SPORTS MISMANAGEMENT

The Nigerian Olympic Football Team landed in Brazil seven hours before the kickoff against Japan and still won the football game 5-4. The team would have forfeited the match had Delta Airlines not intervened and flown it from Atlanta, USA to Manaus, Brazil on credit. It may take the Nigerian Government five years to settle the bill. This lunatistic sport management in Nigeria which includes nonpayment of bonuses to athletes (Shameless greediness), teams selected on National Character (Incompetence), diversion of sports funds to private pockets (Fantastic corruption), and horrible travel schedules (Ineptitude) will continue to cost Nigerian Sports dearly. When the Nigerian Government approves the 2015 Budget in 2016, you can see where the problem mapus (lies). After winning by arriving seven hours before kickoff in Manaus, Brazil, they may arrive five hours before kickoff in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020 hoping to win by 7-6 against their opponents. That is the Nigerian way of thinking.

Next time, the team may not have a Delta Airline willing to whisk it off to Tokyo, Japan from Seoul, South Korea on short notice. The South Koreans may not be as benevolent as the Americans. By the way, can anyone explain why there are no publicly accessible football fields in the so-called modern Nigerian Capital of Abuja and Nigeria claims to be a football Nation. In most modern cities, there are public parks with manicured grass fields for different field sports including football.

Nigerian athletes also wore their training suits for the opening parade of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil. We are waiting on the Buhari Administration to fish out and punish the perpetrators of this National disgrace. If this is pushed under the mat, then some “sacred cows” are involved. Talking about cows, it is now obvious to every Nigerian that killing a single Fulani cow that destroyed several thousand dollars’ worth of your crops will result in the Fulani herdsmen killing you and several hundreds of your relatives and townspeople. There are two types of sacred cows in Nigeria – “human sacred cows” and “animal sacred cows.” Messing with either type of cow in 2016 Nigeria has serious consequences up to and including death.