Last week, in a fit of celebration, President Bola Tinubu announced the award of national honours to the victorious Super Falcons after their victory against Morocco at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations to accomplish Mission X.
The president also announced cash gifts of $100,000 (about 152 million naira) to each of the players. They were also awarded with a three-bedroom house in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
A week later, the women’s national basketball team also won their fifth straight FIBA Women’s Afrobasket title against Mali in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital. The president has also announced matching cash rewards and national honours to these players as they flew high the flag of their fatherland.
Do I have a problem with this?
No, I do not have a problem with the government, or whoever sits in the office of president, using their powers to celebrate our national sports heroes. There’s a place for national pride in everyday life.
Our national sports teams should be rewarded for doing great things in the name of the country.
However, we should develop a national reward template for sports teams that should be gazetted for other administrations to make use of.
We’ve had administrations that gave a golden handshake in the past. We’ve seen others that issued cash and real estate according to the strength of the economy.
What we cannot encourage is haphazard sharing of money when the general economic circumstances of the people are dire. We should not be doling out money that the average civil servant cannot earn in ten or more lifetimes to celebrate sporting glory.
What I have a problem with
I have been reading Chief Segun Odegbami’s submissions about the failing health of many members of the victorious 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winning squad. In recent times, we have seen the passing of Christian Chukwu, the captain of the Green Eagles who led Nigeria to its first major continental title.
We have also lost Peter Rufai, goalkeeper of the 1994 African Cup of Nations (Afcon)- winning team and the first Nigerian team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
Torhüter
These are all illustrious national heroes who won titles in the name of Nigeria and were rewarded for their services to the nation at the time they did.
But they were also professionals who had the rare skills they possessed and got a lifetime of being paid to do what they did.
And every time they fell ill, it became a national discussion about how we treat our heroes past.
In all honesty, should the burden of caring for former sports stars fall on the public conscience? Should we be blackmailed every time a former sports star falls ill and cannot pay their hospital bills just like the rest of us?
The truth is that many of our sports heroes enjoyed and continue to enjoy the grace that is rare to come about. Their name recognition opens doors for them until their last breath. They got cash or land rewards from the government after their great feats. You can say that inflation has dealt with the currency but they got more than the average Nigerian ever got from their government.
And like I said, they had rare skills that helped them navigate through life to become coaches and sports consultants after retirement. If you use those skills well, you will never be without a paid job.
Chief Odegbami himself is a testament to this. He has founded an international sports school and runs a sports radio. He is ambassador of many organisations and continues to consult for many sports projects. He is blessed. His name opens doors wherever he goes.
I don’t think Chief Odegbami should continuously guilt-trip the nation every time a former member of his team falls ill. I don’t hear the calling out of the Oyo state government every time a member of his Shooting Stars has fallen ill. They were professionals who were paid for their services while their contracts lasted.
And they were aware that their career had an expiry date, so the smart ones, like Chief, made use of their education for post-retirement fulfilment.
The real heroes of Nigeria are abandoned
I have always felt that the real heroes of Nigeria don’t get their due. The soldiers who have fought to keep us together, the soldiers and policemen who have lost their lives to terrorist attacks, those who have lost limbs and livelihood and been kicked out of their accommodation.
Their families have never gone on national television about the abandonment they face. My father was a member of the police investigating team that put an end to the reign of terror perpetuated by armed robber Lawrence Anini in Bendel State in the 1980s. My mother prayed every day for his safety as he went out to face the bullets. She never knew if her husband and the father of her children would return home.
That is the kind of sacrifices men and women in uniform make for this country every day. Whether it is Boko Haram attacking them or unknown gunmen, they give it all. And when they retire, they quietly go to their villages and start a farm or find another career to do for the rest of their lives.
They don’t guilt-trip the entire nation about their service that kept us safer. We didn’t call out the government when my father had his leg amputated in 2006 and then died a few years later. He gave his best years in service of his country and got his little pension to live on without complaining.
So, I don’t fancy it when a former sports person who enjoyed the largesse that many civil servants never got, claiming they are now in hard times and that the nation should remember their sacrifice on the pitch. Please miss me with the blackmail.
We all do what we can with the hand that fate has dealt us. You chose your path, please live with it. Give the rest of us space to think about surviving the hard times we are in.