REIGNERS UYO: An unfortunate and avoidable rain of steel.

I am not quite sure why but I only found the time to get necessary information about Saturday's building collapse which occurred in Uyo on Sunday morning. 

It is really saddening that human beings had to depart in this manner on Saturday morning. Although the actual count of the deceased is not known to me, it really doesn't matter to me whether it will stand at 50, 100 or 200 at the end of the day, the loss of one life would have had the same effect. It was preventable and I'm afraid nothing will most likely be done to adequately investigate the case and people will walk away because of the peculiar status of those involved. May the souls of the departed rest in peace and may God greatly comfort their families and friends 

It's nothing new for disaster to befall us in Nigeria and nothing significant gets done.   There have been building collapses and security operations which led to massive loss of lives. The collapse in Lagos a few years ago which was linked to an unidentified flying object remains without any justice done as certain powerful interested individuals got involved along the way.  Governor Udom seems to know Apostle Weeks who is the general overseer of the Reigners Bible Church quite well; I am not sure the former will sanction any intensive scrutiny of what led to the collapse and subsequent loss of life. That is my fear. 

I'm certain many of the church members are devastated and will simply want to just move on with their lives but the truth is, that structure which collapsed doesn't look like it should have left the foundation laying stage not to talk of supporting huge metal beams.  I think this must be a form of criminal activity against the state which ought to be appropriately investigated like if it was Abubakar Shekau involved. 

To some,  the 42years old apostle should be left alone  but I'm afraid that he, alongside those responsible for planning and executing the construction should be asked serious questions so that justice can be served where indicated and future occurrences prevented.

Some have used this unfortunate event to query the God served by those who passed away for failing to rescue them while some others have rejoiced because it didn't fit into their primitive ethnoreligious settings. The truth is that those who remain alive are most likely not better or more worthy than the fallen. It's not because of what we think we possess or know so there's an urgent need to be humble and modest in the face of all these and how we live our lives in general.   We are not better than all of those who died in past air crashes, terrorist attacks,  ethnoreligious clashes or 'simple' sociopolitical protests. We are first humans before we are religious,  racial,  tribal,  political or gods.  

The images from Uyo are indeed gory, I don't know how people share them all over social media. It is important that a thorough investigation is done and the law applied irrespective of sentiments. 

There was a plane crash the other day in Colombia which practically wiped out a football team from Brazil.  The support directed towards that team since that dark day has been remarkable and I think Christian assemblies in the land should borrow from this template and show solidarity irrespective of the theological lines of separation. I'm not sure this incident from Saturday was a talking and/or prayer point in most churches especially those distant from AkwaIbom state.  I think it should be. 

It should not matter if disaster happens in a church,  mosque, club,  school, market,  court or legislative chamber; as long as it's human beings with neurones and vessels involved,  we all should reach out as human beings.  At other moments, our reaching out could be to prevent disasters.  We should not be found aiding corruption and cutting corners;  we should not keep silent in the face of evil whilst waiting for another to speak for us. 

May God see the families of the departed and the good AkwaIbom people through this trying period. 

Amen.

DALUNG: WHAT EXACTLY WAS WRONG?

The internet recently went crazy, again in the direction of Nigeria's Youth and Sports minister as well as the Federal Government on account of some statements credited to him regarding the current status of the recently victorious senior female football team.

Solomon Dalung has been criticized and abused for his khaki and red beret and also for just about everything he has said about sports in the country; the peak of this onslaught happened during the Olympic games.

But what exactly did he say this time and what was wrong with it?

I have learnt not to join in lynching on social media especially when the press and a marked villain are involved. I finally got to listen to a 58s audio recording of the reported statements made by Mr. Dalung and I found certain parts of this markedly different from what was reported by most tabloids and blogs.

Reports that the ladies were being owed their bonuses and allowances because Mr. Dalung and the FG "didn't expect the falcons to win the African women cup of Nations (AWCON)" truly shocked me. It did not make any sense to me considering that the minister was widely reported to have tipped the team to win even before the semi-final match with South Africa. 

How was it possible for the same man (who only a few days ago expressed his belief in the team's ability) to now exclaim that he never actually had any faith? I wondered how the same man who the press had reported only a day earlier to have abandoned the team for a contract signing mission to London with NFF president Amaju Pinnick could be in Abuja with State House correspondents.

He was actually in Abuja where he had an interactive session with the ladies and the technical crew. Assisat Oshoala was one of those who spoke for the team and she emphasized to the minister that their struggle was way beyond receiving their personal allowances, it was a battle for the soul of female football in Nigeria. They want commitments towards a properly structured league like what the men have; they essentially want the basic things as recommended by the international governing body. At the moment, female football in Nigeria has collapsed and only kept alive by the oxygen of local success on the continent. 

The cover up in Nigerian football and sports in general is aided by certain interested parties and many Nigerians who opt to lunge into two-footed tackles at the government instead of addressing the major culprits of these regular embarrassing situations; the 'Independent sports federations' affiliated to International governing bodies. The football federation in particular is notorious for owing players and officials and somehow get to have the government bailing them out. They seem to be perpetually broke and unable to pay match bonuses and transportation fares; many times the government takes the heat and one wonders if football is the only sport we indulge in as a nation. 

It was an away game in Zambia a few weeks ago and there was so much back and forth with the government about payment for a chartered flight for the players and officials. Reports have it that one of the sponsors of the national team, Supersport eventually provided the resources to save the day.

Would the Nigerian football federation become extinct if the government eventually pulls out of any direct funding of sport associations?

Sitting tight and resisting the NFF is not a new development with Nigerian teams. The falcons have done it before likewise the Super Eagles. This type of confrontation led to the forced retirement of players in the past but it was put to good use in during the 2014 world cup when the Super Eagles boycotted training just before their second round match against France. President Jonathan had released a huge amount of money prior to the event and this with the $1.5 million advance payment from FIFA to prepare the team was expected to settle any rift and outstanding monies owed to the players who were part of qualifying and those who made the final squad. the lads couldn't trust the Federation board at the time and held up for an advanced payment of all they were owed.

Word got to Mr. President and he sent his super hero minister of sport Danagogo save the day. Over $3.5 million later aboard a presidential jet, the eagles were back on the pitch only  be clawed down by the Gallic roosters. 

We were not alone in this anomaly as Cameroon and Ghana were reported to have also held their officials hostage. Ghana also had over $3 million flashed across the Atlantic and the image of John Boye kissing his bundle of dollars must make it onto a feature film thought to be in the works about that event. I wonder why we don't have such planned about our Brazilian adventure.

These abnormalities are what many Nigerians have come to regard as normal, we expect the government to abandon everything every time someone in football sneezes. Many individuals who are currently owed salaries ant lands, houses and millions to be showered on every successful football team when such are not even practiced in saner climes. Members of my professional constituency are at the jugular of this government because of outstanding salaries and allowances; I wonder what impression we would get if we see the government readily rush to baptize any and every sports team with massive cash and structural rewards when we have been expectant for years now.

Some have questioned why the president has not received them since their return but the fact is that the minister who is a representative of the president already received them. There were some notable successes in 2015 especially in football, basketball, scrabble, handball, boxing, weightlifting etc.

These teams and individuals were however jointly honored and rewarded in January 2016 although one could say that the monetary rewards were not exceptional but very modest. The world scrabble champion for example got 1.5million naira for his effort while each member of the victorious basket ball team to the African championship got 600,000 naira each. It appears that whatever the falcons will get from the government will be in early 2017 perhaps.

I believe the NFF is the major offender in this current stalemate; the minister said this in an interview granted to the BBC. Qualification bonuses and other allowances should not be confused with monetary rewards for winning the tournament. I believe that the ladies would not have been pacified if the government had taken on a jamboree and given each of them 3 million naira while these disputed bonuses remained unsettled. The scars of being welcome and carried around in a rickety truck draped with banners a few years ago after winning the same trophy in South Africa must remain with many of them. This team has been treated very badly over the years and deserve to be heard this time. They hardly is a female league but there somehow get to organize the available teams for a football association cup final game every year.

What did Solomon Dalung really say?

This is what PUNCH newspapers reported:

"Don't forget that nobody even knew..."

I believe the actual words and the interpretation are quite different from what most tabloids reported. 

"Don't forget that nobody indeed knew.." "But we were hopeful that they were going to be victorious" is conspicuously missing 

I think the man has once again been unfairly treated and stereotyped. He seems to try ever so hard to impress and gets to speak even when it is better to keep quiet. The NFF in my opinion has created this mess and should rectify it instead of seeking for bailout from the government; they should have figured out by now that we are not in the days when solid cash gets ferried across oceans and seas to settle bonuses. It is high time they got serious with getting sponsors and running the sport they get  a lot of money for from FIFA.

I don't know why Dalung's statements were rephrased and portions of it debrided. I don't believe any team should approach a tournament with an entitlement mentality The falcons had genuine reasons to be humble and cautious. They were rather fortunate to have retained the title as South Africa and Cameroon looked really good and better prepared with South Africa clearly better coached than Nigeria. I believe the minister pointed out that they remained hopeful of victory and this should not have stopped the NFF from making the mandatory plans for participating in the tournament and sorting out the issues of bonuses and allowances. I absolutely do not believe his statement depicted pessimism about the team's chances like the press will have us believe. Many have already cursed the man and will feel too proud to review their position on this impasse. 

By the way, the team needs a better technical person in charge going forward and Nigerians need to calm down.