Nigeria; When Are We Going To Get It Right?

The Aba drama and Adenuga’s heart.
 
It was relaxation time. On one channel was a game between two South African teams. It was colourful.
The turf was lush green and the television coverage was excellent. The pitch panels were prominent. It meant that the sponsors of the league and other promoters of the game who invested  in the league were earning some mileage.

On another channel of the DSTV was a Nigerian league match between Enyimba and Bayelsa United.
The pitch was far below the standard of the one on the other channel, the television camera captured the earth immediately outside the pitch and the sight was bad.

On the pitch, the game was  funny. Eyimba were awarded a penalty and for the next ten minutes or so, the Bayelsa players exercised authority more than the referee. They protested the decision and wondered around the field as if time meant nothing to the game.

Bassey, the Bayelsa keeper was in the world of his own. He lazily walked to different teammates to talk to them  and also protested to the referee. He took all his time and the referee could not impose discipline or control the game properly.

He walked up and down as if the match was over. The referee remained dull, so naive that one wondered if he knew his job. Was the penalty deserved? Was his conscience pricking him? Why was he so overwhelmed?

From what I saw, it was a simple case of incompetence. And that is a trade mark of the Nigerian league. That is partly why CAF and FIFA do not invite our referees to their events. That is partly why our local football is an eyesore and we now have fans of foreign clubs all over Nigeria. Painful.

The drama in Aba continued after Uche Kalu netted the penalty. Ball boys would not release the ball in time and Bassey would over dramatise, helping the home team to kill more time.

Bayelsa’s Chibuzor Okonkwo would have won an award for acting if there was one. When he fell following a rough challenge, the medical team rushed to the ground where he lay to attend to him. Immediately they came close and one of them tried to examine him, he rose vehemently, charging on the medical staff and unleashing a blow.

The man  took to his heels and ran the race of his life as Chibuzor gave him a hot chase, exhibiting traits of a great militant. More Bayelsa officials strolled into the field. One kept on showing others where Chibuzor was hurt. It was quite a laughable scene.

The referee watched, amazingly helpless and hopeless. Few seconds later, he caused his own scene and raised the heartbeat of all including yours sincerely watching on television. He went face- down  to the ground and players surrounded him the way they do to attend to an injured teammate. Then the magic started.

He started fidgeting, hands and legs kicking. He was suffering a fit and when they turned him to face up, he was still battling for life, his eyes popping up. Fear gripped all. Panic took over. He appeared to be losing the battle as he was slowly turning lifeless and I was really scared and prayed God to intervene.

It could happen to any person with history of convulsion. But such people are not allowed to do  physical things like refereeing. It was another minus for the Nigerian league which to me and millions of Nigerians looks 30 years behind time.

The medical team rushed to where the referee was and added to his pain. They forgot the stretcher and lifted him in a crude way. One person grabbed one leg, another the other leg. One person lifted one arm and another the other.

That was what they subjected  a convulsing man to. Too bad. That way, they took him out of the field to where the stretcher was before they helped him into the ambulance that rushed him to the hospital. Stone age reaction, you may say.

There was no immediate first aid. Nobody knew what to do. But God knew it was not his time and answered our prayers. Assistant referee finished the match and it ended 1-0 in favour of Enyimba. The attention the man got was fair by Nigerian standard.

There was an ambulance. If it happened in some other venues, the story could have been different. That is how bad it is in Nigeria.

The incident was an international disgrace. Cable television captured the Aba incident and televised it to the whole of Africa and beyond.

It exposed lapses in the medical certification of our referees. A friend called to note that everything about the match was a bad promotion for Nigerian football. I agreed but noted that Aba was one of the best venues in the country and if that could be so, it really shows how substandard our league is.

The sponsors of our league are not getting the deserved mileage. The league is bad and when Supersport beams it to the world I always hide my face in shame. I think that they should stop showing it until the league board sets standards. If any company wants to invest on our league and sees it on television, the company will run away.

It takes only the patriotic heart and gestures of Chief Mike Adenuga Jr and the rest of the guys in Globacom to continue to pump money into the shame that is the Nigerian league.

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When do you think Nigeria will get things right?
When are we going to get things done in the right way?
When are we going to be serious about our sporting structures and administration?