By Yemi Ajayi
In spite of the unexpected loss of the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria to Switzerland at the finals of the recently concluded Under 17 World Cup Football competition, Nigeria as the host country still has a lot to celebrate afterall.
First is the new found positive behaviour of spectators who watched the match excitedly without throwing missiles like bottled water, sachets of water and other objects at players on the pitch in any of the eight sub-seats approved by FIFA for the games. This cultured behaviour of the local fans demonstrated that Nigerian football supporters have come of age and that they can hold their heads high without damaging the country’s reputation anywhere they may find themselves.
For the first time in the history of football in Nigeria, the beating of drums and gongs, the clashing of cymbals and trumpets as well as the usually boisterous cacophony from supporting singers were drowned by a seemingly well orchestrated barbells from manually compressed plastic horns and whistles from almost everyone present which gave each of the eight sub-seats delineated for the game a festive mood that had never been witnessed before. The good behaviour of officials, the balanced attitude of thousands of security agents, volunteers and even the ordinary people living around the stadia confirmed more than ever that Nigeria could host the world successfully at any level of FIFA competition without hitches. Nigeria truly confirmed that she belongs to a special class of nations that can be entrusted with sensitive international assignments without the fear of bungling things up.
As Sepp Blata the FIFA president himself observed at the final match between Nigeria and Switzerland in Abuja, Nigeria has done FIFA proud by ensuring that all the anticipated problems that could damage the reputation of the game and put the hosting country in disrepute were all resolved by Nigerian LOC officials as they occurred, thereby giving Nigeria a clean slate of performance at the end of it all. Even, Jack Warner, the FIFA Vice President, who still expressed some last minute anxiety and reservations about the state of preparedness of some of the stadia before the games started, was the first FIFA boss to applaud Nigeria’s effort in creating very high standards in the conduct of the game particularly with regard to the general comportment of spectators throughout the eight FIFA sub-sets of Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, Jos, Calabar and Bauchi.
On its part, FIFA gave a generally satisfactory commendation to each sub-seat, but specifically commended the quality of facilities provided the latest state of the art internet facilities and high capacity long range communication gadgets to set a new standard, the Ijebu Ode stadium also provided the most refreshing and highly stimulating environment for both players, spectators and officials. It was also adjudged the best venue by FIFA in terms of security and the orderly behaviour of the crowd. FIFA was so impressed that it was said to have given a token to the Ijebu Ode sub seat LOC.
Certainly, the Ijebu Ode stadium deserves to be truly celebrated because no one gave the stadium a chance at the planning stage of the competition. The question on the lips of many then was why Ijebu Ode? As the only stadium with three standard Astro turf synthetic pitches specially put in place for the game within the same complex, the stadium stands a shoulder higher than others. Whereas, the remaining seven stadia were located in state capitals, the Ijebu Ode stadium complex was the only one located within a local government headquarters thereby making logistics very challenging. In spite of this however, international media management at the stadium was adjudged the best because of the very high standards of transmission equipments which were newly installed before the competition. This success was perhaps facilitated by the admonition of the Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel to the LOC that they should organize the Ijebu Ode matches as if Ogun was solely hosting the entire competition. All machineries of government were involved to ensure a very high quality of arrangement, both for players, spectators and officials. There was neither ticket racketeering, nor the usual konfu fighting amongst fans to forcefully gain entry into the stadium to watch the matches. Molestation of spectators or any other group of persons whatsoever was non-existent. The environment was orderly, so also were the events. Governor Daniel and his Commissioner For Youths and Sports, Mr. Bukola Olopade, deserve to be commended for their extra-ordinary involvement in the deployment of strategies for the effective delivery of a most successful game in Ogun State. The well-behaved crowd gave the game a new face in Ijebu Ode as there were no incidents of telephones being snatched, pockets being picked or spectators being harassed. The beauty and the aesthetics of the stadium itself came out alive at each of the match played in Ijebu Ode. Although, the stadium was built four years ago, the FIFA Under-17 World Cup competition made it a compelling challenge as well as an opportunity for the state government to turn it around and bring it to the standard of the best 10 stadia in the world. During the competitions, the stadium looked so good as if it was commissioned a day before the first FIFA match played between the USA and UAE. Reviewing the events later, the FIFA Vice President, Jack Warner said that it was regrettable that FIFA gave only three matches to Ijebu Ode and that if they knew that the crowd would so overwhelmingly respond to the matches as it turned out to be, they would probably have given more games to the stadium. The entire arrangement was superb; crowd control was perfect, security was fantastic and safety was everyone’s number one concern. On the instruction of the governor, the LOC was determined to ensure that there were no accidents, loss of lives or other unforeseen circumstances that could embarrass both the State and the Federal Government after such international meet. He was eager to avoid the recent Cote’d’voire’s sad experience where tickets were oversold, pick pockets had a field day stealing telephone handsets and cash from unsuspecting spectators while 23 others lost their lives as a result of stampede after a match.” Observers believe that much of the success at Ijebu Ode could be attributable to the governor’s commitment to the overall goal of delivering value to the people of Ogun State. He virtually relocated from Abeokuta to Ijebu Ode for the duration of the competition and personally monitored every aspect of the LOC game-plan to ensure nothing was left to chance. He was always physically present at the stadium to see things for himself. The Chairman of the LOC, Mr. Sanni Lulu came personally to Ijebu Ode to support the local LOC to ensure that they delivered a successful game. During his last visit, he was so moved by what he saw that he had to commend the governor of Ogun State for his investment in the modern facilities at the stadium. The Commissioner for Youths and Sports was always on hand at the stadium too to attend to all matters concerning the competition. He was on top of the job.
The Chairman of Ijebu Ode Local Government, Mr. Giwa Hassan and GM, OGROMA, Engr. Kehinde Osikoya were also not left out of the race to ensure that all roads leading to the stadium were made motorable with new access routes that made vehicular movements around the stadium easy to control. Security was excellent as the stadium by-pass was filled with a detachment of all security outfits – from policemen to SSS, FRSC, TRACE and the Nigerian Civil Defense Corps – to ensure the security and safety of the environment. No wonder Ijebu Ode was adjudged the most secured of all the 8 sub seats for the competition. The volunteers did a good job as well and they were ever present to direct people and effectively coordinate the mass movement of the crowd in the outside the stadium. The question now on the lips of people in Ijebu Ode is this: After the FIFA Under 17 World competition what next should the people expect at the Ijebu Ode stadium?
“A lot is already on ground,” says Governor Daniel. “What is left is for our citizens to take advantage of the rebound effects of the just concluded games by tapping into the a new opportunities provided by the events. For instance, it has opened more opportunities for commerce and with the structures on ground, we are planning to have a Football Academy at Ijebu Ode very soon. The academy is intended not just to put Ijebu Ode on the world map as the stadium to beat, but also to develop and harness the stadium’s innate capacity to support our youths in the area of sports development and thus put the facilities here to a more beneficial use while simultaneously creating jobs and career opportunities to the youths.”
In the worlds of Hon. Olopade, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, “life will never be the same again for the youths of Ijebu Ode as this World Cup competition has opened their minds to new possibilities and great prospects in football management and by the time we start the academy in February, 2010, they will certainly be the first set of people to benefit from this robust investment in human capital development being planned by Ogun State. The academy, when fully operational will provide world class facilities and specialized trainings to the people and it will be sponsored through a Public-Private Partnership initiative being currently worked out with some local and foreign partners. Several groups and organizations have already indicated interest with proposals on the project. The international governing body, FIFA has also given tacit support by suggesting new ways on how the academy project can be jump started. If the Ijebu Ode stadium could host the USA Vs. UAE match, the Argentina vs Colombia math and the Switzerland vs. Italy match without hitches, there is no doubt that Ogun State can host a much bigger tournament like the FIFA adult World Cup competition effortlessly. The Chairman of the LOC, Ijebu Ode sub seat, Mr. Rotimi George was convinced that the football academy being planned for Ijebu Ode would succeed because the response of the crowd to the recent FIFA Under-17 matches was an excellent indication of the enthusiasm of the people of Ijebu Ode for the game of football. According to Rotimi, “the grassroots would definitely benefit from this development because they would form the bulk of students who will start this international academy. This is the only way we can build sports into a big industry and keep our youths meaningfully engaged and sufficiently busy doing something which adds real value to their life and the society at large.” With the football academy in place early next year, Ijebu Ode will thus become major tourist centre for football lovers throughout Nigeria and beyond as well as an investment destination for sports businessmen and managers because the academy will attract top FIFA rated trainers, investors in sports facilities and prospective poachers of top players throughout the world. It is hoped that other states of the Federation where some of the FIFA competitions were played will do well to take advantage of the new opportunities which the games offered to make new investment moves that are similar to what Ogun State is presently doing.
•Yemi Ajayi wrote from Lagos.
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