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OPINION: Nigeria Vs South Africa: Beyond Football

Published

2 years ago

February 5, 2024

Editor

By Lasisi Olagunju

Sports, especially football, have opiatic effects on Nigerians. I call it kinetic booze. The ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football competition has been remarkable in numbing the people’s terrible pain and pangs of hunger. Since this thing started, morbid fears of violent death and of mass abduction get forgotten every night in sporty ecstasy. “Let’s give them opium, and let them sleep and dream.” That is from Miguel de Unamuno’s Don Manuel, a fictional Catholic priest with no belief in afterlife but who keeps himself happy doing good. We kill our misery drinking football to stupor. We dream of winning the next match and the next with the cup of victory. We are happy. The government should be happy too – and I think it is. Like all festivals, however, this season must end – and it will on Sunday, 11 February. But then, government won’t be government again if it does not have for the people another means of “illusory happiness.”

But what is at stake in AFCON’s semifinal match on Wednesday between Nigeria and South Africa is more than football. Every goal scored by either side will go to settling some mordant scores. We watched the AFCON quarter final match between tiny Cape Verde and big South Africa on Saturday night. Was that really a match between those two? Nigerians took it as their war; they say South Africans are not our friends. We invested money, men and emotions in their freedom from apartheid. We lost every kobo of those investments. The harvest from that field has been barns of hurtful engagements on all fronts. They do not hide their disdain for us; they dislike us – in sports and in politics, in business and in everything.

From banking to pay TV to food retailing, and from telecom to sports, Nigeria and South Africa have teams slugging it out. In football, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana will face Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the AFCON semifinal on Wednesday at 6pm. In telecoms, the fixture has always been Nigeria’s Globacom versus South Africa’s MTN. They play in Nigeria and have played in Ghana. I think they play in a few other places. It has been intriguingly tough for the Nigerian side but it is significant that Glo has diligently manned the post to the anger and discomfort of the competition from outside. When mobile telephony was launched here in 2001, we were stunned that we made one second’s call and paid for 60 seconds. Nigerians grumbled, they whined and complained. We demanded that we should be billed based on our consumption. A strong pushback, led by MTN, said no, billing per-second was not possible here – but it was possible in South Africa where it came from. We were helpless until 2003 when indigenous Globacom came in and set us free from the snares of the alien.

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Trapped tigers when freed feed on their helpers. That is why we say ingrates are not better than thieves (Eni t’a se l’óore tí kò dúpé, bí olósà kóni l’érù lo ni). We push delicious bush meat to them, they unleash on us snakes. People have died; people have lost valuable investments in South Africa just because they are Nigerians. When President Bola Tinubu and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa met at the United Nations headquarters in New York in September last year, they hugged as brothers and their countries as friends. But, “what greater wound is there than a false friend” (Sophocles). Even in international relations and politics, friendship should be a two-way street. Here, it is breached. A Nigerian diplomat was quoted by Paris-based English quarterly magazine, The Africa Report in its September 2023 edition as saying that “there are over 100 South African businesses in Nigeria” but “there are less than 10 registered Nigerian companies in South Africa.” The magazine goes further to note that “several Nigerian businesses have experienced little success in South Africa and exited.” It gave examples. Every fair and foul move you see on the football field of play is displayed across other sectors where Nigeria and South Africa engage. In most cases, the Nigerian side always loses because of unfair deals -and because of the Nigerian state’s peculiar I-don’t-care attitude to such challenges.

There is this character, Wago, in Elechi Amadi’s The Great Ponds. Wago is a fearsome, fearless champion who does not fight fair. He does everything to have his way: he bullies, he threatens, he does sorcery. He does not say sorry and will not beg whenever he is proven wrong; even his plays are hard tackles. “I am Wago, the leopard-killer,” boastful and haughty, he tells his terror-stricken listeners. He thinks his strength represents his village’s superiority over the other villages. He sets out to subdue his opponents and hoists up his community as the ultimate dispenser of favours. And he has had his way many times. Now, he must fight this war over the great ponds of Wagaba. Wago has an old rival to fight and settle all claims, once and for all. If his rival falls, he rises above all men, and his village becomes the exclusive owner of the ponds that serve all. The story ends with Wago and his land failing, disastrously – a victim of his own dark ways of doing the business of war.

Powerful entities, countries, strong men and their ways always lead me to Wago’s story. South Africa brought the long word ‘xenophobia’ into my consciousness. And, I am not alone. In business, they loathe, bully and muzzle whatever is Nigerian – even on our own soil. They milk us right here – how much was your DSTV subscription three months ago? How much is it now? Their telecoms foothold here, MTN, what is your experience doing business with it? Television station owners in Nigeria should also have stories to tell of their experiences with their South African host. So, it was not a surprise to see Nigerians on Saturday fully backing Cape Verde in wishes and prayers against South Africa. My friends who supported South Africa said they did so not out of love. They said Nigeria peeling and munching the Bafana Bafana in the semifinal would be sweet revenge for that country’s past and present monkeying acts. Another friend who has relations in South Africa did not want Nigeria to face that country in the semifinal “because we will defeat them and our people may be targets of attacks in South Africa.” But, for how long will that fear alter the direction of our supplication?

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What they do to us here, we dare not do to them there. I maintain more than one telephone line because my job demands that I do. I have a Glo line and an MTN line. I have one other. Two weeks ago, my MTN line stopped working. The company said the line was barred because I had not linked the SIM with my NIN. But that was a lie. I did that a long time ago – the same day I linked my Glo line which is still working – perfectly. It turned out that I was just one person out of millions of Nigerians who suffered that barring of lines. While the problem was across all service providers, the difference has been in how customers are treated. The unjust penalty was not the biggest headache victims have had to contend with. Getting it fixed is a pilgrimage of sorts to the way the behemoth from South Africa treats its Nigerian customers. It has been a yellow-fever experience for millions everywhere they go. At all the centres where I went to try to do as I was ordered, I met people under the searing rays of the sun – waiting for attention. They are still there in tens and scores, suffering and sweating. I finally got my line fixed on Friday but I will be naive to think that it will not happen again.

The Ogiyan of Ejigbo in Osun State, Oba Omowonuola Oyeyode Oyesosin, who clocked 50 years on the throne a few days ago, is one of the deepest speakers of Yoruba language I have (yet) met. About a decade ago, he told me that people who are too big for reprimand will ultimately ruin their society (a tóbi má se é bá wí, wón máa nba ìlú jé ni). South Africa is big in everything good and bad. Until 1989, it was a nuclear power on the African continent. I remember I joked with my friends when in October 2015, the Muhammadu Buhari regime slammed a $5.2billion fine on MTN for failing to disconnect unregistered phone lines. I told my friends that if at all anything would be paid, the money would not come from the South African pocket. I told my friends that they and all other Nigerians who were on that network would pay the fine. Reports said the company eventually negotiated its way out, settling Nigeria with $1.7billion. But, who really paid? Certainly, Nigerians. And the practice that led to that fine, was it fixed? If it was properly fixed, my line and millions of others would not be axed two weeks ago. The same company recently declared a trade dispute with Globacom over interconnectivity fees. MTN claimed N7.05 billion from Globacom; Globacom fought back with counterclaims. A threat to disconnect Glo lines was made and was rebuffed by the threatened. The Bola Tinubu government did well here; it intervened and asked both parties to do reconciliation. Reports say the reconciliation exercise brought the figure down from N7.05 billion to N2.3billion. I had thought that hyperbole existed only in literary and rhetorical heavens. However, with this, I could see that making exaggerated claims can serve as havens if you are big enough. But, should there not be consequences for such a hand-of-God attempt at scoring a goal against an opponent? There will be none. We are dealing with a well-heeled pampered behemoth here.

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If you call your food bowl a po, your neighbour will poo into it. It is how you dress that you will be addressed. We allow free-range hunters to poach our elephants. And, because big misfortunes have wrestled down the giant, small ones are finding the courage to play with its balls. Someone said it wasn’t only in Nigeria they do what they do. They say business cemeteries in Ghana, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, etc contain skulls of those who dared the powerful. For too long, we’ve played soft with South Africa and its twigs. We’ve got wounded and stretchered off the field. That is not how to win against a team of bullies. There should be reciprocal gestures – you bite me, I bite you. A country that will survive and be respected will protect its own and, while dealing with the outside, do as Niccolo Machiavelli counseled: Act as “a true friend and a true enemy” at the same time.

The AFCON semifinal match coming up on Wednesday is a metaphor for settling scores. People who think they are powerful wear the costume of the gods. They toy with the rules and do whatever they like without consequences. Powerful persons and entities are gods; impunity is their turf. Whatever they do, you can’t call them to account. That is why they are gods – they are pampered with sweets of unquestionableness. South Africa, a country beautified with our feathers, with its businesses, does that with us routinely at home and abroad. As of 2019, official records in Nigeria showed that we lost 118 lives to xenophobic attacks in South Africa, 13 by the South African police. I do not have more current figures. That country looks down on us with disgust because we indulge it – even when the field of play is built on our soil. My history teacher in secondary modern school took me through the stories of imperial Rome, Hannibal, Carthage, the three Punic Wars and delenda est Carthago – the patriotic, defiant phrase which ended Cato’s every speech in the senate. Defeating South Africa on Wednesday will serve some poetic justice.

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OPINION: Nigerian Leaders And The Tragedy Of Sudden Riches

Published

14 minutes ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

By Israel Adebiyi

It is my sincere hope that by now, the wives of the 21 local government chairmen of Adamawa State are safely back from their exotic voyage to Istanbul, Turkey, a trip reportedly bankrolled by the local government finances under the umbrella of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). A journey, we are told, designed to “empower” them with leadership skills. It’s the kind of irony that defines our political culture, an expensive parade of privilege masquerading as governance.

But that is what happens when providence smiles on an ill-prepared man: he loses every sense of decorum, perspective, and sanity.

I am reminded of a neighbour from nearly two decades ago, a simple man who earned his living as a welder in a bustling corner of Alagbado, in Lagos. One day, fortune smiled on him. The details of how it happened are less important than the aftermath. Overnight, this humble tradesman was thrust into wealth he never imagined. His first response was to remodel his one-room face-me-I-face-you apartment. He then bought crates of beverages for his wife to start a small trade. Nights became movie marathons, days were spent entertaining friends and living large. Within a short while, both the beverages and the money were gone. The family consumed what was meant to be sold, and before long, they were back to where they began, broke and disillusioned.

That, in many ways, mirrors the tragedy of Nigerian leadership. It’s the poverty mindset in leadership.

The story of my neighbour is a microcosm of the Nigerian political elite, particularly at the subnational level. When sudden riches come, wisdom departs. When opportunity presents itself, greed takes over. In the past years, since the removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent fiscal windfall that followed, all levels of governments, particularly both state and local governments have found themselves with more resources than they have had in over a decade. Yet, rather than invest in ideas that would stimulate production, jobs, and infrastructure, what we have witnessed is an epidemic of frivolities, unnecessary travels, wasteful seminars, inflated projects, and reckless spending.

Across the country, the story is similar: councils and states spending like drunken sailors. Suddenly, workshops in Dubai, leadership retreats in Turkey, and empowerment programs that empower nobody have become the order of the day. The sad reality is that many of these leaders lack the intellectual depth, managerial capacity, and moral restraint to translate resources into development. Their worldview is transactional, not transformational.

Nigeria’s tragedy is not the absence of resources; it is the misplacement of priorities. Across the states, billions are allocated to vanity projects that contribute little or nothing to the people’s quality of life. Roads are constructed without drainages and collapse at the first rainfall. Hospitals are built without doctors, and schools are renovated without teachers. Governors commission streetlights in communities without power supply. Council chairmen purchase SUVs in towns where people still fetch water from muddy streams. This is not governance; it is pageantry.

The problem is rooted in a poverty mindset, a mentality that sees power not as a platform for service but as an opportunity for consumption. Like the welder who squandered his windfall, our leaders are more preoccupied with display than development. They seek validation through possessions and patronage. They confuse spending with productivity. After all, these guarantee their re-election and political relevance.

Take for instance, the proliferation of “empowerment” schemes across states and local governments. Millions are spent distributing grinding machines, hair dryers, and tricycles, symbolic gestures that make headlines but solve nothing. In a state where industrial capacity is non-existent and education is underfunded, these programs are nothing but political theatre.

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Part of the reason for this recurring tragedy is the near absence of accountability. At every level of government, public scrutiny has been deliberately weakened. The legislature, which should act as a check on executive excesses, has become a willing accomplice. Most state assemblies now function as mere extensions of the governor’s office. Their loyalty is not to the constitution or the people, but to the whims of the man who controls their allowances. When oversight is dead, impunity thrives.

The same is true at the local government level. The councils, which should be the closest tier of governance to the people, have become mere revenue distribution centres. Their budgets are inflated with cosmetic projects, while core community needs – clean water, rural roads, primary healthcare, and education – remain neglected. In most states, local governments have been stripped of autonomy, no thanks to the governors, and turned into cash dispensers for political godfathers.

A functioning democracy depends on the ability of citizens and institutions to demand explanations from those in power. Unfortunately, Nigeria has normalised a culture of unaccountability. We applaud mediocrity, celebrate looters, and reward failure with re-election.

Leadership without vision is like a vehicle without direction, fast-moving but going nowhere. Our leaders often mistake motion for progress. A road contract here, a stadium renovation there, a new office complex somewhere, yet the fundamental problems remain untouched.

When a government cannot define its priorities, it becomes reactive, not proactive. It responds to crises rather than preventing them. The consequence is that we keep recycling poverty in the midst of plenty.

Consider the fate of many oil-producing states that have earned hundreds of billions from the 13 percent derivation fund. Despite their enormous earnings, the communities remain among the poorest in the federation. The roads are not just bad but are deathtraps, the schools dilapidated, and the hospitals understaffed. The money vanished into white-elephant projects and political patronage networks.

Visionary leadership is not about having a title or holding an office; it is about seeing beyond the immediate and investing in the future. It is about building systems that outlive individuals. Sadly, most of our leaders are incapable of such long-term thinking because they are trapped in the psychology of survival, not sustainability.

There is a proverb that says: “The foolish man who finds gold in the morning will be poor again by evening.” That proverb could have been written for Nigeria. Each time fortune presents us with an opportunity, whether through oil booms, debt relief, or global trade openings, we squander it in consumption and corruption.

The subsidy removal windfall was meant to be a moment of reckoning, a chance to redirect resources to development, improve infrastructure, and alleviate poverty. Instead, it has become another tragic chapter in our national story, a story of squandered wealth and wasted potential.

When money becomes available without the corresponding capacity to manage it, it breeds recklessness. Suddenly, every council wants a new secretariat. Every governor wants to build a new airport or flyovers that lead to nowhere. The tragedy is not in the availability of money but in the absence of vision to channel it productively.

Nigeria does not lack bright minds; it lacks systems that compel responsibility. What we need is a new civic consciousness that demands accountability from those in power. Citizens must begin to interrogate budgets, question policies, and reject tokenism. Civil society must reclaim its watchdog role. The media must rise above “he said, he said” journalism and focus on investigative and developmental reporting that exposes waste and corruption.

Equally, the legislature must rediscover its purpose. Lawmakers are not meant to be praise singers or contract brokers. They are the custodians of democracy, empowered to question, probe, and restrain executive recklessness. Until they reclaim that role, governance will remain an exercise in futility.

The solution also lies in leadership development. Leadership should no longer be an accident of chance or patronage; it must be a deliberate cultivation of character, competence, and capacity. The tragedy of sudden riches is avoidable if leaders are adequately prepared to handle responsibility.

Ultimately, the change we seek is not just in policy but in mindset. Nigeria must confront the culture of consumption and replace it with a culture of productivity. We must move from short-term gratification to long-term investment, from vanity projects to value creation, from self-aggrandizement to service.

Every generation has its defining moment. Ours is the opportunity to rethink governance and rebuild trust. The tragedy of sudden riches can become the triumph of sustainable wealth, but only if we learn to manage fortune with foresight.

Until that happens, the Adamawa wives will keep travelling, the chairmen will keep spending, and the people will keep waiting for dividends that never come.

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JUST IN: Court Orders IGP To Arrest Mahmood Yakubu, Ex-INEC Chairman

Published

4 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Despite his exit as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, has again ordered the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the former INEC chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, for an offence relating to contempt of court.

The Court order came a few hours after Yakubu left office as the INEC chairman.

The Action Alliance, AA, had instituted a case before the court challenging INEC and its former chairman, Prof Yakubu, over their non-compliance with the judgment of the Court delivered by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi in suit number FHC/OS/CS/194/2024.

In the said judgment, the court ordered INEC to put the names of the National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, and other members of the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, on the INEC portal.

The Court also held that the names of all the state chairmen of the party be uploaded on the INEC portal.

The court held that the elective convention of the party held on the 7th of October, 2023 which produced Omoaje as the national chairman of the party and other NEC members of the party was authentic as it was properly monitored and supervised by officials of INEC in accordance with the party’s constitution and the electoral acts.

However, INEC claimed to have complied with the court judgment, but the party disagreed with the commission, as the name of Omoaje was yet to be uploaded on the commission’s website despite the orders of the Court.

Although the names of the state chairmen of the party under the leadership of Omoaje and those of the NEC members are already on the INEC portal, Omoaje’s name is yet to be uploaded as of press time, a development that the court frowned at.

The court order obtained by our correspondent dated 7th October, 2025, and signed by Mr O.M. Kilani on behalf of the Court Registrar reads in part, “it is hereby ordered that the Inspector General of Police shall cause the arrest and shall charge the defendant/judgment debtors for contempt and committal proceedings within seven days of this ruling.”

The court also awarded a cost of #100,000 against the judgment creditors.

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Lagos Closes Adeniji Adele–CMS Lane For Six Weeks Of Repairs

Published

5 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has announced a partial closure of the Adeniji Adele Interchange Junction to CMS for six weeks to allow for rehabilitation works by the Federal Government.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, the repair works will run daily between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., starting Sunday, October 12, and ending Sunday, November 23, 2025.

Osiyemi explained that only one lane of the road will be closed during the period, while the remaining lanes will remain open to traffic to minimize disruptions.

He assured motorists that traffic management officers will be stationed along the corridor to ensure smooth vehicular movement and reduce inconvenience during the rehabilitation.

“Motorists are implored to be patient, as the lane diversion is part of the traffic management plan for the rehabilitation of the road by the Federal Ministry of Works,” the commissioner said.

He also urged drivers to comply with the directives of traffic officials on duty to ensure safety and efficient traffic flow throughout the repair period.