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Abuja 2018


Sir Rols

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Well, is it safe to have a thread so-called now? I guess at some stage it had to come under discussion - and i didn't want to bump the old one (which has been inactive since 2008).

Anyway, it does seem to still be a live plan, though precious little official seems to have ben said in Nigeria.

One thing, though, is there has been a lot of kerfuffel for months about Nigeria's sports minister. Culminating in this:

Sports commission plans to pull out of Commonwealth Games

Sani Ndanusa, immediate past minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission (NOC) had nursed the ambition of becoming the president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) but that dream may have been thwarted by his removal from office by our acting president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Thwarted in that direction, he seems to have activated Plan B, which is to pull Nigeria out of the Commonwealth Games and join the Commonwealth Games Association, a body for countries who do not have national olympic committees. But that is not all about the plan. The next gambit will be for Ndanusa to be made the head of that group.

If Nigeria intends to associate with St. Kitts, Guernsey, and other small islands that form the Commonwealth Games Association, then questions need to be asked, and quickly too. One of these is whether this move will improve sports in our country, or whether it will simply shore up the sagging Ndanusa.

It would appear that this is yet another messy plan to further cripple our debilitated sports scene.

NEXT - African Sport

Yeah, it's all pretty confusing. But in the end it seems there's a lot of ... ahem ... skullduggery going on in Nigerian sports. I can't see how this can be boding well for theor 20-18 bid.

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The way I've been following it, it seems this former sports minister, Ndanusa, has been fingered lately for corruption (including appropriating generators from the Under 17 or 21 FIFA tournamant they hosted to use in his home), the acting Nigerian President is trying to sack him and block him from heading up the country's NOC, and Ndanusa's counter-tactic apparently is to found up some sort of weird new Nigerian Sports Committee body ... and who knows what else?

Here's some more:

Who will miss Ndanusa?

When the first and second list of ministers were released during the week and Sani Ndanusa's name was missing, sports buffs and fans celebrated.

For all his knowledge of sports, Ndanusa short's spell was one we never pray to experience again.

His failure in all area of sports administration and management strain the descriptive power of any adjective. There are rumours of a final list, and members of the sports family are praying that Ndanusa's name will not be on that list.

A look at the present list reveals who may likely be the sports minister if background is anything to go by. But who really cares about background.

Ndanusa's failure has proved that being in sports for long does not make you a better manager.

The school of thought that usually argues that the reason we have not fared well in sports is because our past administrators do not eat, drink and sleep sports before their appointment has been defeated, at least for now.

Ndanusa had a good knowledge of sports before he was appointed, yet he is reputed as being the worst sports minister ever since we returned to civil rule, and that is why many are praying that he does not come back.

We will always remember Abdulrahman Gimba for pulling down the Amos Adamu hegemony in sports, Isaiah Mark Aku will be remembered for his battles with the sports cabal which he won, Isa Muhammed, with all his faults, will be remembered for leading Nigeria to win the Abuja 2003 All Africa Games, these are guys without a background in sports.

But what can we remember a bonafide member of the sports fraternity for if eventually he does not come back.

Agenda for the next minister

One of the first agendas for the new sports minister is to clean the mess that Ndanusa left. This begins with salvaging our preparation for the Commonwealth games. As today, Ndanusa and officials of the National Sports Commission have not done anything about Team Nigeria's preparation for the games.

The only thing related to the Commonwealth Games is planning to pull Team Nigeria out of the control of the Nigeria Olympics Committee. As at today, officials of the National Sports Commission are planning to join the Commonwealth Games Association. The reason for this is simply parochial and pure nepotism. The calculation is, if Ndanusa does not get elected as the president of NOC, he will be the president of CGA.

While millions of Naira is being spent on this project, and hosting of association chairmen who will vote for Ndanusa in the election, athletes are crying for training grants and money owned them since 2008. For Nigeria to have a good appearance in New Delhi, the new minister of sports must, as matter of urgency, pay athletes that are being owned. The likes of Damola Osayomi, Nurudeen Salem and Halimat Muhammed, and a host of other track and field athletes have made up their minds to boycott the games unless their money is paid. Apart from athletes, officials and ex-athletes are owned millions of naira. One keeps wondering what happened to all the money appropriated for athletics in the last few years if the federation has so much debt.

Government resources that are being wasted on Ndanusa's inordinate ambition to become the NOC president can be used to pay the athletes.

But it is not just athletics, the other sports like boxing, basketball, volleyball, tennis, weight-lifting, wrestling, judo and other are facing similar problems, if not worse.

The states of our stadia are terrible. There are no facilities and equipment for athletes, and one could go on and list the challenges.

The new minister may not be able to solve these problems due to the shortage of time as the administration ends in May 2011, but the new minister can avert the pending disaster of the Commonwealth Games by paying athletes their dues so we could win a medal or two in New Delhi.

The minister must also probe the Hoddlegate scandal and get to the bottom of the bribery scandal.

Was Glen Hoddle lying or did the members of the panel actually demanded bribe from him. I tend to believe Hoddle's story because if Hoddle had played the ball, he would have gotten the job and everybody would have kept quiet.

The new minister must unveil the member of the panel that demanded money from Hoddle, he must also let Nigerians know why Lars Lagerback who was earning about $300,000.00 per annum in Sweden suddenly increased in value and he is now going to earn $1.5 millions in five months. Who negotiated on behalf of Nigeria, did they ask for Lagerback's last pay slip. If they did and saw what he earned, why the astronomic jump in salary, or was it a case of Lagerback co-operating where Hoddle did not give them a separate invoice for his wage and the kick back.

The task before the new sports minister is huge and I don't envy him at all. So who will miss Ndanusa? The cabal that are feeding from sports, his election spin doctors and sports marketers.

Next

You're right M, it's like watching the Tribal Politics on "Survivor".

And this is a mob who honestly think they should be entrusted with 2018?

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It seems it's official! (Abuja out, that is. I'm still not convinced Ham-bone-tutti or whatever isn't an April Fool's day Joke).

THE Gold Coast has just one city to compete against in the bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a surprise nomination from the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota.

The Nigerian city of Abuja, in the midst of a political crisis, failed to submit a formal nomination to the Commonwealth Games Federation by the overnight deadline.

Commonwealth Games Federation President, Mike Fennell, said he was delighted that cities from two different Commonwealth regions had put themselves forward to host the 2018 Games.

``It is most pleasing to have two cities from different regions of the Commonwealth vying for the right to host the 2018 Games,'' he said.

``We have India hosting the Games for the first time in 2010, Glasgow already selected for the 2014 Games as a European host, and now we know we will be in either the Oceania or Asia region for the 2018 edition.

``Each city has recognised the enormous benefits that flow from hosting a Commonwealth Games. A successful bid provides an opportunity to provide a legacy for future generations.

``I am confident that each city will put forward a strong case for selection.''

Gold Coast Bulletin

Honestly, what a turn-up!

The Kiwis would have to be seriously pissed. All Auckland would have had to do way say "yes" and the GC would have stood aside!

Now that Australia has thrown Gold Coast into the ring, expect this new thread to light up VERY soon! <_<

It sure did ... but not in the way some former members might have expected!

LOL!

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So what the bloody hell happened with Abuja??????

It's look to me that there's actually no sports administration in place in Nigeria - and nobody in the country even aware that there was a deadline for a bid application to go in.

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:lol: Good Riddance! B)

As for Auckland, don't be to sure about that city being a shoe-in...John Banks has now confirmed that the city would've been woefully unprepaired and would've had to lean on the taxpayer to fund even the basics.

...Anyway Auckland has won back it's stopover for the Volvo Round The World Yacht Race in 2012. The plan is to re-ignite enthusiesim for Yachting as the America's cup is getting popular again.

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^^you mean BAD riddance. I was rooting for Abuja to bid for this event, but they decided to pull our and let a relatively unknown and inexperienced city take its place. It's all up to Gold Coast now.

:blink: What?...Hambanthota?...Well that's Abuja's fault for not paying attention to the deadline isn't it!!! Unacceptable.

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Perhaps, maybe perhaps, offering 2018 to Abuja after Glasgow would have been perhaps maybe semi-wise

I lifted your quote from another thread, Mo, but it leads to a good question and one I've wondered:

Was part of the reason that Abuja dropped out/didn't pursue the games was because they WOULD have faced another bid contest, rather then being handed to them by default?

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I just think that perhaps if the CWG Fed had worked with Abuja on its bid issues, of which there were a whole ton of them, and had given them a longer time to prepare Abuja would have benefited significantly.

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I just think that perhaps if the CWG Fed had worked with Abuja on its bid issues, of which there were a whole ton of them, and had given them a longer time to prepare Abuja would have benefited significantly.

Hmmmmm. Maybe then the CGW should've jump on the dual bid bandwagon, like FIFA and the IRB, and award two games at once, and have given it the extra four years to get it all together.

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  • 3 months later...

It's a month old, but I hadn't noticed it before. Finally a comment from Nigeria on why they didn't bid for 2018:

June 27 - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that Abuja did not bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games because of security fears in the country.

Abuja had been widely expected to be the Gold Coast's main rivals but unexpectedly did not put themselves forward by the deadline of March 31.

It left the Australian candidate to face only one other city to bid, Hambantota in Sri Lanka.

The Nigerian capital had been expected to be strong favourites after missing out in 2007 to Glasgow to stage the 2014 Commonwealth Games by 47 votes to 24.

But Jonathan has now revealed that he believes they were not awarded those 2014 Games because the international community feared for their safety in Nigeria, even though he claimed situation is far worse in South Africa, which is currently hosting the FIFA World Cup.

Jonathan said: "The security situation in the country is worrisome; especially kidnapping.

...

Jonathan claimed that the worst problems occurred in Niger Delta, the oil-rich where ethnic violence is common and kidnappings regularly take place.

He said: "I remember when we were struggling to host the [2014] Commonwealth Games, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua asked us to go and appeal to the organisers.

"What was used in blackmailing us was kidnapping.

"And I told them, look, you are talking of kidnapping, I am from the Niger Delta, where we are going to host the Games is Abuja and Niger Delta is far away from Abuja."

Insidethegames

Sigh! I still see they refer to concerns about their 2014 bid as "blackmailing".

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  • 2 months later...

Noticed this in The Oz the other day, and wondered how long it would take a former member to bite back:

Is this the beginning of the end for the Commonwealth Games?

IF you thought Delhi's Commonwealth Games might have plunged the future of this event into doubt, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Here is the ultimate symbol of all that is wrong with the Commonwealth Games - 24 nations chose Abuju, Nigeria, ahead of successful 2014 hosts Glasgow in the 2007 vote on where the Games should be held.

For those who aren't acquainted with the geo-political scene, Nigeria could be loosely described as a hell-hole.

Just last week three bombs went off in Abuju, killing nine people, with the oil-rich country rife with bombings of the pipe-line, terrorist threats and the kidnapping of foreigners.

The Australian government warns against travel there "due to the high threat of terrorist attack, the high risk of kidnapping, the unpredictable security situation, and the high level of violent crime".

It makes India look like Paradise.

Yet if just 12 more of the 71 countries - many of them third-world - had voted for Nigeria, then that's where the Games would have been held in four years.

With countries like Australia, New Zealand and England no chance to send athletes, it would have killed the Commonwealth Games.

...

more at: The Australian

Comments on this story:

paul taylor of canada Posted at 8:19 PM October 10, 2010

First why is it that a fourth estate journalist in the man of Jon Ralph is so blatantly un-educated when writing of a couple of subjects here. Abuja Nigeria is far from a Hell Hole and Western cities are also themselves not immune to attacks like the one that happened a week or so ago in Abuja. Pure Racism is all I can think of London on July 7 2005 the day they won the 2012 olympics, had a bus and a couple of Subway cars blown up by terrorists killing 52 people. By extension of you premise London would be a terrible place to host a sports festival ? Glasgow had the June 30 th attack on their airport prior to two sets of terrorist attacks in London on the 7th and 21 st of July 2007. The reasoning that 24 voters indeed voted from Abuja is very very simple . They actually have much of the world class venues that fit the games IE a 60000 seat Athletics Dedicated Stadium on the ground and many of the venues including the required indoor velodrome that Glasgow has fallen way behind on building by the Scottish governments own admission. The other voters well lets say the gifts of undergraduate degrees for University of Glasgow and fine Scottish Whiskey were on or around the table.

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