Let me state from the beginning that I have an interest in the matter at hand; because I am involved.
As a friend of Segun Odegbami of almost 40 years (did I say “friend”? Brother more like, our families having bonded over the decades) I was drafted into an ad hoc committee to examine the feasibility of Odegbami’s lofty ambition to run the race to become Africa’s first president of the global football federation, FIFA.
This was way back first day of September, a clear eight weeks to FIFA’s deadline for submission of interest – October 26.
This column of September 6 titled “Odegbami: shooting for the ultimate goal” put the challenge in some perspective. Appreciating the enormity of the ambition, it forgave those whose immediate reaction was to scoff at it. Then went on: “But after letting the shock of the news wear out, and one calms down to figure it out logically; working out the calculations; the probabilities; the whys and the why-not; one may come to share in the big dream…”
The global body has been embroiled in a crisis of unprecedented proportions; crisis of corruption, crisis of credibility that has seen most of its leadership facing criminal charges, with some already indicted and some, including its president, Sepp Blatter, and hitherto favourite-to-succeed him, Platini, under suspension even as we speak! FIFA has never had it so bad. With virtually all the big names in FIFA administration over the years tainted one way or another, the call from the international community, if you forgive the pun, was for new players to come in and get the ball rolling. All of a sudden, elections coming up in February next year, four months hence, was thrown open. The mantra was “CHANGE”, a la Nigeria.
This is the scenario that has challenged all lovers of the game, especially those active participants for whom the game has literally been their lives, those with a clear vision and intellect to turn FIFA’s fortunes around to positively impact the world, from the remotest villages to the biggest cities, letting the round leather give hope, health, and harmony. Wow! I’ve just struck a “Triple-H” there.
FIFA had laid down the qualifying criteria for applicants: show active involvement with the game in any capacity over the last two years; be your country’s candidate (i.e. nominated by your country’s Football Federation, in this instance Nigeria Football Federation – NFF); get sole endorsement of five other countries (i.e. their FF). That’s all.
FIFA prescribes that each country’s FF should (must) be run and funded independent of their governments. But with African countries FIFA looks the other way, giving allowance to the dictum: “he who pays the piper calls the tune.” In Africa, control of their Football Federation is still heavily under their governments’ influence or dictate.
So, it was only logical that the place to begin with Nigeria was to seek the governments backing, state and federal. Fate smiled at Odegbami. At the state level, his Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, not only favoured the goal (a huge one for his state if scored!), he is one of the chummiest with President Muhammadu Buhari since their ANPP days, so taking the matter up with the president, in the absence of a cabinet minister of sports, posed no difficulty.
Equally, persuading PMB who himself had been a footballer in his school days ought to be easy, especially as the only other person the media had reported to show interest was former Governor Orji Kalu whose integrity stock in the books of a “change” regime could not be splendid.
But that would be ceteris paribus (all things being equal) as economists would say. Bad boys have their good days. Orji Kalu is publisher of The Sun newspaper for whom my good aburo, Femi Adesina, had served as Managing Director. If the interest/directive of the government had to be communicated to NFF in all probability Adesina would be the one to so do. What a dilemma for poor Femi to fall between two stools.
More importantly, the NFF (our own Nigerian ‘FIFA’ in all intrigue and hideousness) appears still under the vice grip of the inf-Amos Adamu, a man who a few years ago (2010), as our representative on FIFA had been one of the earliest culprits in the yet-to-fully-hatch corruption cankerworm of FIFA. Adamu was found guilty of breaching bribery rules and banned for three years by FIFA ethics committee, a punishment said to be “even relatively mild given the seriousness of the offence,” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to whom Adamu had appealed.
If high up FIFA could be rotten, what goes on at the lowest rung, how loud money talks, could best be imagined. Orji Kalu, who weeks after Odegbami had sent in his letter of intent to NFF was yet to officially notify NFF, is buddy of Amos Adamu who had taken it upon himself to canvas and lobby for Orji’s candidature!
Segun Odegbami had to be stopped at all cost. But the sticky point is how to get a Changi-PMB to give nod to an Orji Kalu of all people!
It is amazing, the power of money, how those bonded by it are bounded by it. In honourable climes being backed by someone tainted by scandal would have been enough to blacklist you. Adamu and Blatter apparently still eat tuwo shinkafa from the same bowl. Undeterred by his running suspension and the collapse of the edifice of corruption he led, Sepp Blatter joined Amos Adamu in endorsing Orji Kalu.
Hear Blatter monitored talking on Swiss Radio in Zurich a week to the deadline: “The position of the FIFA president is too important to be left to just anybody. I have heard of some candidates who want to take over from me. But I find the businessman from Nigeria Kalu very qualified and interesting because he is not only a businessman, but a politician with lots of contacts and corporate experience…”
Did I hear someone say, “if you fight corruption, corruption fights back”? With Adamu, Blatter, CAF’s Hayattou all backing Orji Kalu whose place in Nigerian football history and development pales into insignificance to Odegbami’s, and breathing down the neck of chairman of NFF, Amaju Pinnick, who in turn played the waiting (delaying) game with a presidential directive that was prevaricating, the shenanigans for stopping Odegbami, even if it means denying Nigeria a name in the roll of contenders, was complete!
And so it was no surprise that the very letter of nomination by NFF that Odegbami desperately needed to show in garnering the endorsement of five other countries did not come until 2pm of the deadline day! One should laugh not to cry!
The deadline came and went and Nigeria was loudly missing in the list of eight hopefuls that include 39-year old Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Musa Bility of Liberia, Jerome Champagne of France, Gianni Infantino of Switzerland, David Nakhid of Trinidad (former Trinidad international), Michel Platini of France, Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa, and Sheikh Salman of Bahrain.
Poor Segun Odegbami, that was eight weeks of running from pillar to post; of running from Abeokuta to Otta, to Lagos, to Abuja, to a number of African countries; of intellection on the way forward for FIFA and his distinct comparative advantage to head the body; of reaching out to England FA where he has listening ear; of appearing on the BBC and the CNN; of knocking on innumerable doors.
Yes, money would have played a big role in the campaign, in moving from country to country; money and influence, tremendous political and business influence. But it was one that would have come had Nigeria’s nomination been secured weeks ahead of deadline. And with a Federal Government show of interest, not a few of our big businessmen wanting to be on the side of the government would have turned in their might, expectedly. Well, it didn’t happen.
I endorse Segun Odegbami’s call that “the Nigerian government must call for an inquiry into the circumstance surrounding the whole episode because I believe we just wasted a rare opportunity for a Nigerian to take a shot at the FIFA presidency…I think the whole exercise is all about bad blood.”
In a manner rather prescient, the column of September 6 wrote: “the biggest hurdle remains ourselves, our self-deprecating self; our destructive pull-him-down (PHD) tendency; our hateful self.”
Has it all come to naught then? No, says Odegbami: “It’s a good experience, I have created the psychological platform for any Nigerian to aspire for the highest office in the land, so I’m satisfied with what I have done.”
My comment to a Facebook posting made by Tokunbo Adejumo on the sad turn: “It is difficult to see this, to experience what Big Seg has just experienced, and not feel discouraged about “Project Nigeria” to be honest. Shame!”
And that’s saying it the way it is!
PUNCH
END
My mother describes it as “k’eni ma ni”!!!