SEGUN ODEGBAMI: Change is coming to Nigerian Sports – finally!!
There is the prospect of a genuine sports revolution in the air. There is a refreshing spirit across the land. There are glimpses of a new dawn for the entire sports sector through the developments in football.
Beyond sport, there are also emerging, the faint outlines of a new nation from 2027. Things are coming together. Things are falling into places and fitting in like a jig saw puzzle.
Even the Universe is involved in the evolving ‘conspiracy’. Otherwise, who can explain the spate of coincidences of developments in Nigerian sports?
Presidential support
It was all kick-started by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He directed that proper sports reforms take place. And he backed his directive with the money to get it done.
Such level of presidential interest has not been seen since the era of late Admiral Augustus Aikhomu.
The president means business, and everyone knows it.
The NSC – getting things done!
The National Sports Commission, NSC, bosses have been very busy, demonstrating proficiency in managing the crisis-situation in Nigerian football and maneuvering through the maze of difficult issues. They dealt with the disbandment of the board of the NFF masterfully. It went without any outcry, or resultant crisis.
They led a delegation to the headquarters of FIFA and came back with a bouquet of flowers (that I hope are not coated with hidden poisons)from the embattled president of FIFA. I hope they now have the clearance to carry out the needed reforms in Nigerian football without involving the Congress of the NFF. That organ should have been dismantled as well, and without the threat of any sanction for ‘Third-Party interference’ hanging on our necks.
The NSC, I hope, are now set to advance matters to the next level – setting up a body of credible, neutral, and knowledgeable persons to dismantle the old failed system and to create new instruments for genuine football development in the best interest of the country.
Allen Onyema – the pace setter!
A few days before that, Dr. Allen Onyema, Chairman of AirPeace Airline, had approved that the ‘file’ of the Olympic Gold Medalists of 1996 be dusted, and that the names of the heroes be uplifted again and inscribed in Gold on the ‘NIIA Sports Diplomacy Wall of Fame’ at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos.
The induction ceremony will be held in October/November, 2026, a year that marks the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Olympic Games Boycott led by Nigeria, as well as the 30th anniversary of Nigeria’s greatest moment in sport, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Two of Nigeria’s great sports ambassadors will also be decorated on the day – late captain and manager of the Super Eagles, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi; plus the only world record breaker in Nigeria’s athletics history, Tobi Amusan(even as her record has been broken by America’s Olympic champion Masai Russel).
Governor Uba Sani – a new titan
Then, last week, came the bombshell. In my humble reckoning, the best news of the year came from Kaduna.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, CON, has joined Allen Onyema to fan the embers of the ‘Dream Team’, Nigeria’s victorious Olympic football team of 1996. Following that success, the Governor of Kaduna State at the time rewarded the players and their officials with plots of land in Kaduna. For some reason, the deed was not completed. The parcels of land were not documented and handed over the players.
30 years after, Governor Uba Sani has awakened ‘dead bones’, dusted the long-buried files, completed the process and redeemed the State government’s promise.
There was more great development
The state government was handed back the ownership of Ahmadu Bello Stadium, a heritage site that was built and opened in 1964 by the government of Northern Nigeria under Sir Ahmadu Bello. The stadium has deep historical significance to Northern Nigeria . It was taken over by the federal government for renovation for the Nigeria ‘99 FIFA Under-17 championship.
To have taken over all the State stadia became the worst decision ever. Some administrators in charge at the time, not versed in sports matters, ignorantly destroyed all major sports infrastructure in the country. Nigeria has not recovered from that misadventure and financial brigandage since then.
The Ahmadu Bello stadium, Kaduna, the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, and the Township Stadium, Calabar, had some of the best football facilities in Africa. Their ‘renovation’ became their destruction by some Nigerian and Israeli contractors.
Governor Uba Sani has come to spearhead a redemption of those monuments. The Governors of Oyo and Cross Rivers States should follow Uba Sani’s lead, secure the release of the two other State stadia from the NSC and rebuild them for the sake of posterity and for the coming reformation of sports in Nigeria.
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