By Daily Sports on December 23, 2019

I’m an incurable optimist since the mid-1970s and early 1980’s when I was a student at the Government College Umuahia, one of the foremost colonial Missionary founded and inspired colleges in Nigeria.  To refresh your memory dear readers, my very prestigious College is already 90 years old. Up school! The centenary is next year November and it will be marvellous as very well-meaning and highly placed old boys will converge at the  great Robert Fisher Centre, named after the Anglican Priest that founded the giant academic excellence learning environment, to celebrate. 

And now to be honest with you, the event of last week that emanated from the article on this page further showed that my South West people have sadly held tight, the culture of learning nothing and forgetting nothing even as it stars them right in the face. For instance, their hurried political marriage in 2015 with strange bedfellows, the Hausa/Fulanis, has started to backfire at them.

The irony of it remains that whoever courageously tells them such bitter truth is branded an enemy and that was what l sparingly highlighted last week on this page. I will list some of their names in the course of this discourse. It goes further to show that Nigeria is a drama.

As an observer, I don’t know what the confusion has brought to the larger table. I am not talking about private pockets though.  Let me also confess that it never beats my imagination how some group of people like Yomi, Adebiyi, Adeosun, Adegoke, Adeoye, Yemisi, Osun etc, that claimed they come from Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Lagos are still crying wolf where there is none over last week’s write up simply because I called a spade by its name that the hen is home to roost in Yoruba land as General Muhammadu Buhari started baring his fangs on the people that made him which is very obvious.

If these people ranting as ants are truly normal, they would have seen the handwriting on the wall that the water is gradually swallowing their race. To cap it all, the General has fired a warning shot that nobody must use his name to campaign for 2023. What else is left?

 It will soon be payback time and Buhari I know will do what he knows best to do.  He is in full tandem with his people and 2023 is already sealed waiting for delivery, which will beat the likes of Tinubu hands and legs down.

I stand totally by last week’s article, no more, no less!

I’m saddened as you read this piece that athletes federation has lost one of its best coaches, Tobias Igwe aka Toblo, a well-known coach that trained notable Nigerian athletes. Toblo, a very unassuming sweat merchant died last week. According to reports, he was until his death working with Ondo State Sports Commission.

He was a great coach that horned the skills of athletes like Innocent Egbunike, Adenike Olapade, Chidi Imo, Emedolu, Tina Iheagwam, Beatrice Utondu, Yusuf, Maria Usifo, Mary Onyali- Omagbemi, Faliat Ogunkoya, Chioma Ajunwa –Opara etc.  Toblo was a household name in the athletics world. As a seasoned coach, he gave his best when things were at its lowest ebb.  

I share my sympathy with the family. Igwe was a jolly good fellow. Some of my colleagues that were on the beat when he held sway can vividly attest to this.

 Yes, the curtain for 2019 is fast drawing and the woes, jeers and some flashes of gains. To tell the truth, the country has not fared better in all facets and the after-effects are always there.  We cannot continue to cry over spilt milk but to move forward to see how something would be salvaged. 

I will not waste space mentioning how far we went in terms of the flashes of successes in sports. To this reporter, it was a dismal outing for sports at all levels even football which we normally claim we have strength. Again, for this writer, even underage competitions, where the country held strong, it was all motion without movement. No, the centre can never hold. The earlier we correct it, the better for Nigeria.

We have been hearing political statements on how this and that would be done to fix sports and all that but at the end of the day, it becomes Nigeria way of doing things. Nothing moves me so far as Nigeria and her so-called leaders are concerned.

It has been disappointments all the way. It has not been a fantastic year for Nigeria in sports just like the political scene. The year has not been so well going in both male and women football. However, with most of our women players playing in Spain, one hopes that it will translate to Favour, the once upon a time toast of women football in the continent and export the same to the World Cup level.

Like the Nigerian polity is in tatters, so are other components that make it up. Be that as it may, not many people will agree, especially those that reap from the loopholes that bring failures but line their pockets and bank accounts. It is obvious that there is nothing to celebrate or thumbs up for. We must say the truth about that and heaven won’t fall.

 As if the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare knew he was fast shooting himself on the foot by courting controversies than pursuing developmental and depth growth-oriented programmes, he recovered timely and came to his senses by his programme of 'ADOPT AN ATHLETE' which would ensure better outing for the country during next year’s Olympics in Japan.

It has grot Dare a lot of mileage and brought positive attention to him than what his meddling into Athletics Federation politics portrayed him as. The steps he has just taken has redeemed him and focused him to reckoning. One prays he would not listen to his bad advisers again, otherwise the next time he would drown.

Let us watch and see how it goes because Nigeria and those appointed to oversee certain areas for the people are not only overzealous people but also mischievous while trying to manage such. If Dare would divorce himself from his tribesmen and women and do things right though, especially when it concerns people from own side, then he would be consigned into the refuse dump of history like his predecessor, Solomon Dalung. 

For his quick about-turn, Dare may have rediscovered himself for the result for the big catch of Very High Chief  Adebutu to adopt for the comprehensive rehabilitation of Lagos National Stadium for use again. He showed that he is still an amateur politician yet to learn thoroughly from his master Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu who handles such things without traces. Dare soiled his hands in the troubled waters of AFN and got them badly burnt.

 Let us hope that the incoming year, 2020 will be at least near roses for all sports international outings, if not all roses. www.dailysportsng.com has done well in the outgoing year of oddities, flukes and mounting corruption despite the high noise about fighting it.

Our social media platforms are as lively as ever. Continue to follow us religiously as usual to read exclusives as it breaks only on our Google-compliant platform, www.dailysportsng.com. Keep shooting hard till next week!!

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 23, 2019

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