“The NFF has always had a reputation for being a spendthrift. In one breath, you will hear top officials complain about lack of money to execute important programmes. But, in the next breath, you will see a bus-load of them embarking on a flight of fancy to go and “support” the national team.”


THE DAYS of the locust are back at full steam at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Not that those days of jamboree trips ever fully departed the Glass House, but it was taken to new heights last week when a pack of NFF staff embarked on a meaningless journey to Germany ostensibly to “cheer up” the fumbling Falcons at the on-going FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The fact that the Falcons had already been effectively knocked out of the competition after losing their first two games to France and Germany did not make the NFF to rethink the necessity or propriety of the trip. It had been booked, so it had to be made, even if the only objective it would achieve is to put estacodes into some people’s pockets. “Long-suffering, hard-working staff who had been scheduled to travel must not be denied their opportunity to catch some fun just because some “stupid” girls cannot stay long enough in one bloody competition,” seemed to be the verdict of the NFF top brass.

The NFF has always had a reputation for being a spendthrift. In one breath, you will hear top officials complain about lack of money to execute important programmes. But, in the next breath, you will see a bus-load of them embarking on a flight of fancy to go and “support” the national team.

Such jamborees were a hallmark of the previous NFF regime headed by Alhaji Sani Lulu. I remember that his penchant for packing family and friends into the plane as official delegations to international competitions was one of the major “sins” that his opponents used to nail him before President Goodluck Jonathan last year. Lulu’s NFF flooded South Africa, venue of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with all sorts of hangers-on at government’s expense as he prepared the ground for his re-election before Jonathan spoilt the party by withdrawing Nigeria from international football which precipitated his forced removal.

Despite the controversy surrounding Alhaji Aminu Maigari’s election as Lulu’s successor, part of the reason some of us decided to give him a chance was because he promised that it would not be ‘business as usual’ at the NFF secretariat. He would cut out wastage and ensure the enthronement of good business practice. He would repair the image of the NFF and return all the national teams to winning ways. He made other promises.

Indeed, Maigari started well when he truncated the move by some incorrigible NFF staff to embark on one superfluous trip to South Africa early in his regime. But since then, the NFF “executive president” has surrendered to the locusts. Rather than stop the jamboree, he is now the first to jump on the plane.

Last April, when South Africa (again) hosted the African Youth Championship, a friend who made the trip expressed his shock at the battalion of people that Maigari’s NFF flew in, housed and fed at government expense. The Flying Eagles won the tournament, so no questions were asked as everybody was in a happy mood. But last week, while the Super Falcons were fumbling and wobbling to the consternation of Nigerian football fans, the only thing still on the minds of a wasteful and unfeeling NFF secretariat was how to fly in more joy-riders into Germany.

I wondered, and I’m still wondering: Couldn’t the NFF have shown some decorum, at least for once? Couldn’t they have cancelled the needless trip and booked the intended beneficiaries for other international competitions that are coming soon, anyway? I don’t have any problem with NFF staffers and executive committee members enjoying the perks of their offices which include these international trips and the estacodes that go with them. But they should do so with some respect for themselves and the Nigerians that they claim to serve.

The belated trip to Germany by Maigari’s men last week is a scandal. The president must put a stop to such wasteful expenditure.

Journalists as Media Officers

A HIGHLY-PLACED friend called last week to challenge me about the conduct of my constituency in the on-going scheme of things in Nigerian sports, especially football. He had just read about the latest NFF jamboree and he was furious that the sports media was handling the matter with  kid gloves.

“Mumini, you sports journalists have sold us out,” he bellowed into the telephone. “It’s because you guys are saying nothing that this NFF people are misbehaving. What are they still going to do in Germany? Now, I know why they have appointed all your colleagues into the national teams as media officers. You’re now chopping with them, so you can’t write against them any more.”

I took strong exception to my caller’s sweeping comment and I told him so. But he is not the first that would raise the issue of the journalists that the NFF has appointed as media officers, so I decided to address it.

First, let me declare that some of the media officers are my personal friends. But none of them consulted me about their appointment and they didn’t have to. That is on a personal level.

On a professional level, I am not aware that the journalists, particularly the freelancers, have broken any rule outright by accepting to “work” for the NFF. At least, neither the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) nor the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) classifies such an appointment as objectionable. Having said that, there are, indeed, some ethical and moral issues involved. But how  these are handled is down to each individual.

I also previously worked as a member of the Media and Communications Department of the organising committee for the 2003 All-Africa Games hosted by Nigeria. I leave others to judge whether my engagement compromised my work as a journalist and column writer during or after the Games.

In the past few weeks, I have been conducting a research into some issues of ethics in sports journalism. One of the things I have established beyond doubt is that ethical conflicts in journalism are a global phenomenon and they are very controversial even in some of the very developed societies like the United Kingdom and the United States. Because opinion is divided about it, what obtains is that each media organization sets its own rule about what is ethically acceptable and what is not . Where the journalist is a freelancer, he or she sets his or her own rules, provided also that they don’t conflict with those of the organizations he or she freelances for.

Ultimately, though, the final verdict about what is ethical or not lies with the journalist’s audience. If the readers and/or viewers are happy with what the journalist reports, his or her other engagements become largely irrelevant. But, yes, there are issues involved when full-time journalists “work” for a public organization like the Nigeria Football Federation. The major question is “who will watch the watch dog?”

Battle of Kumasi

NEWS that Ghana have moved this weekend’s decisive All-Africa Games second leg qualifier between their Black Meteors and our Under-23 Eagles to Kumasi did not surprise me. Last week, I told of how they harassed our former Under-23 team led by Samson Siasia before our boys snatched the 2008 Olympic Games ticket in Accra virtually at gun-point! (The game ended 0-0 on 16th, November, 2007).

Kumasi holds lots of memories for one as my first destination for an international assignment as a sports journalist in 1991. The match was a 1992 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Ghana and Nigeria and I went by road from Lagos to Kumasi, the home city of the famous Ashanti Kotoko, The Porcupine Warriors.

The start  of the Ghana team at the time was the legendary Abedi Pele Ayew and he showed Nigeria “pepper” with his pony tail. Match hero for the Super Eagles was goalkeeper Alloy Agu who lost a tooth, in a vain effort to stop the Ghanaian marauders. Nigeria lost the game 1-0 in a totally jampacked stadium.

Coincidentally, Agu is now goalkeeper trainer to Austin Eguavoen’s Under-23 team. I imagine that he will tell the boys the story of the Kumasi Battle of 1991, and how he wants his lost tooth back! If we come away from Kumasi with the All-Africa Games ticket, that would surely represent Agu’s lost tooth.
Good luck, Eguavoen and boys. Remember, don’t ever concede an early goal.
That is the key to ultimate glory in the Kumasi cauldron.

King Novak

lTHE 2011 Wimbledon Tennis Championship came to a close over the weekend with two new champions emerging in both the women’s and men’s singles categories.

Little known 21-year-old Czech Petra Kvitora beat Russian favourite, Maria Sharapova, 6-3, 6-4 in the women’s final while Serbia’s rising star, Novak Djokovic, overthrew defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6 and 6-3 in the men’s final.

It was the men’s event that was more absorbing, however, as Djokovic also took over from Nadal as the world’s top-ranked player. Having now beaten the Spaniard in all five tournament finals at which they have met this year (twice on hard courts, twice on clay and now on grass), no one can argue against Djokovic’s status as the new world’s number one. Remarkably, he has lost only one match this year - the French Open semi-final to Roger Federer, winning 48.

What I have found most humbling in the Djokovic - Nadal rivalry this year is Nadal’s honest admission that his conqueror is currently better than him.

After his first defeat to Djokovic this year at Indian Wells, Nadal confessed before each of the subsequent four confrontations (Miami, Madrid, Rome and Wimbledon) that he didn’t fancy meeting the Serb again. “He’s playing great tennis at a very high level. I don’t want to face him because I have not found a way to beat him,” Nadal confessed to journalists. Indeed, Nadal won the French Open this year only because Federer helped him to stop Djokovic in the semi-final.

Djokovic was welcomed back home in Serbia like a king for becoming world’s number one. Thousands of people trooped out, reminiscent of the reception that greeted China’s Li Na when she became the first Asian woman to win a tennis grand slam at the French Open last month.

China and Serbia are reaping the glory for their investment in developmental sports as their athletes break new grounds. There are lessons for Nigerian sports administrators in these achievements. Will they learn them? Will they do anything about them?

Congrats, King Novak.

David“Mouth-maker” Haye

AFTER spending the past several weeks ratcheting up the fight and boasting that he would “kill” his opponent, Jamaican-born English fighter David Haye spent the entire 12 rounds hiding and crawling around the ring in his heavyweight unification bout with Ukranian fighter Wladimir Klitschko last weekend in Hamburg.

Haye’s alias is “The Hayemaker” which suggests that he  packs a punch that would clobber Klitschko to death. But in the end, there were to be no Biblical heroics as “David” surrendered to “Goliath” via a wide, unanimous decision.

Afterwards, I heard Haye talking about a possible rematch, so he could make more money. That simply gave him away that all his hype on the first match was just to draw fans to the stadium and pay-per-view. I doubt if anybody will take Haye’s hype seriously next time around. Once beaten, twice shy.

Break Time

SOCCERTALK goes on break from this week, to return when the 2011/2012 European football season starts in August, insha Allah. See you then. While I’m away, make sure not to get into any trouble. Cheers.