Mixing sports administration with politics has been a dangerous development which has always reversed negatively with sports development.
Last week’s sack of former sports minister, Mallam Bolaji Absulahi remains a big shock and sad commentary on Nigerian sports development.
The removal of the Minister from office has been traced to his failure to openly associate with the political interests of the President in Kwara State.
Abudulahi, a close ally and former commissioner to former Governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki may also have been dropped for his failure to openly disavow Saraki’s leadership of the state.
It was revealed that Bolaji Abdulahi had refused to openly associate with the new leadership of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, after Saraki and his followers defeated from the party to the All Progressive Congress, APC.
He was absent at the stakeholders’ meeting summoned by the state PDP Caretaker Committee, drawing insinuations of double loyalty from some political stakeholders in Kwara State.
His failure to address the crowd at the recent PDP rally in Ilorin to re-affirm his loyalty to the PDP government was perhaps the final straw.
Expectedly, reactions have trailed Bolaji Abdulahi’s exit. In my view, the seasoned journalist was perhaps among the best administrators of sports in Nigeria in the likes of Air Commodore Emeka Omerua (rtd).
His appointment to take charge of sports came at a critical period in the life of Nigerian sports especially with Nigeria’s woeful performance at London 2012 Olympics, the World Cup in 2010 and the failure of Nigeria to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and poor representation of Nigerian clubsides on the continent.
Abdulahi, strategically overhauled Nigeria’s key sports sectors which today has began to yield fruits.
His commitments to the revamping of other sports in the country after the dismal outing at London 2012 saw the National Sports Festival at EKO 2012 set new standard to discover genuine talents for the future of the country.
He proposed the National Youth Games which inaugural edition took place last year December in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory engaging youths across the country under 17 categories as the country began another foundational process to rebuild our various sports.
He ensured that no state came to Abuja with over-aged athletes and that the competition was devoid of any controversies.
Even our dear President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan identified with this laudable concept as the country re-invented the path to the glorious days of sporting history where the likes of Atanda Musa excelled in table tennis, Nduka Odizor excelled in Lawn Tennis, Innocent Egbunike, Falilat Ogunkoya, Chidi Imoh, many Onyali, Yusuf Ali excelled in athletics, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha in football.
Bolaji Abdulahi further ensured the successful elections of sports associations in the country as most boards became re-organised, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria held regular competitions across the country even as he attended most of the events.
He kick started Nigeria’s preparations for a successful outing at the Commonwealth Games holding later this year, unfortunately, he will not be there to lead the team to the Games.
During his tenure the Super Eagles won the 2013 African Cup of Nations under the guidance of an indigenous coach, Stephen Keshi. He helped to set the football House in order as soon as he came by, facilitating the appointment of Keshi as coach and proving that he preferred an indigenous talent to a foreigner.
He was a man determined for success, although with no history in sports administration, he showed he was competent for the job.
He ensured there was little rancour in the sports industry all through his tenure. He achieved victories with the Super Eagles and Golden Eaglets.
His timely interference after the World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Namibia away ensured that the internal rift of match allowances of the team did not derail the Eagles from arriving Brazil on time for their first match against Tahiti at the Confederations Cup last year.
He set up a committee which worked out a code of conduct for the national team headed by Olusegin Adeniji a veteran journalist which today remains applicable to the national team.
Bolaji Abdulahi brought back life to the Nigerian League as he worked hard to ensure that whatever legal roadblocks that had hindered the league was removed with regards to sponsorship and approved the conception of the League Management Board to oversee the management of the league which has come with a fresh breath of air to revive the league.
He was passionate about sports and showed much commitment to elevate sports in the country. I ran into him briefly at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos State during the National Sports Festival at EKO 2012 and in my brief discuss he shared his thoughts on revamping grassroots sports which he believed was the bedrock to Nigeria’s future sporting process.
A year after, the National Schools Sports Festival took place in Ilorin, Kwara State which gave the opportunity for students across secondary schools in the country to participate with new talents discovered.
The icing on Abdulahi’s sparkling credential was the Super Eagles qualification for the World Cup in Brazil, the first African nation to book the ticket among the five representatives from the continent.
Under Abdulahi’s tenure, Nigeria made giant strides like Blessing Okagbare returning the country to the podium with silver and bronze medals in the women’s 200m and long jump at the IAAF World Championship in Moscow, Russia last August.
For the first time, Nigeria was the undisputable champions of all the categories of the African Athletics competition.
He put in motion a successful plan for Nigeria’s outing at the World Cup helping to secure a N1.6billion extra budgetary allocation for the team from the Presidency. He also initiated other moves on how to get corporate Nigeria for additional support for Nigeria’s campaign at the World Cup.
He also recorded successes at the 2012 senior African Wrestling Championships in Morocco, 2012 senior African Wrestling Championship in Kenya and the smooth emergence of Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye as the Director-General of the National Sports Commission.
In Nigeria, successful sports administration has been hinged on getting the right people to get the job done, which has been seen in recent cabinet reshufflements as another opportunity to satisfy political allies.
The exit of Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi remains a reference of excellence for his successor Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, a former Local Government Chairman in Rivers State and former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Rivers State. He helped Rivers State win the sports festival when it was hosted in the state and like his predecessor, he is a youth.
The fact remains that Bolaji Absulaji is the most successful sports minister in recent times. His achievements have catapulted the nation’s sports sector to world class standard.
The coming of Tamuno Danagogo on the eve of the World Cup will be his first major test and we can only watch with great expectations on the direction he will tow to sustain and surpass the existing standards of Mallam Bolaji Abdulaji.
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