Unity & Patriotism are Major Benefits of Sports

In any nation-state, unity and patriotism are two major benefits obtainable from sports. When two people of different cultures and colour participate in the same game and abide by the same rules, fairness and equity is often regarded by a regulatory official.

Former Nigerian Football Team

Consequently, members of the same team see other participants as their opponents and unite to compete against them. Though those in the same team may have many differences, such differences are overlooked and the common goal of winning the game helps unite them.

In the Nigerian national football team, persons with different religious beliefs, tribal belongings and geographical origins are combined. It is expected by the fans that all members of the team cooperate to uplift the entire nation. In the end, everyone overlooks our differences, giving way to unity and a patriotic spirit. We share in the excitement and disappointments encountered in the tournament.

Secondly, employment and economic growth emerge as a results of sports. In places like the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France and Germany, football leagues provide massive employment for many citizens. Again, in the United States, basketball and golf are very prominent and lucrative sporting activities. Huge funds are used to run such business-centred competitions and this further helps to balance the cash flow of the associated countries. The electronic entertainment industry has also tapped into the leisure aspect of sports by producing gaming appliances for global consumers. As such, more people are employed globally and economies grow.

Read the rest at:

Commonwealth Correspondence Website

Of Loot-rich Undertakers and Poverty-stricken Gravediggers (1) sent in by Lisandro Jnr.

By Guest Writer: Lisandro Jnr.

Last year, we watched and waited as power switched hands. One president died and after some gratuitous delay, another was installed. We observed as a pre-stated doubtful government agenda mirrored the critique-predicted end it would have. We stared as statesmen became amateur comedians riding on party caravans and playing around the streets where we live. Safe for the watching of cooked news and the chanting of prayers, we could do nothing. And in heralding a new year, many dry politicking bones arose again. More of our forgotten politicians appeared at late hour, showing their deep-rooted interest in the merry-go-round of press interviews. As paper chase and underground blackmails made some lose their eagerness to contest in party primaries, the hidden past of the attack perpetrators still lie beyond the reach of local libelists. So, we see them in unbefitting attires, smiling inevitably at us on highway bill boards. And here’s where the IT trick helps the wicked ones. Even the devil looks good on billboards after a session of good photo shoot and picture editing. We live on streets that lack the amenities they should provide and suffer from the actual precision of their poor administration. Yet, they smile at us on billboards, taking us for granted. We are the innocent victims of their lack of conscience while they remain our facebook friends and billboard celebrities. We suffer because they do not see. But partly, they are blind because we hardly scream at the veils covering their eyes!

Over the last decade, since democracy took a stable turn in Nigeria, we have had a mixture of wonderful times and hellish seasons. We have benefited from debt cancellations, advanced telephony system, gradual resurrection of dead amenities, increment of salaries, participation in world sports, and slightly accountable leadership among a few others. Distinct from the military era, is the comfort we enjoy when querying our leaders on issues symptomatic of preconceived malpractice. But more recently, our egalitarianism has added a mix of kleptomaniacal leaders, unwarranted bomb blasting, high tolerance for abductors, etc to its peculiarities. Democracy or what the late Abraham Lincoln referred to as government of the people, by the people, for the people in our own land, has been viewed by developed countries as a practice that is slightly different from a formal circus party. The trusted righteous obtain power and become deaf loot-addicted monkeys while the poor sit around them like hungry baboons, waiting for a golden chance to have their go at the so-called national cake too. No one can be trusted in this system of ours, not even our fat and dicey lawmakers. The system seems cursed, running a cycle that makes leadership critics wonder if anything other than the death of chief corrupt leaders can influence a consistent change. The situation in Nigeria has persistently remained an unending case of kleptomaniac undertakers sustaining their famished gravedigger employees.

Notwithstanding, the school of thought we should follow is not a justification for eliminating other lives but that which supports the continuity of life while influencing the betterment of each individual. The politicians and those who, by virtue of accrued benefits, have become stakeholders in the politics of Nigeria are easily transformed into undertakers at election periods. These usually white-collared politicians are experienced and loot-rich, providing funds for their sycophantic gravediggers, who remain faithful instruments for implementing electoral malpractices. The gravediggers are usually illiterates, half-literates or unemployed graduates who for the want of quick wealth or lack of gainful employment, slave for the undertakers. Sometimes, they suddenly appear in political scenes to garner a fraction of the usually abundant financial resources flowing in the parties during campaigns and as such, may be forced to participate in electoral malpractices. Technically, the undertakers know they cannot implement their unfair agenda by themselves so, they employ the gravediggers and the gravediggers’ children, enticing them with temporal goodies and false philanthropy. They even know more; they know that for vagabonds, thugs and unemployed youths to remain, good jobs must be scarce, social amenities which enhance entrepreneurship must be faulty and pensions of retired citizens must be delayed. The best way an undertaker knows to make a living is to occupy a government office forcefully or by election, and embezzle public funds. That is why they are less concerned about solving problems that will consequently instil a sense of independence into their circumstantial sycophants. The day their sycophants acquire self-respect is the day they gain freedom and the moment bad politicians lack sycophants, they lose the power to rig elections, embezzle funds and influence others forcefully.

Yet, things have changed and are still changing. Last year, we merely prepared to change status (see The Two Thousand and Eleven Traffic). But this year, we moved on. Though some cowards chose to herald this year with bomb explosions rather than fireworks, we still had to move on. And, as the foremost political parties in Nigeria concluded their primaries, our country moved from the old street to change crescent. The decision time is approaching. A time when if we truly know our rights like we claim to do, justice will be our possession. I say this because ordinarily, at elections, people vote and get voted for- though we know that in Nigeria, certain illegal gymnastics make people who have minor votes win elections majorly. Let’s just hope that this year’s election will know a few differences. And here’s a personal testimony in that direction. Normally, I do not burden myself with party activities because I fan potential transformers rather than their political parties. But, in the bid to avoid dangerous surprises, I let the umbrella party take sleep away from my eyes during their consensus vigil. I closely followed the journalistic and commentary updates on twitter, fighting the temptation to sleep off. But the next day, when the broom party announced their results, I smelled a rat. Who else would the political sweepers elect to oppose GEJ if not the man who has been proclaimed innocent by his own enemies? Well, in politics, I learnt that your enemies are your friends- the ones with whom you are yet to find a common ground. So, there was no need for excess victory celebrations after the announcements.

But talking JEGA issues, INEC’s has not performed badly. Not at all! They are only making a mess of the mess we gave them. Though we’ve heard some very bad news about them, we know they have critics too and that only evidenced claims are worth charging. However, trust me, Prof Jega, people have not a few things against you. One, your comment about “your corpers” being ineffective shows that your recruitment process was precisely faulty. Secondly, your machines are quite slow and there were no efficient protection plans for NYSC members working for you in conflict regions and culture sensitive areas. Thirdly, we hear allegations of misdeeds and malpractices in remote centres. There are reported complaints of the successful but forced registration of underage citizens, at the expense of your workers’ safety. Threats and menace have been said to be part of their untold job descriptions. We hear also of speculations regarding unjust and preferential registration of some citizens in favour of certain aspirants; how that some political aspirants, in persons or via their representatives, bribe and pressure some of your workers to register only their own supporters. But we understand that these are hard times and your job is a tough one so, we will not ask for answers yet. Besides, none of the reporters have summoned adequate courage to make a public declaration of these allegations hence, we are simply stating these hypothetical facts for the sake of information.

Noteworthy is the behaviour of educated elders towards the INEC electoral registrations. Sincerely, I love it when senior citizens alight from their retirement automobiles and wait to register. I love it more when busy workers take a day off work to participate in the registration process. It shows that more Nigerians are personally taking responsibility for a better nation. We cannot complain and should be spanked if we do, when we withdraw from our civil obligations today and complain of bad governance tomorrow. The question that comes up is; who are those that actually elected or watched others vote in the many bad eggs of leadership spoiling the few good ones we have today? None voters are aliens when it comes to answering that question. Good leadership is partly a function of good citizenship. And, good citizenship speaks of committed, responsible and active citizens. Therefore, when I see old folks demonstrate this youth-ignored practice, I say to myself, that’s real commitment! That’s true patriotism! That’s the spirit of a better Naija! It tells me that though our senior citizens know that some of their mates are busy looting public funds and jeopardizing our national future, they must not sit back and have their own children’s children suffer for it. The least they can do is register to vote in April. That is a lesson we must learn from the elders, if we will not one day, become diligent gravediggers of selfish undertakers who are not better than us. That is a lesson for the youths. Let’s take responsibility and prove wrong what a political comic once said, “…the Nigerian youths are too inexperienced to lead.” In response to that quote, I recommend a response which takes the form of statistical joke here, Average Age Disparity between African rulers and Leaders of Developed Countries. Please click the link to laugh and think. At least, one good turn deserves another.

James Lisandro Jr. describes himself as a no-nonsense transformational writer who hails from the deep west of Nigeria. James is very tired of what he sees in Africa today and wants to see a better Nigeria someday- on a day not too far away from now.

http://omojuwa.com/?p=708&cpage=1#comment-809

When I Remember

When I remember those happy days
When little children would gather,
Outside the huts in the market square
Singing, dancing and playing
I begin to wonder how it all happened

The world got better and bitter
The people became more religious but ungodly
The youths gained aggression and violence
The elders are finding solutions at a tortoise’s pace
The harvest of the field has indeed, perished

When I remember those happy days
When the old had enough peace of mind
That they would sit by the roadside
Drinking fresh coconut water and making merry
I begin to wonder why it all happened

When I remember those happy days
When mothers would toss their babies into the calm air
While aunts will chase the older ones around the farmland
Having fun while fetching dry firewood
I begin to wish the hands of time were reversible

The palaces of our rulers are storerooms of gold
The laws of the land have become uneven
They are bent daily with the rich man’s tools of bribery
While the voices of the populace have become noises
They sound like choruses sang only by cursed horses

But when again, I remember those happy days
When young men would gather to wrestle
Under the slowly setting sun
Before many men lost control to megasybaritic living
I begin to hope that someway, somehow
We will experience again, what we once enjoyed


Written by: James Lisandro Junior

The Bizarre Reality of a 50 year-old Kid

Penned on the first of October, year two thousand and ten.



October 1 was our baby’s birthday
She was born in a black land and bred by white hands
On the wall of fame, we see the portrait of the past
In the books of history, we read of her pleasant exploits
But today, see the image of her present life
See here, the bizarre image of a grey-haired toddler
She is aging quietly, riding merely on the wings of her fading glory
Poorly managed resources, as revealed by her rusty attire, waste away
She is juxtaposed with dwarfism in technological development
And her economic growth is kwashiorkored by corruption
That is indeed our nightmare
The odd one we see in the daytime

I have heard a man state this in soliloquy:
Oil is good but we must not run mad because of it
Gas is a blessing but it must not suffocate us
Whatever happened to agriculture and cheap food?
Oh! Old baby, where is your white nanny?
She colonised you and exploited your resources
You fought for freedom and gained it gallantly
Alas! Your children were premature adults
They got freedom and knew not the way to the city
Others left the village for the city but lacked wisdom
So they arrived the city and transformed it into a pleasant village
Even the learned few forgot the ethics of good living
Those who did not forget quietly murdered and buried it
They wrecked great havoc and forgot about a good name
They toyed with hard work and played with the future
And like an east wind, corruption swept integrity out our land
Destruction raced into the future and laid a patient ambush
While the playing generation remained haunted by the ghost of mental slavery

What belongs to all was thought of as theirs only
What was called national they termed private
Many suffered and endured the pains
A little fraction of them protested like angry eagles
But many chickens kept quiet and folded their arms
Waiting patiently for their turn to wreck havoc
Savouring an imminent chance at the national cake
Die-hard looters gained their way into our land’s treasuries
Excellency became as difficult as what is seen in our football
Integrity escaped from our land when unrighteousness deepened
And service became more optional as selfishness prevailed

But she is our 50 year old nation
Please count her amongst the stars in the sky
She is growing her grey hairs already
Please call her the giant of Africa
But nay, do not throw her into the sky because she won’t soar
She is not yet the eagle she claims to be
Do not drop her from the heights unto her acrophobia
The blood of infancy still flows through her veins
Instead, make her a nest and sing to her
Sing to her the lullaby of an aged dwarf
Tell her tales of small islands that became great nations
Tease her with the outcome of her poor habits
Let her cry if she wants to
Let her mourn if she desires
Help her effect a change when she sees the need
Then teach her the values of a triumphant nation
She is just a toddler, don’t push her
But she has great potentials so don’t leave her
She lacks good upbringing, don’t force her
But feed her with portions from the seriousness vat
Help her become what other nations know she could be

This is the aging land wherein my first infant cry was heard
My grandfather policed in this land
My grandmother traded on these grounds
My father has been called an engineer in this land
And my sweet mother did bear the defence armour of this land
But all of that has faded away
They have gone with the winds
And are trapped in the vacuum of history
But in my dreams, I am haunted by such memories
Memories that say to me, do not forsake this land

I see a hungry man who is deprived of his wages
I know the meaning of anger by his office mannerism
And his desperate muscles tell of his secret corrupt desires
His speech is not without the mention of “national cake”
And when he farts, the odour of the expelled gas disturbs my peace
It attacks my nasal cavity with the hot wrath he stomachs
No doubt, he is hungry
Of course, he is angry
But the worse is this:
He is desperate and exceptionally desiring a position of authority
He even prays at the temple for a chance to occupy a pivotal public office
He wants to strengthen the long chain of corruption that is pulling back our nation
This desire he nurtures, even at the expense of his next door neighbour
I pray that he never sees that craving come true in his life
But again, his wages are not paid!
The government he works for is too busy to pay him
So he goes on strike
And the economy scale reflects it
Then the government remembers his importance
And lately releases what could have been given quietly

As a people of diverse culture
Our challenges are many
As a people of three tongues
Our doubts are not few
But the truth is found when we all look into a mirror
We see that our problems are surmountable and our potentials are great
We don’t need to be flogged before thinking rightly
We don’t have to struggle against unrighteousness repeatedly
We are not in want of a fine, fake and unrealistic agenda
All we want is what we need: real progress
We want servants who are ready to lead
Elites who will secure us the ethics of a sane society
Patriots who could work even for free
Loyals who will kill corruption instead of amassing cursed riches

Yet, righteousness does not imply an absolute absence of wrongness
But when the heart of the majority is right
We will acknowledge that we are righteous
When the heart of our leaders are right
The youths will be encouraged to be trained by them
And learn the truths that must be known
That when the baton is passed,
We will not forget again, the way to the city
We will not abandon the race of progress
We will not jeopardise the future of our unborn children
But our land will become the treasure it ought to be
And the name of our nation will attract much merit
Then our visa will have prestige in foreign lands

So let’s make a haven out of our land
Let’s make wealth out of our resources
And God will bless every citizen
He will bless you and I
And Again, God will make Nigeria!

If you care, Happy Jubilee! Give thanks in all things. But if you don’t, it’s alright- just keep on working towards a better Nigeria.