IN the ancient coastal city of Calabar I had a sneak preview of the future of Nigerian football. That future may still be several years ahead but when circumstances present the opportunity for one to be in the right place at the right time, one can actually seize the moment and peer into the crystal ball of life.Last Tuesday, such a circumstance presented itself. I was invited to Calabar by the Nigeria School Sports Federation President and the Commissioner of Sports of the Cross River State government as special guest at the finals of the Under-12 football competition of the National School Sports Festival.I went.I love Calabar for many reasons. I fell in love with the city during my football-playing days in the 1970s and early 1980s. The only challenge I had then was the time it took to cover the seemingly endless distance from Ibadan to Calabar in our club's 'slow-motion' Toyota Coaster bus that seemed to take forever to travel anywhere.Despite the physical stress of the long trip, and the discomfort of the cramped bus, I always enjoyed our trips to one of Nigeria's most southernmost coastal towns.There was something about it that was different. Unlike most other Nigerian towns Calabar was very clean.I recall there were moisture-laden clouds always hanging over the city waiting to dump their 'load' at the least 'provocation' in welcome to visitors. The presence of Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan was always more than enough provocation for the rains to descend. I never experienced a dry day in Calabar through the years of my visits. We went to the town always prepared to play our matches against the great Calabar Rovers FC on the water-saturated pitch of the old township stadium.It was in the city that I first saw the motorcycle being used as a means of public transportation. I believe theOkadabusiness started in the town, and for us at that time it was a fascinating sight. I must not forget the greatest treat of all - the food.Calabar was blessed with some of the tastiest and exotic meals I knew. Its pounded yam served with a variety of rich vegetable soups and fresh fish was of legendary status. Perhaps, that's why all the cooks I have ever employed in my home in the past 20 years have been from the Cross-River/Akwa Ibom axis. The people are simple, honest, clean, civil, friendly, humble, embarrassingly polite and very Christian. All of this was reflected in the city and its sequestered life.So, when I visited Calabar again for a day last Tuesday, it was a great homecoming to the city I have always loved. I needed to see for myself the progress that is being made by the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), principal partners of the Nigeria Academicals Sports Committee (NASCOM), in the project of reviving sports at secondary schools level in Nigeria.I have always believed that every primary and secondary school should be a mini-centre of grassroots sports development in Nigeria. Properly supervised, this will get rid of the elopement in Nigeria. My conclusion after the day's event is that the NSSF are doing a fantastic job.Between Stanley Okoro and Mario Gotze!Before I arrived Calabar, as I waited to board myArikflight at the Lagos airport, I read a very interesting comment on the front cover of that day's CompleteSports newspaper titled'Food for Thought'that illuminated the essence of our activities trying to revive school sports. It did not carry the name of the author to enable me give the required credit. However, the message is very clear and so important that I reproduce it here unedited.'Stanley Okoro was billed as the next big thing when Nigeria hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009 and he was even nicknamed 'Little Messi' after the best player in the world. Germany's Mario Gotze was just one of hundreds of wide-eyed teenagers in Nigeria for an adventure of a lifetime. Both players were on the scoresheet when their teams drew 3-3 in a group game, but that is where the similarities end.While Okoro was expected to use the championship as the launching pad to a great career in Europe, few paid attention to Gotze. But two years on, Okoro is struggling to make headway stuck in the obscure Albanian league with Skenderbeu Korce, whom he is yet to play a single game for. However, Gotze is the one showing any resemblance to Messi in terms of talent, progressing to the senior Germany team and starring for Borussia Dortmund at the (real) tender age of 18 as they won the Bundesliga title last season. Now 19, Gotze is one of the hottest properties in Europe, attracting the interest of big guns like Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Madrid.Okoro is still (officially) only 18, but it is difficult to picture the likes of Arsenal and Real signing him on in the future'The article above speaks volumes. It also speaks to my visit to Calabar. For any meaningful and sustainable progress in Nigerian sports as a whole, the country has to be more authentic with its programmes. It must get rid of the shortcuts to success.Sports development is a long methodical journey that requires the highest level of credibility, honesty, patience and commitment. The fast-track, 'fire-brigade' approach that, often times, requires mortgaging the truth and embracing lesser values that fall short of decency has only given the country pyrrhic non-sustaining victories. Winning by all means at junior levels and not progressing at the senior level has battered the integrity of Nigeria's 'successes' at junior levels.That is the cause of the disparity in the fortunes of Stanley Okoro and Mario Gotze. When 'Chief Justice'Adokie Amiasimaka told the country the truth about the age-status of some of the players in the 2009 team (including Okoro), he was called names by a segment of the media and even the public.Well, two years down the line, it is the country that is bearing the brunt of the consequences of its dishonesty. Whilst the entire country is still waiting in vain to see Stanley develop into another 'Messi,' his 'mate' in the German team, Gotze, has begun to shine in Europe like a million stars.Back To The Future!So, back to the future. I was in Calabar. I witnessed a great final match between two teams of youngsters all below the age of 12. There had been 35 teams at the start. The final was one of the most thrilling matches at junior levels that I have watched in a long time. The winning school from Lagos State will be representing the country at theAfrica Under-13 Milo Championshipsin Ghana next year.With the meticulousness of the documentation process and confirmation of the information presented on the players by their schools, it is very unlikely that the students (all of them still in Junior secondary schools) will present ages far from their true ages.It is certain from the quality of football and players that I saw that this set of players will progress far in their football development. A data bank of information on all the participating students is being kept and none of the players will be able to alter their basic information for the rest of their lives.The match itself was very exciting and entertaining, and everyone at the E.J. Esuene stadium on that day was treated to the prospect of future great players emerging from the championship.Nigeria shall start to see them from 2012 during the Milo Under-13 African championships. Beyond that I am paying special attention to two of the players. Yes, they are that good. The first is Amao Akinkunmi, a 12 year-old, JS1 student of Atorise College, Olorunda, Ibadan.The second is Akodu Ayomide. He is 11 years old, in JS1 and a student of St. Stephens WAEC Secondary School, Lagos Island. Both boys are exceptionally gifted football players. I am putting my money on them one day becoming superstars of Nigerian football if properly managed. I believe Africa will see them play at under-13 next year, at Under-17 in 2016, and for the senior national team from 2018. See what I mean by football development being a marathon race rather than a sprint'So, my visit to Calabar has been very rewarding and very revealing. The city has lost nothing of its allure and beauty. In fact the city is even cleaner, more beautiful, more urbane, and more inviting than ever before. The people are still very laid back, civil, polite and friendly. The heavens have not let up yet.Even on Tuesday they opened their gates to a torrential down pour that flooded the streets. I also tasted the cuisine and can testify that it has not lost any of its tastiness. But one thing that is conspicuously different this time around is absence of the motor-cycles, theOkada.They have completely disappeared from the streets of Calabar.At the end of my visit, I feel fulfilled to have peered through the prism of the under-12 competition into the future, and to have seen a great future for Nigerian football.olusegunodegbami@hotmail.com
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