The elections were a sharp and pleasant departure from the past when miscreants, men without visible means of livelihood stole their way into the boards of federations by merely dropping the name of some big shot in government.
From the zones, the pretenders were knocked off the race by the genuine sports people and this time round the oga at the top couldn’t save anybody. However the May 14 climax in Abuja was fiercely fought by aspirants into the boards of the various federations.
Some aggrieved aspirants are in court to dispute the outcome of the results. Yes, talk of the Do or Die politics which has become the hallmark of the country’s politics since the return of civilian rule in 1999.
In the midst of the turbulence which characterised the elections, a healthy development though, there was a lesson to learn from the judo federation. Unlike the other federations, the judo federation members elected their leadership without the slightest rancour, not even a whimper of protest.
The President and the Vice, Prince Timothy Nsirim and Dr. Musa Oshodi respectively were returned unopposed on the D-Day.
But, the truth is that the judokas were also involved in a battle of some sort before the emergence of the leadership but this was fought behind closed doors, and without bitterness.
A day before the elections, the true stakeholders of the sport , coaches, referees and administrators(elected from the six geo-political zones )over forty of them met in a hotel in Abuja to decide who will lead them.
There was no dispute as to who should lead the association as president. Prince Timothy Nsirim who was the first vice president under the former dispensation was unanimously chosen for his enormous contribution to the sport.
It was the position of vice president that generated some controversy with three candidates including a woman emerging. The deadlock prompted another meeting where the other contenders dropped their ambition for Dr. Musa Oshodi.
Officials of the National Sports Commission hailed the conduct of the members of the judo family and one who didn’t want to be named told judoblitzng.com “If Nigerian politicians can learn from the judo federation, this country will be a better place. The way they organized themselves while other federations were tearing themselves apart is highly commendable”.
The members of the board of the Nigeria Judo Federation inaugurated on Friday May 17,2013
Prince Timothy Nsirim President
Dr. Musa Oshodi Vice President
Mr.DamisageSulaiman Member
Mr. Ahmed Suleiman Aliyu Member
Mr.Aliyu Mohammed Abdullahi Member
Prof. Emma Mazi Member
Mr.OlusegunGbayi Member
Prof. E.O. Ojeme Member
Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed Member
Mrs. Grace Dooter Member
Dr. M.C. Eucheruo Member
The new board and its Herculean task
Like several other sports in the country, the fortunes of judo have been on a steady decline in the last ten years. For the first time since Nigerian judokas made their debut at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea in 1988, they failed to hoist the nation’s flag in the London Olympics last year. The country couldn’t make it through the African preliminaries to get a slot.
It is at this critical point in the chequered history of Nigerian judo which has made a big impact on the global stage that a new board is taking over its affairs. The board will be in charge for the next four years. Ab initio, the members of the new board should be conscious of the task ahead. To put it mildly they are confronting a Herculean challenge to revive Nigerian judo which is on a life support machine.
Nigerian judo has a rich history. It took dedicated men and women several years of toiling and deep thinking to take the oriental sport to the elite level. From Seoul 1988 till Beijing Olympics in 2008 Nigerian judo was a regular feature with the legion of stars giving the big guns from Asia, America and Europe a tough challenge.
In the continent, Nigerian judokas were able to hold their own against their counterparts from the Maghreb (North Africa), the powerhouse of African judo. In other international outings including the Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Nigerian judokas also made powerful statements.
But today, the story of Nigerian judo has changed .Even in the sub-region; it is no longer the envy as it once was. No thanks to some reprobate characters that were imposed on the federation by the NSC as secretaries. They came to the federation “to steal, kill and destroy”.
They achieved their aim and in the process reduced a sport that produced world acclaimed judokas like MajemiteOmagbaluwaje, West Igiebor, Kelvin Idehen, Bilikisu Yusuf and a host of others to the butt of caustic jokes.
If there is a sport that is in dire need of help it is Nigerian judo. That is why the present board should have no time for frivolities.
The members have to hit the ground running. The first important task they should tackle is the appointment of a secretary. This is very crucial because the success or failure of any federation is determined by the secretary. For Nigerian judo, the greatest evil that befell it is secretaries who were appointed by the NSC in the old dispensation.
The Sports Minister MallamBolajiAbdullahi while inaugurating the boards of the new federations announced a new policy thrust which empowered federations to employ their secretaries. With that pronouncement Abdullahi was annulling an old practice which contributed immensely to the sorry state of Nigerian sports. That is why, Nsirim and his team should be very grateful to the sports minister.
The NJF should get a secretary from outside the NSC because most of those who served judo and other sports in the past did not discharge their duties in a responsible manner. There were and still are outstanding secretaries in the NSC but one can count them on the fingers of one hand.
The man/woman the NJF needs at this crisis point in its history is one who can cope with the contemporary challenge of running sports as business, somebody who can reason outside the box. The dream secretary should have the capacity to win back the confidence of sponsors and other partners that their funds won’t end up in his pockets.
Above all, he should be transparent and accountable. With the right choice of a secretary, the battle to get judo back to its former Olympian height would be half won.