₦airaland Forum

OKOWA: Nigerian Pillar Of Sports?

BY FIDELIS EGUGBO

THAT Delta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa is passionate about sports development is no longer in doubt. Even his greatest critics will give him the thumb up for his roles in sports development in the country. It is equally not in doubt that Delta State is naturally endowed with sporting talents as the history of Nigeria cannot be complete in the area of sporting activities without Deltans occupying prominent spaces.

At national and international sports events, Deltans have always excelled, but, Governor Okowa, determined that the tempo and prowess recorded by the people should rather increase during his tenure, has revived the Principal’s Cup and followed it with the Headmaster’s Cup. To say the least, these tournaments have ensured that schools in the state are engaged in football activities which have kept the youths busy.

The icing on the cake was when he mandated Mr Chiedu Ebie, Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, a workaholic gentleman who believes more in action than words to move beyond football to organize athletics championship for schools.

The new introduction will see to the harnessing of budding talents, and their nurturing to stardom.

However, with all that Deltans have been doing to the development of sports in the country, one may wonder why it has not played host to the National Sports Festival. How many national or international events has the state played host to?

The former Captain of the Super Eagles who later coached the team, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, was from Delta State. A stadium has been named after him in the state capital, the Stephen Keshi Stadium and Governor Okowa, aware that the stadium is very vital to the hosting of sporting events, embarked on its reconstruction..

That efforts to reconstruct the stadium paid off In August this year, as the stadium played host to its first international event, the 21st African Senior Athletics Championships. It was a continental sporting event that saw more than 50 African countries converging in Asaba and that was the signal that a new sporting venue has been established - Asaba. To buttress the fact that the Stephen Keshi Stadium was designed to project Asaba as the sporting destination of the world, the Aiteo Cup final between Enugu Rangers and Kano Pillars was played in the stadium.

In all the events, the 23, 000 capacity stadium was always filled and it was indeed, a good development for sports.

Of course, the nearness of Asaba to Onitsha, less than two hours drive to Benin City, and other places have made it such that the stadium must always be filled by sports-loving people. Only few days ago, Governor Okowa was at the stadium to watch the Super Eagles play the Cr
anes of Uganda in a friendly encounter.
Of course, it was natural to say that the ticket for the football match sold out as it got to a stage that spectators were stopped from entering the stadium as it was already filled to capacity.

A day before the match between the Super Eagles and the Cranes, former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was at the stadium to commission it.

The commissioning of the stadium by Chief Obasanjo was another historic event given that the Otta-born politician, more than a decade ago, laid the foundation stone for its construction.

Elated, Obasanjo thanked Governor Okowa for his interest in sports development and as a wise man who has seen a lot in the area of sports, challenged the governor to build hostels in the stadium so that identified talents could live there and train for 24 hours.

It is generally agreed that the Stephen Keshi Stadium has come to stay and within the last few months, has played host to a lot of sporting events.

Historically, too, it is a fact that the Super Eagles trained in the stadium ahead of their qualifying match against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). Naturally, the Super Eagles left Asaba and went to South Africa where they held the Bafana Bafana to a 1-1 draw to qualify for the AFCON billed to hold at Cameroon next year.

Qualifying for the AFCON was, in a way, rewarding to Governor Okowa and his workaholic team as the governor, on behalf of the Delta State Government, promised the team the sum of $25, 000 for every goal scored. Converted to the Nigerian currency, it amounted to the sum of N9 million per goal. As someone who keeps his promises, Governor Okowa, shortly after the Super Eagles’ encounter with the Cranes of Uganda, organized a state banquet for the team and their visitors at the Government House, Asaba where he doled out the sum of $50, 000 for the match against the Bafana Bafana.

According to the governor, "as a state government, we did make a promise that we will give 25, 000 dollars per goal in the AFCON qualifying match in South Africa. In my mind, I know we scored two goals, not one goal, because the second goal was wrongly disallowed; so, we will fulfil our promise with what we saw, not with what was announced by the referee.

We are very happy that you left for South Africa from Asaba because you enabled us to witness the first international flight from the Asaba International Airport; I am truly excited this evening that we are hosting our dear Super Eagles as a state government and the Ugandan Team that earlier played with the Super Eagles at the Stephen Keshi Stadium. We truly enjoyed ourselves because, the two teams played good football.

It was good to host the Super Eagles, they have been with us for some days now and I believe that the people, Deltans and other Nigerians in general are excited. Though, they drew the match with the Cranes of Uganda, both teams played good game and it was gladdening to know that both teams have also, qualified for the African Cup of Nations," Governor Okowa said.

Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (1962-2016) will be happy that the stadium named after him has come to life. He was Captain of the Super Eagles, a great football defender who later became coach of the team. Of course, in 1994, he led the Super Eagles to the World Cup and that same year, took the team to Tunisia and came back with the trophy. Stephen Keshi was among the only two Africans to lead their national team to win the AFCON as a player and as a Coach. He also led the team to qualify for the Word Cup as a coach. So, the Super Eagles were at the right place where there were many motivating factors to lead them to South Africa to qualify.

While they did not visit the grave of their former Skipper to pay him homage before departing for South Africa, it is expected that they will be back in Asaba again next year to be in the right spirit before departing for the AFCON in Cameroon.

Yes! Asaba is a place for sports tourism and the Delta State Government should also, go a step further to make the final resting place of Stephen Keshi a tourist attraction. It is important to note that Illah is not far from Asaba and with the influx of foreigners to Asaba for football tournaments, the tomb of Stephen Keshi, his house and those memorable things he associated with should be preserved and made befitting for those who may want to visit his final resting place because, he was an international figure. His death may grow the economy of the state and his community, Illah if well managed. The people are already reaping the benefits of having Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.

Imagine bringing the national team of Togo to play a friendly match in Asaba. Keshi, as the Coach of the team, qualified them for their first World Cup and if they come to Asaba, they will naturally want to visit Illah and I am confident that the team will be eager to be in Asaba for a friendly tie, maybe during the anniversary of Keshi's death.

Stephen Keshi contributed a lot to the development of Nigeria football, he was head coach for the Junior Eagles for several years and part of the coaching crew of the Super Eagles before he became the coach. He was adored by players and most often referred to as the Big Boss as a mark of respect.

At the commissioning of the stadium, Chief Obasanjo said, “whoever you are, whatever age you are, you must exercise, you must be fit. We must catch them young; we have the facilities, we have to recruit those who will win, train them from young age. Mr Governor, build a hostel where you will put people that you will train day and night and they will be going to school from the stadium and in whatever sports, Delta State will be the best.

I was here to perform the ground breaking ceremony of the stadium, I am here to commission it and I will be here again to see the hostel,” the former President said, asserting, “Governor Okowa is not just a Road Master, he is also a Stadium Master, and because of the work he has done, he is also the Bulldozer.”

It is worthy to state that before commissioning the stadium, the former President had also commissioned the dualised old Lagos/Asaba road, from Emuhu junction to Agbor-Obi junction, the dualised Owei-Ekei/Owa-Alero road, from old Lagos/Asaba road to Owa-Alero round about.

In Africa, it is widely known that one positive action will attract a lot of other positive actions. So, when the Super Eagles entertained football lovers in Asaba during their training periods, they also, became the first set of people to take international flight out of the Asaba International Airport. They moved to South Africa for their qualifying match through the Asaba International Airport.
That flight was a great icing on the achievements of Governor Okowa's administration in the last three years plus because, it saw to bigger planes making use of the airport for the first time and of course, Captain Yahaya Pam, Pilot, Boeing 747 belonging to Max Air which was the first international flight to take off from the airport said, the runway was among the top three in the country.

He described the runway as “ very smooth, good and long in line with international standards," adding that "the ramp is of top notch."

And the big story: When Nigeria was about to lose the hosting rights for the 21st African Senior Athletics Championships, at the last minute, Governor Okowa intervened and agreed that instead of the country to be embarrassed by failing to host the continental event, Delta State would host the tournament. Lagos State had earlier agreed to host the tournament but, at the last minute, chickened out. So, Governor Okowa, as a nationalist, did not look at party leaning but, how the continent would view Nigeria if no state agreed to host the event, bailed the country out.

Again, against all odds and the fear that the Super Eagles would not qualify for the 2019 edition of AFCON, Governor Okowa brought them to Asaba well ahead of the match, provided incentives and encouraged them to go to South Africa and get the ticket to be in Cameroon 2019.

We have seen people described as pillars of sports in Nigeria. While one may not know the criteria used in ascribing such titles to them, one can confidently say that Governor Okowa has done a lot to encourage sporting activities in the country. If one have to consider the fact that Delta State has collected all the laurels in sporting events in the nation in the past three years, one cannot fail to state that another honour beckons on Governor Okowa as he continues with his focused, result-oriented leadership.

To say that Governor Okowa has brought a new lease of life to sports in the sub-region is an under-statement. Where in this area would you see event managers pleading with surging spectators to go to viewing centers instead of the stadium because, the stadium has been filled to capacity? Where in sub-Saharan Africa will more than 50 per cent of the seats in the stadium be occupied 30 minutes before the commencement of sporting activities? These are regular features in Asaba that one will not be surprised to hear that another 80, 000 capacity stadium is in the offing because, as once postulated, Delta State can comfortably host the World Cup.

The state has football stadia at Kwale, Warri, Ughelli, Oghara, Sapele, Agbor, Ozoro and the J.J. Okotcha Stadium at Ogwashi -Uku.

Approval for the hosting of World Cup is given years before the event and I am confident that Delta State has what it takes to host the world because, in all the places where the stadia are located, there are hotels of international standard. It is worthy to note that while there is an international airport in Asaba, there is an airport in Osubi, less than 5 minutes drive to the Warri Stadium while the Benin Airport is less than 10 minutes drive to the Oghara Township Stadium.

If one decides to add to the fun and access the football venues through water, the Seaports in Warri and Sapele will be very useful. Sapele is about 5 minutes drive to the Oghara Township Stadium. Again, any boat from Lagos or any part of the world can berth at the jetty at the Grand Hotel, Asaba or at the Onitsha Port which is about 10 minutes drive to the Stephen Keshi Stadium. In all, Delta State has been positioned as the sports destination of the world. There is a railway line that can also be put to use if such is required to move people to the state to watch football live.

We are watching and as pundits looking at the issues at stake critically, one can only say that the best is yet to come to admiration of the people and to the glory of God.

(As published on page 10 of The Pointer Newspaper of Sunday, November 25, 2018.)

Nigerians, celebrating irrelevance as usual. I don't blame them though, when there's nothing tangible to be proud of.

PatrickOkunima:
Nigerians, celebrating irrelevance as usual. I don't blame them though, when there's nothing tangible to be proud of.

Let's learn to appreciate the one's we see.. There's no need being bitter

ifex370:
Let's learn to appreciate the one's we see.. There's no need being bitter

I'm not bitter, but even if I were, I've got good reasons to be. These politicians have brought nothing but suffering and death to us, directly and indirectly. I pray they reap the rewards in multiple folds.

Mtcheew. Even states that organise and host sports competitions efficiently don't brag like this.