Former Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi was on Sunrise Daily, a programmme on Channels Television recently and he spoke on issues including how he was eased out of his Ministerial position as well as why he believes the administration he served in is “petty’’
While speaking on the success of the country’s U-20 national
team at the recently concluded African Youth Championship, Abdullahi disclosed
that they were the boys we took to the United Arab Emirates for the U-17 World
Cup. They are my children. We know the work we did in selecting those boys, in
keeping the team together. I wished we were not going to talk about this
because we know the situation our sports were before we started the work that I
was involved in. For 19 years, Nigeria did not win the AFCON, we know the work
we did, we qualified the country for the World Cup that we didn’t qualify fo
r
previously. We were getting ready to make things happen, but out of pettiness,
people felt that oh, I was related to people they considered to be their
enemies, and Nigeria’s interest was not so important anymore.
So what has happened? Since I was sacked, has the popularity
of government increased or has our sports improved because people were saying
oh, it doesn’t matter who is the head of sports. I think to say it doesn’t
matter who is the head of the sports institution or sector in Nigeria is to
deny the place for leadership. What we provided was leadership and that was why
we were able to achieve what we achieved and it wasn’t a coincidence that the
moment I was kicked out, things began to go south. I am not claiming personal
credit for anything but I know the work we did with so many people. I know the
kind of leadership I was able to provide. What I am saying is that when you
have a regime that is driven by pettiness, by a narrow view of things, look at
the issue of General Agwai, because the man went somewhere to say change was
inevitable, then people felt oh, he ought to go. Is this the kind of country
that we want for ourselves? Is this the kind of country that we want that a
Federal Government would be using religion to promote itself and divide the
people, is this the kind of Nigeria we want? Talking about my time in the
Ministry of Sports, I had four aides, all of them are Christians, all of them
from the South South and South East of Nigeria. It didn’t matter to me where
they came from as long as they are Nigerians or what religion they practice.
But we see a leadership of the Federal Government of Nigeria using religion and
this is very unfortunate. .
If General Buhari had attended one mosque, just one mosque
to say he had gone to worship with them, we know the kind of branding that
would have come as a result of that. That is why I am saying that we pray to
God that this kind of thing never happens in this country anymore. Look at
regional militias coming again and being given government contracts and rearing
their heads. This is the kind of thing that people see and the said look, this
PDP government is constipated on power. And you know, like any doctor would
tell you, when you suffer constipation, you need to take a break from eating.
One of the hosts of the programme put it across that similar
traits have been shown across the different political parties. The example
given was that in local government elections, ruling parties across the states
usually win without conceding any local government area to the opposing party.
Abdullahi was thereafter asked if there is any political party that has someone
from another political party in the kitchen cabinet of that party. “It’s not
about kitchen cabinet”, he responded and further stated that “don’t forget that
I was a card carrying member of PDP, I wasn’t APC. My political leader, Dr.
Saraki was also in PDP. At the level of his relationship with PDP, at the level
of his understanding of what was going on, he felt he had to leave the PDP. So,
what has that got to do with me? I was a Minister of the Federal Government of
Nigeria and I remained loyal to him. Dr. Saraki never invited me to his party,
he never asked me to follow him or to join him. But people felt I ought to have
denounced him, I ought to have denied him. There is nothing in my upbringing
that would have enabled me to do that.”
Abdullahi further pointed out that “when people want to be
mischievous, they say he belongs to another party and he is in that government.
It’s rubbish”.
Again, Abdullahi was confronted with the allegation that he
got “stalled” when his political leader left the PDP and that if he truly
believed in him and in his leadership, he ought to have followed suit
immediately. It was also put to him that he stayed back. The former Minister’s
reaction was “is there no place for national interest in this? You are saying
the moment Dr. Saraki left the PDP, I ought to have resigned my appointment in
the cabinet, even when we were working for Nigeria, even when we were preparing
for the World Cup, does that sound responsible to you? Sometimes we have to
rise above this pettiness. I think we have to change the orientation where we
think when people are in public office, we are doing them a favour. I think
that is the mentality that makes people go into public office and begin to
steal because we create that benefit mentality rather than service mentality.”
The hosts reminded him that the government gave contracts to
militans even when he was a serving Minister. He was thereafter asked why he didn’t
resign then if he had found it totally awful. Abdullahi explained that “the
point I am making is that we had a responsibility to build Nigerian sports. The
decision on whether to give contracts to militia or not to give contracts to
militia had nothing to do with me, if you understand how this government
operates and I think it is like blaming the victim to say oh, you were part of
that.” Speaking further, Mallam Boolaji Abdullahi said “there is no Minister in
President Jonathan’s cabinet today that will tell you that he is aware of how
these decisions are taken. If anybody says that, that person would not be telling
the truth. I believe it would be unfair, blaming me that oh, you ought to have
resigned. I was convinced about the work we were doing for Nigeria and we were
seeing results. And nobody, not even our enemies could say oh you weren’t doing
anything. If what happened was that I was accused of any impropriety, or
something happened that I failed in my responsibility, or the duty that I was
given, I can tell you confidently that anyone that knows me will tell you that
I am one of those people that would say okay, I will find something else to do.”
Abdullahi pointed out that “we are presented an opportunity
to choose between whether we want Nigeria to continue in the direction it that
it has continued in the last couple of years or we want to bring in a change in
the way the country is run. What APC is saying is that our country is in a bad
state, we have work to do. What PDP is saying is that we have done very well.
There is a difference between a party that is awarding itself medals and
bonanzas of excellence in the face of aggravating problem that the country is
facing and a party that is saying our country cannot continue in this direction:“
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