Sunday 21 April 2013

Mba: Gov Uduaghan please act now

On April 21, 2013 · In Sports

By Patrick Omorodion
MY dear Governor,  I write you today not only to say that I see what your government is doing for Delta State in the area of sports, which is my primary constituency, but to add that I equally appreciate the impact it is having on our sports men and women.
My aim of writing this open letter which is the only way I can get across to you, is the impression one of your sports administrators gave me a couple of days ago; that is that you see me as a hater of  Delta State because, according to the official, I never see anything good in what the Delta State government is doing.
Sir, at my age (by the grace of God, on Tuesday April 23, 2013, I’ll be adding two years to the second half of my life on earth) I’ll not be doing myself any good if I see something going wrong and I don’t do anything about it.
Even though I’m Edo-born, I see myself also as a Deltan, having married from the State but most importantly having come from the old Midwestern State and later Bendel, from which Edo and Delta were carved out.
Nigeria's forward Sunday Mba during the 2013 African Cup of Nations quarter final between  Ivory Coast and Nigeria
File photo: Nigeria’s forward Sunday Mba during the 2013 African Cup of Nations quarter final between Ivory Coast and Nigeria
As a young boy growing up in our old State, I was a living witness to the landmark the State made under our dear governor at the time, then Brigadier Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia. We, including you sir I guess, were proud Bendelites then.
One expected that despite the split of the State, both Edo and Delta should be way ahead of others in the area of  talent discovery and nurturing. One also expected that such facilities like the Afuze camp where our athletes trained without distraction  those days, would dot the two states. But alas, that is not to be.
Even though both States claim to remain top, with Delta having the upper hand these days, they cannot claim to be churning out budding talents like Bendel of old. Rather, they depend mostly on established stars to make hay while leaving hitherto backbenchers like Cross River and Ondo to discover and groom athletes for the big two to poach later.
To buttress this sir, take a look at school sports and grass-root athletics competition results these days and you would discover that States like Cross River and Imo are doing better than Edo and Delta. Cross River in particular has taken the lead because of the grass-root revolution programme of Governor Liyel Imoke.
Ironically, the revolution is the handiwork of a man that once gave Delta the edge, Bruce Ijirigho, who has left Delta for no reason known to this writer. Delta and her sister State, Edo have more or less turned to competition promotion States  and no longer the nursery of budding talents. That is my worry which I don’t fail to highlight at every given opportunity and that is why I’m being labeled a Delta hater.
Sir, is it not a surprise to you that Warri, Benin and Lagos have all lost out to Calabar as home of the Eagles? Have you asked yourself why? The reason is rooted in the decision of these three states to allow themselves to be deceived by some greedy administrators in connivance with some top FIFA chiefs with former Executive member, Jack Warner as the head, that astro or artificial turf was the in-thing now.
If that was correct, why does FIFA not host its World Cup matches on artificial turfs? Even England that Nigerians follow their Premiership like a religion, do you see any of the stadia having such pitches?
Calabar is the only alternative to Abuja Stadium now because most of the big boys in the Super Eagles have sounded it clear that they cannot risk their legs playing on artificial turfs any longer. That is why Warri Stadium, Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin and the Teslim Balogun Stadium never get a look in by the NFF again.
Sir, before I end this piece, I urge you to wade into the burning issue of the Sunday Mba transfer which has tied down the young man that bought smiles to our faces with his exploits in South Africa about two months ago during the Africa Nations Cup, 19 years after we celebrated such a victory. He shouldn’t  be allowed to waste away because of the mistake made by all the parties now scrambling for him, including the NFF, which administers the game here.
In my last piece on this page, I blamed your club, Warri Wolves, Rangers of Enugu, the league organisers, NPFL and the NFF because if they all had done their bit, Mba would not be enmeshed in the double registration that has entangled him now. The NFF however, came out belatedly on Friday to declare Mba and Chigozie Agbim, Warri Wolves players. Why did it take them so long to say so.
So sir, in the interest of the player and the country which still needs his services, especially in the on-going World Cup qualifiers and the 2013 Confederation Cup in Brazil, your early intervention is needed here. Mba should be forgiven for his error just like the prodigal son who squandered  his father’s riches. Rangers should also swallow their pride and go beg Warri Wolves while Mba should humble himself and apologise to Delta State government which took him as one of their own and splashed millions of Naira on him for the Nations Cup victory like a Warri Wolves player, which he was or is still.

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