The pains and anguish bedeviling our national life are hydra-headed. These pains are actually, self-induced. Most times, the blames is erroneously laid at the steps of our national leaders.
Mostly erroneous, because the citizenry seems to have wittingly abdicated their roles and duties, as true patriots. As citizens, we have abandoned our collective resolve to contribute our quota to the development of our country, particularly, through sports.
Since you assumed office as the President of the most populated black nation in the world, the enthusiasm and belief in the uncanny abilities of the average Nigerian youth to conquer their world grew in outstanding leaps and bounds.
Mr. President, I believe that you are not oblivious of the happenstances in Nigerian sports since you assumed office. Faced with several socio-political challenges, yet, you have kept your eyes on our common opium, which is sports.
Nigeria made world history during your time as military head of state in 1985, winning the Kodak U-16 World Cup in China. This feat was the catalyst to future sporting achievements recorded by the country.
We have been blessed in the past with sports administrators like late Isaac Akioye, Abraham Ordia, and others. So much, that the Nigeria Institute of Sports, was the citadel of sports training and development in sub-Saharan Africa.
We recall with fond nostalgia, the times and achievements of individuals like late Comdr. Emeka Omeruah, Patrick Okpomo, Lekan Salami, MKO Abiola, and several others, who selflessly contributed to the growth of sports in Nigeria.
Subsequent governments and many political appointees in our sports sector have done more harm than good to our collective sports interests.
Mr. President, it is noteworthy to recall the resurgence in our sporting fortunes since you came to power, particularly, in the past 4 years.
Save for football, we literally had nothing good, but glorify, in past achievements in many other sports. The drive and fervor of your administration seemingly changed the narratives of sports administration and development in Nigeria.
Mr. President, in recent times, our sports have relatively achieved appreciable successes, mainly due to the new band of sports administrators, who have stoically, and selflessly remained committed to the development and growth of Nigerian sports.
The perennially endemic and debilitating self-aggrandizing problems often associated with seekers of public officers have also come to the fore in the administration of sports in Nigeria, in the past 3 years of your government.
Mr. President, today, the administration of sports in Nigeria, is in the danger of returning to its hitherto abysmal state. Politics, ego, greed, religion, and ethnic sentiments have seemingly taken our sports back to the precipice of destruction.
Mr. President, the masterstroke to lift up the morale of stakeholders and athletes in Nigerian sports, was the appointment of Sunday Dare as the minister of youth and sports administrator.
And interestingly, it coincided with the sweet emergency of astute, experienced, selfless, and patriotic sports administrators like Engineer Ahmadu Musa Kida.
Ahmadu Musa Kida, a former national basketball player, took the reins of the Nigeria Basketball Federation from TJ Umar in 2017. And it has been an upward surge for basketball in Nigeria, what with its newly found fervor, attractiveness, and developmental strides of Engr. Musa Kida’s led board.
The achievements of NBBF under Musa Kida, included amongst many incredible feats, winning back-to-back Afrobasketball championships; making history as the first African nation to qualify both its female and male teams for the Olympic games at a time.
Spending personal hard-earned finances and resources to propagate and promote the development of the game in Nigeria, with little or no financial assistance from the relevant sports authorities, Musa Kida, stoically, remained resolute in his desires to take the game to utopian heights.
In the past 4 years, his tenure as NBBF boss has been tempered with unsolicited but greed-induced crisis and shenanigans by supposed stakeholders.
Mr. President, like my friends and colleagues under the aegis of Friends of Nigeria Sports, I am moved to make the passionate appeal to you, to look inwards, as it concerns the future of Nigerian sports and our youths.
Help us save Nigeria sports from corrupt, greedy, selfish, and unpatriotic individuals, who would rather return the forward-moving train of our sports to its unfortunate terminal.
With elections to several Nigeria sports federations, slated for the next few weeks, it has been discovered that there are underground moves to scuttle and undermine the electoral processes for this election by some group of individuals who would stop at nothing to stop the Engr. Musa Kida, returning as NBBF president.
Mr. President, they have concerted litany of lies and unfounded accusations of fraud and corruption that would be presented to the various security agencies in their mindless bids to stop Engr. Musa Kida from being duly reelected as NBBF president.
Mr. President, as genuinely concerned citizens and FRIENDS OF NIGERIA SPORTS, we believe strongly in your usual unbiased and wise counsel as it concerns the future fortunes of Nigeria.
Mr. President, Nigerian youths, particularly, the ever-growing fans and stakeholders of basketball earnestly, look forward to you, helping to protect their love.
