with

Ben C. Abraham.

SUPER FALCONS’ KERNEL

The super falcons of Nigeria, the senior female football team had their palm kernel cracked by the benevolent spirits. And I am not using this quote from the immortal novelist Chinua Achebe in advising the ladies against pride, No. Rather I use it to compare the reception and largesse that they received upon arrival from Morocco with what their predecessors got. Dubbed Mission X, the super falcons’ target in participating in the 2024 women’s African cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco was to win the trophy for the 10th time especially after losing out in the last 6 years. A tall ambition you would say, and in great fashion they did so; trouncing the Zambians, edging out the South African team and routing the host Nation in a comeback performance that perfectly fits a grand finale to reclaim the cup they last won in 2018. And then enter the ‘benevolent’ spirits or gods if you may – the Federal Government led by the chief god, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In a demonstration that looks less of indebtedness and more of image making for a lackluster regime, President Tinubu doled out the cash to the girls – he knows the power of sports in keeping Nigeria calm even for a while and he leveraged on it. To rub it in, he announced the donation in dollars and asked that the naira equivalent be given to them. They also got houses and the National honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). Mission X or 10 meant that someone had done for 9 times what they prepared to achieve. While they deservedly should celebrate their victory and enjoy the largesse, many of their predecessors felt shortchanged in not being celebrated in similar fashion. Well the difference this time lies in a regime looking for legitimacy and finding an opportunity to bask in glory – any glory at all. Sadly, we have political leaders who play more to the gallery than get down to real governance as Tinubu’s gesture has been replicated in many States where the falcons come from – Imo, Akwa ibom, Abia, Ondo and Lagos; not forgetting Adamawa State, the home State of the Coach. While nobody should begrudge the girls, one wonders the priority-quotient of this Government. In the midst of debilitating poverty and south looking statistics on every front, doling out humongous cash to celebrate sports victory is top on the list.

STILL ON SUPER FALCONS AND D’TIGRESSES

Following closely on the heels and somewhat cashing into the National euphoria that the Super falcons had generated, Nigeria senior women’s basketball team D’tigresses emerged champions of Africa in the FIBA Afrobasket tournament held in Abidjan. Defeating Cameroon, Senegal and Mali to retain the title for the fifth time in a row and the 7th time overall, the team showed class and resilience with a female coach that was adjudged the best coach of the 2024 Olympics women’s basketball teams. They too arrived Nigeria to the same largesse as the falcons had received. In fact, some of the basketballers had joked on their social media handles that they dreamt of $100,000 et al. Well their dreams materialized. Beyond that, I took time to read the stories of the super falcons and D’tigresses stars. One thing stood out which is that they all ply their trade abroad with the exception of few members of the super falcons who play in Nigeria. As for the basketballers they are more foreign than Nigeria. In all the stories, I didn’t see any of them that went through a Government-owned or sponsored sports academy or one in a partnership with the Government. They were ready made. And this brings us to the issue of sports development in Nigeria. How many of the Governors who doled out millions to celebrate the girls have a clear-cut policy on sports in their states? How many of them have reached out to the wealthy people from their states to sponsor championships in different sports? For instance, when you mention table tennis, you remember Molade Okoya Thomas or the now-rested Coscharis championships. Nigeria used to be African leaders in the sprints even to the point of raising and exporting talents, but today we have lost our best to Portugal, Bahrain and recently Turkey. And nobody is thinking; we all wait for a made-in-Europe or America team to bring us accolades and some people as usual use the opportunity to cash out. When I look at the teeming population of our youths roaming the streets I weep. What I see is young men and women who can conquer, not just football and basketball, but volleyball, netball, handball, hockey and tennis. Who says we cannot conquer the not-so-traditional cricket and rugby? Time was when Nigeria dominated in handball – in my secondary school days; and dominated also in field hockey which I played to the level of making my school senior team. Today, it is a sad story even when we see how much sports brings to the table in international diplomacy and economy in form of remittances. Let’s rise to save Nigeria before an implosion occurs.

……AND ONE OTHER THING:

STRIKES AND PROTESTS;

Talking about the priorities of this Government and preventing an implosion, they could do with some sense. In the past 2 weeks three key groups have organized protests and/or strike. They had a common grievance which is their entitlements. First came the retired police officers who stormed the Force Headquarters in their numbers from different States of the Federation and protested against their scrappy retirement conditions. The protests also held in many States. It became a trending topic when Nigerians learnt that their gratuity was about N3.5m after working for 35 years. In addition, they got between N14,000 and N22,000 per month as pension depending on the cadre. The protesters were joined by another group led by the convener of Revolution Now, Omoyele Sowore who admonished the serving policemen to see the protesters as forerunners – people who were fighting for them because sooner than later the serving ones would join the retirees group and experience what they were protesting about. The police protest was followed by a national warning strike called by the National body of Nurses, the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM). The strike disrupted services in many Government and public hospitals. Being the first strike in so many years, the nurses had one key demand – better welfare package cum improved working conditions. Generally, nurses are seen as gentle as a dove. While they may be gentle and indeed kind, they nonetheless are human with needs, therefore they should not be provoked; at least for the reason of their extremely sensitive work. Well, they were provoked and they downed their tools for 7 days with a warning that after 99 it will surely be 100 if their grievances were not attended to. That is the order of the day in the Nigeria of today. Like the popular lingo, ‘wetin musa no go see for gate?’ And then came the big one. As if roused from slumber by the announcement of $100,000 gift for each Super falcon, the army veterans or retirees took their protest to the Federal ministry of finance calling on the Government to look into their welfare, pension, SDA and other entitlements. In videos that made the rounds, many of the ex-soldiers couldn’t wrap their heads around the gifts given to the falcons after 90 minutes as one of the veterans put it while bemoaning their situation after many years in service. They narrated stories of injuries, bullet wounds, iron components in their bodies arising from orthopedic surgeries and the like. One of them ventured to threaten that if soldiers left Aso Rock for a short while, the result would be devastating as they were the ones who provide security to the leaders and the Nation. Well, whoever has the ears of this Government should borrow them some sense. There are groups that should not be allowed to go on strike, and you know why.

Just sense, sense.