawyer who never participated in
sports, either in school or outside to man such people oriented
ministry such as sports is an aberration.
From all indications the man incharge of
ministry for sports has failed woefully. He has demonstrated his
incompetence for the job for which he was appointed and should not be
left in that office any longer. It is also a pity that a president of
the most populous black nation on earth does not comprehend the
importance of sports in the economic and social life of a nation.
Like as I have said here time without
numbers, the truth remains that the president has continued to prove
some of us right that he had no prior personal agenda of governing
this great country. If youth empowerment was part of his 7-point
agenda then he should have known that this can't be achieved without
sports. And so the failure of his government to host the world U-17
football championship, amounts to nothing but aborting the unborn
child.
Ezugwu Benson Whyte is an Abuja based
current affairs analyst,
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