'Precedent' Francis Obikwelu
As I Was Saying/Sonala Olumhense
When I saw Francis Obikwelu, a former compatriot, run the semi-finals of the Olympics 100 metre event in Athens last week, I knew he was capable of winning the gold medal. He looked ready and confident.
There are many kinds of confidence. Most athletes have confidence, but the most successful ones, at the highest level, have a quality that is somewhere between confidence and arrogance: a swagger.
A swagger is the product of sustained nurturing of talent. It comes from preparation and rehearsal. Unlike arrogance, a swagger develops; it cannot be put on, and it cannot be transferred. A swagger is the frame of mind when self-doubt does not exist. A swagger is when you know that this moment is yours. As we all know by now, Mr. Obikwelu came one wink close to taking home the gold.
Home, however, is no longer Nigeria; it is Portugal. "I am a Portuguese," he proudly told Nigerian journalists who saw him as the closest they would come to a medal of any colour at the 28th Olympiad.
Some Nigerians are disappointed that in his moment of glory, Mr. Obikwelu refused to acknowledge Nigeria. I think that is unfair to the athlete. He is a Portuguese citizen, and it was Portugal, not Nigeria, which made him a man. Mr. Obikwelu was right, in a moment that justified his decision to switch nationalities, to have insisted on recognition for his new nation.
Exactly 20 years ago, when the government of Muhammadu Buhari launched the War Against Indiscipline and was trying to persuade Nigerians to take more pride in Nigeria, they invented a guy called Andrew. In his first television spot, Andrew was shown complaining bitterly about the failures of Nigeria: no water, no electricity, no jobs...
"So I am checking out," Andrew concluded in a Yankee accent.
The point of the campaign, which I joined, was to persuade Nigerians to be patriotic about their country, and not drift overseas. Although we did everything to stimulate Andrew's patience, all we have done, for 20 years, is to test it. There is still no water. No electricity. Public life is still driven by thieves, not by selfless and patriotic men who respect the intellectual or the athlete. Had Mr. Obikwelu the letters NGR after his name in Athens, it is unlikely he would have brought home even firewood.
Four years ago, when the Olympics were held in Australia, Nigeria had a terrible time, or so we thought. We responded to our poor performance - as we will do in the next one month - by talking about the need for early preparations and helping our athletes to grow, and to concentrate on training and development. We did not do it, and the result is the Athens-sized shame that our team brings home tomorrow.
The road to the future remains the same: sports must be pried away from the hands of bureaucrats whose careers are not judged on the basis of results, and planning must be long-term. Funds must come out of ready accounts, not from pockets. Facilities must be built and maintained as routine, not as a favour to sportsmen. In one sentence, we must define and manage our sports policy for success. If we continue to do the same things, we will continue to obtain the same sad results.
There is the danger that, following Precedent Obikwelu, our athletes may now increasingly begin to seek environments where their talents can be nourished in the few years they hope to a chance at greatness. If you think that could emerge as our worst problem, wait until 'Foreign Nigerians' routinely begin to defeat local Nigerians in international competition. Even football has not dreamed that up yet.
IN THE US, AFRICAN JOURNALISTS UNITE
I was in Washington DC earlier this month to participate in the inauguration of the National Association of African Journalists (NAAJ), the brainchild of Eyobong Ita, who began his career at Vanguard. He currently works for the Kansas City Star in Missouri, and is a potent testimony that one sufficiently committed person can achieve the impossible.
Concerned that most journalists from Africa are often unable to continue their careers in the United States, Mr. Ita decided to do something about it. For months, he dug journalists out of an assortment of creeks and mudholes and trenches. He made phone calls, sent e-mails, and then found more names. So rewarded were Mr. Ita's efforts that on the morning of the inauguration, he had to find a hall bigger than the one he had booked. That was after he had spent the night cooking for the event.
In my estimation, Mr. Ita must have tracked hundreds of African journalists (where are you, Patience Akpan) about the event. Over 60 people showed up, and Mr. Ita's coup was complete. I am proud to be a member of the association; competently managed, it has a good chance of being a key African association in the United States.
RE: 'THE GAMESMASTER'
Dare Lasisi ([email protected]): I really enjoyed your piece on IBB (The Guardian, Aug. 22). It is so sick that some Nigerians are still clamouring for his devilish comeback.
Walter Onyebuchi ([email protected]): IBB might have been a coward but the biggest of them all are you and some of your colleagues who shamelessly refer to this individual as our former President. Why on earth do you deliberately wallow in such accolades to a man who learned to read and write in the military academy; a man who spent all his time cramming dictionary jargons only to spit them out to make himself sound educated and relevant Why would any discerning mind refer to this person as our former President; a man whom, if it weren't for the power of the gun, would have been chasing cattle in the jungles of Minna IBB is a self promoter who was never elected by the people he claimed to have gorverned. Why is it so difficult for Sonala Olumhense and his contemporaries to wise up and call this local champion what he really was: a dictator
Tolu Bamisebi ([email protected]): I am glad someone has spoken aloud my very bitter thoughts. Whatever your creed, I pray you live very long to lead some very depressed souls to some inner bliss by speaking out loud for us. IBB only wants to come back to ensure that he further enslaves the following ten generations of the initial ones he put in absolute bondage. Let us keep on educating the almost dead souls whose salvation is in their hands.
'Dapo Osewa ([email protected]): There can be only one bottomline: This country is finished...I just do not understand how IBB would not become the president in 2007, barring some divine act of his death, because as you identified, he is the Gamesmaster. He is also a grandmaster- like a chess grandmaster who is waiting with the last move. As for who votes who and who wins what, I suppose you understand how it works here: successful and wealthy fools, bloody lies, television glamour, radio din. Crazy spending, rainy morning, sleeping people: huge and fabulous wins.
Festus Olu Bewaji ([email protected]): I do not wish to believe you could claim to be a political scientist. Not with your below-standard-evaluation of our inalienable right to choose, and follow, a leader for our nation. You should accept the fact that there was actually no one mistake made by IBB in 1993. Those who actually made the unpardonable mistake of confronting God's army are no-more. They are now missing the privilege of participating in the race towards 2007. And if even you are now ganging up with the uninitiated, who infer that the June-12 election results ought not have been annulled, you are the one still making a mistake.
Kindly take note of these vindicated answers: June-12 All elections, worldwide, are ritualistic. Nigeria's cannot be an exception. Gulf Oil Windfall Ghana, Sao Tome (and Pincipe) were most recently assisted with a jumbo loan facility (by IBB) Did you even read the so-called Okigbo Report and compare the comments to what had been happening in Nigeria since November 1993 Dele Giwa The authors of 'BORN TO RUN' said everything that required to be said. However, when I become Minister of Police Affairs in July 2007, I intend to really please your curiosity on this particular issue.
* E-mail: [email protected]
