Visionary leadership is what is missing in action in the present economic quagmire that has trapped Nigeria almost as a failing State.
This is the consensus formed by legendary footballer, Dr Segun Odegbami and sports historian, Emeka Obasi, on the popular monthly interview discourse, BOILING POINT ARENA, on Sunday night.
Both Odegbami and Obasi lamented that Nigeria has long lost the path of greatness with successive leaders not being visionary and foresighted enough to prioritize sports as a fulcrum of development and latch on the myriads of massive opportunities in that sector for all-round transformation of the economy.
To them, it is unthinkable that the government of the day, quite unlike other progressive countries of the world, does not view sports development as a priority, whereas sports have proven to be a symbol of the country’s unity.
The topic of discourse was: “Sports: A Mirror of the Cesspool of Corruption in Nigeria, 64 Years of Few Gains, Many Misses and Bunglings”.
The once-in-a-month current affairs programme which held via Zoom and broadcast live on Sweet 107.1FM, is hosted by a media professional and public relations strategist, Dr Ayo Arowojolu,
Frontline traditional ruler, the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Prof Saka Matemilola, was the Keynote Speaker during the discourse.
First to fire the salvo was Dr Odegbami who lamented that although sports thrived better during the military days, “we now have people who have no idea what the history is and we are just swimming in the middle of the Atlantic, rudderless, without a pilot”.
Odegbami spoke for long: “Sports go beyond the game. Sport has become an integral part of society beyond the football that we all see. If we reduce it to playing matches and winning trophies and all of that, we’d miss the point.
“But beyond it, there’s a whole planet of activity and innovation and technology and science and all of that inside of sport that can truly change our society and help us to develop this country. We have missed it completely because we see it for its, recreational value only. We don’t see it for the bigger picture.”
“Nigeria’s problem is that of leadership challenge. We need a leadership that understands, that appreciates, that has the vision, that can develop the strategy and can use the people that we have, which is our richest resource.
“We have to make use of them to come and start to reset the buttons of our development”.
With visionary Leadership, he submitted that sports should have come ahead of music, film and entertainment industry as the biggest advertisement promoting the image of Nigeria globally.
For his part, Emeka Obasi a former Managing Editor, Telegraph Newspapers, also spoke in concurrence with Dr Odegbami, admonishing the President Bola Tinubu Administration to show more seriousness about sports development and administration.
Hear Emeka Obasi: “I think there is a deliberate policy by the government to kill sports in Nigeria. That’s the best way to put it. Do you know why? Sports is the only instrument of national unity.
“I said it because, take the national soccer team for instance. If they played well and all the players are Hausa, no one will complain. If they are doing well with 11 Yoruba players, or If they are winning with 11 Igbo stars, it will be joy unlimited.
“But, the politicians don’t want Nigerians to use that lone instrument of unity to come together. So, that is why in sports today, you find out that those or many of those who are managing sports have no business being there at all.
“We have everything it takes to use sports to project this nation. We should talk about development. Sports is not national politics. It could be national politics, What we have in Nigeria is not sports, it is politics.
“We are joking. And as long as we remain joking, we will not get anywhere. Look at all these people we call herdsmen, bandits, kidnappers and those we tag criminals are potential world champions if our leaders know how to transform them.
“The best players in Africa are Nigerians, just like in other sports. Look at the Jamaicans. Do you see what the Jamaicans are doing in athletics? I am sure you know that Jamaica came from Nigeria. You have Abeokuta in a in Jamaica. I’m sure you know that. Most of these people we see running for Jamaica, their ancestors were Nigerians. They left Nigeria because of, the wickedness of some of our fathers through the slave trade. Those guys now ruling the world today in athletics are Nigerians”.
