One Urhobo leader of his town’s union sometimes exclaims when things get heated up with his people, “Urhobo be suoor” (Urhobo people are difficult to lead!). I would burst out into uncontrollable laughter.
What do you expect from people who are republican by nature, where virtually everybody, trained and untrained, is a lawyer, where a poor person will ask a comfortable man during an argument, “wetin dey do you? Na you dey feed me?”
But it’s not about the Urhobos only. You can actually say, “Nigerians be suoor.” When issues come up, especially national, ethnic or political matters, go to the comment section. You will be alarmed, angry, disappointed or elicit other emotions. Some people will even dispute my assertion that Nigerians are difficult to govern.
I am no longer surprised. Freedom of speech is entrenched in our constitution and Nigerians exercise and sometimes abuse it. Recently the national female team, the Super Falcons, won their 10th championship. Only two countries, Equatorial and South Africa have won the trophy twice and once, respectively.
The federal government in appreciation of the feat honoured and rewarded the players and coaching crew with the national honour of Order of the Niger (OON). In addition, each player and member of the coaching crew was rewarded with a three-bedroom flat, and an equivalent of $100,000 dollars and $50,000 in naira for the players and coaching crew, respectively. The exchange rate at the time of writing was N1526.80 to a dollar.
And just last Sunday, the national female basketball team, D’Tigress, won the African title for a record seventh time and fifth consecutive time. They got the same reward as the Super Falcons.
The reactions to the largesse have been mixed, but I will discuss the only ones I disagree with. Our highly revered General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, unusually joined the fray. He has no problems with the largesse, but he felt the coaching crew should have received the same cash reward as the players. Daddy G.O., the salaries of many players in Europe is more than that of their coaches.
What the federal government did is perfectly normal to me. But I would not have complained if the cash reward was the same. But the equivalent of $50,000 in naira is N76,340,000 as at the time of writing. With the house given to them in Abuja, N20m of that money can build a very decent retirement bungalow in their villages for those who don’t already have one. If the balance is well invested, the returns can give them a steady second income stream. They can also use part of the money to sort out other areas of their lives that need money. If they choose to rent out the Abuja house, that is another stream of income.
We know some former coaches and sports administrators who were ill or died poor. If they had this kind of largesse in their active years and managed it well, the story could have been different. The same applies to some of these retired sportsmen.
Also, I saw videos of policemen and soldiers speaking that the largesse to our heroines is undeserved. I see things differently. One said they did a three-week competition and are getting so much reward. That is not true. Some have put in a decade or more to get to where they are. These ladies have brought honour and happiness to Nigerians and deserve all that they got.
But I agree that the police and the military play a critical role in Nigeria. Without them Nigeria will be in total chaos. Every labourer deserves his rewards, so the welfare of our security personnel is something the government needs to look into: their wages, conditions of service and gratuity, etc. But the government also needs to focus on the hierarchy. Some of them complained about their superiors. Was N2m and N8m actually the gratuity after 35 years of service as some retired police men and women alleged? That is servitude not service and should be remedied.
Nigeria is practically at war with bandits, terrorists and kidnappers. Every policeman or soldier who goes for operations puts his life on the line because some of their colleagues who went never returned to their families. It’s a risky job and anybody who is in it needs to be well motivated. Those in service should well paid while families of the fallen ones should be paid their death benefits. The compulsory group life insurance policy binding on employers with three or more staff should be well implemented with the benefits paid to the next of kin as stated in the Group life insurance contract.
I can listen to such arguments. But I disagree with the comparisons in terms of rewards. Peter can be paid his dues without robbing Paul. We know that all over the world sportsmen and women earn big money from various sources, including rewards after winning a major tournament. How many Portuguese military personnel or police officers are as rich as Ronaldo and other Portuguese players?
How many earn the kind of salaries Messi and other Argentine players earn? Coming to England, the home of football, how many soldiers and Policemen earn the crazy salaries of British and foreign players who play in the premiership earn? Everything is not politics. Let’s call a spade a spade.
I maintain that the reward is well deserved. In a world, where every Nigerian is guilty until you prove yourself innocent, this goes a long way in redeeming our image. In Africa, the case of Nigerians is different. The major problem Nigerians have in Africa is ENVY. If not, how can adult men go on demonstration because Nigerian men are taking over their women?
How can traders go on demonstration because Nigerian traders sell at lower prices because the Nigerian traders rely on volume to make sales and profit. Meanwhile the natives want to sell a few items and make huge profits. Even their fellow citizens are abandoning their shops and patronising Nigerian traders.
Meanwhile many other Africans are also involved in the crimes Nigerians are being accused of. Our large population probably means that more Nigerians might be involved because we are also adventurous and travel more.” But all have sinned and come short…”
Sports and music are partly what Nigerians are using to shut up the rest of Africa. We are far ahead and they concede, their hatred and hostility notwithstanding. If you are active on social media and you want to pepper them and shut them up, these are powerful tools. And you tell me that some of the people who provide us these powerful weapons should not be adequately rewarded? Biko tota ofa (Please say something else).
I stopped following music trends almost 20 years ago. But right now, I am a follower of Nigerian music. Why? It’s because our musicians also provide powerful weapons to fight and pepper them on social media. I am omo Naija to the core. On the reward for the Super Falcons and D’Tigress players, I am 100 per cent with the federal government.