Nigerians must be careful and painstaking in selecting their leaders – Onigbinde

I made a New Year resolution not to dabble into Sports Administration again —-

We have corrupt and selfish legislators at the National assembly—–

Laoye Sessan || For Nigeria to be well governed, we all must agree that we must be very careful and cautious in selecting our leaders because this has been the problem confronting the country since the colonial masters left Nigeria.

This was the assertion of the former National Coach of Nigeria, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde while talking to our correspondent in Ibadan

He said that the country is in a mess because the people have not taken the time to find out about the person they are electing to lead them.

Onigbinde pointed out that even if they know, they care less because the person they are choosing is ready to pave his way ill gotten wealth, adding that Nigerians are fond of selling their conscience.

According to him, Nigeria is a place where you would discover that a person is a murderer and a thief, and because he has given out one or two naira people would still go out to vote for him to get into power and when he misbehaves people would start to complain forgetting that they are the ones that voted for him to get there and that is the problem the country is facing today.

Chief Onigbinde pointed out that what he observed in Nigeria was that when a person comes to put things right, people would stand in his way, persecute him and would want to make sure that that person is frustrated. ‘’Otherwise as a person, I don’t know why people would wish Buhari dead I know what he is going through, I am feeling for him, because I know his problem because I am going through the same thing in my profession whereby people would agree that you are good in your field but they would not want you in position or around because you will not allow them to steal. I have been going through that for many decades. They kept saying that don’t allow that man, he would not allow you to do things the way we want and when it comes to the issue of money he is very strict. I don’t know why people would want to do wrong things and that is why Nigeria is what it is today. Again that is why a wrong person is placed where he does not belong or where he is not qualified to be just for the purposes of corruption. Honestly, we have a long way to go in Nigeria and that is why I pray that God should extend his life because with the way he is going we would have taken a step towards the right direction.

On the kind of leadership we have in the country, especially those at the national assembly, with what and with what we are experiencing, in respect of corruption and whether, the present government would go a far in his anti-corruption crusade, chief onigbinde said that he wept for the country because those who are at the helms of affairs especially at the national assembly are those who have been indicted, while some of them are former Governors. But mind you we are all aware of this but they are still voted for.

He was however of the point that the present government because of its move to fight corruption is having a head on collusion with the legislators. If I may then asked, does the series of the collusion which had existed between the Parliament and the executive indicated the country is moving forward? Definitely, they are doing all that not because of the masses, but because of their own selfish interests.  ‘’I think the solution to all these problems the country is facing is that we should bring down everything and start all over for us to get our bearings’’

Chief Onigbinde who also delved into sports administration in Nigeria believed that corruption is one of the major things affecting sporting activities in the country arguing that he had already made up his mind that he would not dabble into administration of sports in the country anymore.

He said, ‘’I have taken a New Year resolution, that I will not dabble into football administration in this country anymore.  Those who are running our footfall today have no background of it. You are a media man go and find out. I have been with FIFA for over 20 years, and CAF for over 25 years. Are these two organizations stupid to have kept me for that long? It is sad that the experiences in those two places meant nothing to Nigeria. So I have decided that I will not bother myself with sports in the country, let them do it the way they want to do it’’   The first paper I wrote about sports development in Nigeria was in 1965 which is now 52 years ago.  I think at 79 in think I deserve some rest because there is nothing again that I am looking for in life that I have not got’’;

On how sports can further be developed, he argued that a lot of things are happening with our sports administration. Saying that the problem with the nation’s sports started when a national government abolished the Teachers Training Colleges all over the country, adding that, that was the downward trend in the nations education and sports because through the grade three and two education, Physical and health education was compulsory.

He said that then when you score 100percent in other subjects and you failed Physical and Health Education; you would not be issued a certificate.  According to him not that alone, since3 the abolition of the teacher training colleges, it was an indication that the country automatically killed professional teachers to teach in schools. “Go to Primary and secondary schools today they don’t have trained Teachers not to talk of having play ground where they would practice or engage in physical and health education. In Nigeria today, people use every available building even dilapidated ones for schools. As a matter of fact, the standard of education has fallen because there are no more professional teachers. How will a school that has no playing ground develop sports? In those days, schools are not approved without places for recreational facilities especially sports. That was how talents are discovered. There are so many sporting competitions and where good athletes and footballers were discovered. ‘’ He said that he always laugh when they say that they want to catch them young. I always ask with what are they catching them young when all the facilities to catch them young are no longer available.’’

He said the way government now fashion out method of teaching could not help our pupils and that is why the teachers are not professionally trained cannot effectively teach the students. For instance, ‘’it does not mean that because you have Ph.D. in Mathematics you will be able to  teach mathematics effectively when you are not trained as a teacher because you lack techniques of teaching and how to transfer knowledge’’