After the long period of expectant waiting, the Nigerian University Games hosted by the Obafemi Awolowo University kicked-off amidst a lot of fanfare. The series of events which saw a stiff competition among over fifty Nigerian universities brought in its trail a lot of lessons for those conscious enough to observe them.
In the first place, the sporting activities had a goal of discovering and exhibiting various talents in Nigerian youths with which they are expected to deploy in the movement for national development. Again, I believe it is a means of bringing youths together from different parts of the country so they can exchange ideas, cultures and many more in order to further integrate the citizenry. A fundamental question to be asked at this point is; how much of the above has been achieved?
To answer this question, one has just to take a critical look at the 24th NUGA events. For the purpose of talent exhibition, seeing the numerous feat achieved by participating sports men and women, and the fierce competitions engaged in in order to claim their victories, one can confidently say that lots of talents have been discovered and displayed. Without doubt, a lot of them measure up to international standards. Now, if they have enough mental magnitude and character to convert their winning attitude into a veritable tool for national development is a disturbing question in the entire story. Although diverse people had a rendezvous but were the proper ideas and cultures exchanged? Far above bringing people together to participate in events and have a paper-work plan of things to be achieved, it takes a visionary leadership to galvanize the abilities of its people and gear them towards a nationally profitable movement. A sincere leadership is needed to bring people together across board and get them to exchange the best of their ideas. The worrisome question now is; to what degree does the current leadership in Nigeria possess such qualities (vision and sincerity)? Will the 24th NUGA not be forgotten as hurriedly as it came? What can be done in order to prevent this event from being just another carnival?
To the economic side of it, especially with respect to opportunistic traders who came from far and wide to take advantage of a concentrated population. Quite prudently, the management of Obafemi Awolowo University thought it necessary to set aside a part of the university environment to build a make-shift “NUGA market” as they probably foresaw the surge in trading activities. But quite unfortunately, the first ditch this brilliant move would fall into was the exorbitant fee of seventeen thousand naira that was charged per stall just for a period of two weeks! There has been wide-spread complaint among traders and non-traders as commodity prices were on the high to the detriment of consumers. Worse still, traders complained bitterly about the location of the market because it was in obscurity. They claimed that there was no ordinary inclination for people to walk to that area simply to patronize them as it was not located in the path of activities. For this reason, traders found a justification for themselves to turn every walk-way in and around the sports centre into a busy and bubbling market. They all displayed their wares freely on the roads like it was a lawless no-man’s land. Shockingly, the university management did not take any visible action against this “traders’ match” probably because they feel guilty. This then raises a moral question; should we begin to act lawlessly because we feel aggrieved? In fact, why did the university management charge such fees in the first place?
The market situation and many other loop-holes in the organization of the 24th NUGA were blamed on the poor preparedness on the side of the university administration. Now, how have they and we learned to do things better and faster as individuals and a nation?
In the first place, the sporting activities had a goal of discovering and exhibiting various talents in Nigerian youths with which they are expected to deploy in the movement for national development. Again, I believe it is a means of bringing youths together from different parts of the country so they can exchange ideas, cultures and many more in order to further integrate the citizenry. A fundamental question to be asked at this point is; how much of the above has been achieved?
To answer this question, one has just to take a critical look at the 24th NUGA events. For the purpose of talent exhibition, seeing the numerous feat achieved by participating sports men and women, and the fierce competitions engaged in in order to claim their victories, one can confidently say that lots of talents have been discovered and displayed. Without doubt, a lot of them measure up to international standards. Now, if they have enough mental magnitude and character to convert their winning attitude into a veritable tool for national development is a disturbing question in the entire story. Although diverse people had a rendezvous but were the proper ideas and cultures exchanged? Far above bringing people together to participate in events and have a paper-work plan of things to be achieved, it takes a visionary leadership to galvanize the abilities of its people and gear them towards a nationally profitable movement. A sincere leadership is needed to bring people together across board and get them to exchange the best of their ideas. The worrisome question now is; to what degree does the current leadership in Nigeria possess such qualities (vision and sincerity)? Will the 24th NUGA not be forgotten as hurriedly as it came? What can be done in order to prevent this event from being just another carnival?
To the economic side of it, especially with respect to opportunistic traders who came from far and wide to take advantage of a concentrated population. Quite prudently, the management of Obafemi Awolowo University thought it necessary to set aside a part of the university environment to build a make-shift “NUGA market” as they probably foresaw the surge in trading activities. But quite unfortunately, the first ditch this brilliant move would fall into was the exorbitant fee of seventeen thousand naira that was charged per stall just for a period of two weeks! There has been wide-spread complaint among traders and non-traders as commodity prices were on the high to the detriment of consumers. Worse still, traders complained bitterly about the location of the market because it was in obscurity. They claimed that there was no ordinary inclination for people to walk to that area simply to patronize them as it was not located in the path of activities. For this reason, traders found a justification for themselves to turn every walk-way in and around the sports centre into a busy and bubbling market. They all displayed their wares freely on the roads like it was a lawless no-man’s land. Shockingly, the university management did not take any visible action against this “traders’ match” probably because they feel guilty. This then raises a moral question; should we begin to act lawlessly because we feel aggrieved? In fact, why did the university management charge such fees in the first place?
The market situation and many other loop-holes in the organization of the 24th NUGA were blamed on the poor preparedness on the side of the university administration. Now, how have they and we learned to do things better and faster as individuals and a nation?
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