THE fame they attained and the wide acclaim they enjoyed from adoring fans, in most cases, never added anything substantial to their bank accounts.Thus, it has become the lot of an overwhelming majority of former Nigerian international sports stars that in their retirement, they face stark penury. Most of them, ageing and shadows of their old go-getting selves, have been condemned to crying for manna from heaven, depending on the goodwill of the kind-hearted in their neighborhood to survive.This sorry state of affairs, which has been blamed on the I-don't-care attitude of past and present governments towards the wellbeing of the country's sportsmen and women, now has another victim. The story of Jeremiah Okorodudu is not in any way different and tells the plight of yet another Nigerian sports star used and dumped by the country.As a sapling, Jerry Okorodudu ventured into boxing, his eyes set on his childhood idol, the great Mohammed Ali. In a short time, Okorodudu's name was ringing loudly, not only in Nigeria but also across the continent of Africa and the world at large. His exploits in his active days included becoming a national champion in the middleweight category.But many more Nigerians will remember Okorodudu more for his performance at the Los Angeles '84 Olympics, where, against all expectations, he boxed his way into the quarter-finals. On his return, he got N400 as reward from the Ministry of Sports.Like other members of the contingent, the boxer got a bottle of soda water and a plate of rice at the Federal Palace Hotel, where the National Sports Commission (NSC) organised a reception for them. Okorodudu was promised a house in Lagos and scholarship, neither of which was fulfilled.In order that the memory of the Los Angeles '84 Olympics does not fade away too soon, Okorodudu used his N400 to buy a set of furniture. Before his invitation to the national camp preparatory to the Games, he was already working with the then Bendel State Sports Council in Benin City.His gain for representing the country at the Los Angeles Olympics came from the then Sports Minister, late Emeka Omeruah, who offered him employment in the federal ministry. A letter of employment as a national coach on salary Grade Level Seven, Step Five, was delivered to Okorodudu in June 1984.Jerry, as he was and is still popularly called, was to see the other side of the ministry not long after, when it could be said that his journey to his present predicament began in 1985, when he applied for study leave to the United States (U.S.). He recalled: 'Before I travelled then, the Sports Ministry gave me a letter stating that I should notify the commission when I came back so that they could reinstate me. I was granted study leave without pay. When I came back in 1992, I was reinstated. Patrick Ekeji signed my letter.'The letter, which Okorodudu made available to The Guardian, stated: 'I am directed by the Sole Administrator to inform you of the reinstatement of your appointment with the commission with effect from February 20, 1995. The Personnel Department will be informed of this to enable necessary documentation to be effected.''Since then, I have been working without pay in the ministry. When Jim Nwobodo was Sports Minister, he ordered a stop to all that Mr. Shola Rhodes, the Sports Minister before him, did.'Okorodudu claimed that he met Nwobodo, who told me 'not to worry, that Babayo Shehu would deal with my case immediately. Till this moment, nothing good has come from them.' But he did not go to sleep over his problem.He had met virtually all the powers that be in sports.'I had written many letters of reminder. When Mr. Ishaya Aku became the Sports Minister, he asked me, 'Jerry, how are you'' I said I was not fine. I have been reinstated but not paid. He said, 'See me in Abuja.' I went, but nothing happened.'For survival, begging is the only alternative: 'When I'm broke, I come to the stadium and tell my friends, 'guys make una find something for me.'' The NSC, under the excuse that his employment was not regularized, stopped his salary.For 19 years now, Okorodudu has been surviving on the goodwill of Nigerians, who see his plight as one of the many cases of oppression in the sports circle. But he says he would rather 'die fighting' his cause than allow his oppressors in the NSC have their way. So, in 2005 he headed to the court to seek justice after exhausting all other means of getting his wages. And for six years, the legal tussle between him and the NSC has continued.Respite came his way on January 13, 2009, when Justice A.R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ruled in his favour in suit No. FHC/L/CS/243/2005. He ruled: 'I am of the view that there is nothing in the writ of summons and statement of claim to show that the plaintiff's action as presently constituted is caught up in either the Limitation Law or Section 2 (a) of the Public Officer Protection Act. The result is that the defendant's motion dated 21/4/08 has failed and it is accordingly dismissed.'Rather than obey the court ruling and give Okorodudu his due, the NSC appealed, an action he sees as 'deliberate wickedness' on the part of some top officials of the ministry. He told The Guardian in Lagos recently: 'The attitude of the NSC will make an athlete to see it as a crime to represent this country at international competitions.'When they came up with the argument that my employment was not regularised by the ministry, my lawyer produced all the evidence to prove them wrong and based on that, the High Court judged in my favour. But instead of them to accept their mistakes, they went on appeal and right now, they are using all unconventional methods to frustrate me at the appellate court.'I have a strong belief that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. I know I will emerge victorious in the end. In the first place, I was offered the job on a platter of gold because it was the then Sports Minister, Emeka Omeruah, who gave me the job as a national coach after the Los Angeles '84 Olympics.'When I came back from the Olympics, how much did they give me' Just N400, with which I bought a set of chairs. Nobody received us and we were not given any reward. We were only promised house, scholarship and $100. The only thing I got was a bottle of soda water and a plate of rice from Buba Ahmed at Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos.'In his active days as a boxer, Okorodudu left a mark in the nation's boxing history, which has remained indelible over the past 30 years. Following the path of other famed Nigerian pugilists like the late Hogan Kid Bassey and Dick Tiger Ihetu, Okorodudu was a toast of boxing fans all over the country and Africa.He first came to national limelight in 1979, when he became a national champion, a position he retained till 1985. Gradually, his natural abilities, coupled with years of hard work, began to yield positive results. In 1982, he fought his way to the semi-final of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, where he picked bronze medal for Nigeria.More honours followed as he picked a silver medal after narrowly missing the gold at the pre-Olympic Games championship in Germany in 1984. His quarter-final finishing at the Los Angeles '84 Olympics was historic in many ways because according to him, nobody gave him a chance of qualifying for the Olympics, talk less of getting to the quarter-finals.Okorodudu was voted Nigeria's Best Boxer of the Year twice - first in 1984, when the award was presented to him during the pre-Olympic Games in Germany and in 1985, when Gen. Ibrahim Babangida did the presentation. He could not begin to understand why anyone at the NSC would so deeply want to hurt him by denying him his duly earned entitlements.Okorodudu's case with the NSC was in its third year when the former Sole Administrator, Amos Adamu, decided to put an end to it. He explained: 'Dr. Amos Adamu felt I was being oppressed unnecessarily and he caused a Certified True Copy on April 18, 2008 to be signed by Ekeji, who was the Director (Sports Development).'Buttressing his claim, Okorodudu showed a letter to The Guardian, with reference No. NSC/SP/147/COM/TI/35 dated March 8, 2008 and signed by Ekeji for the Sole Administrator. He added: 'With such a letter, tell me why the same NSC is finding it difficult to pay my money. It is just a case of man's inhumanity to man in the sports circle.'My greatest surprise is that those behind my plight are those calling themselves ex-internationals in the Sports Ministry. Ex-internationals indeed, when they only think of themselves and their immediate families.In a society where things work, the ex-internationals in the Sports Ministry should be the ones protecting the interests of those who had represented the country at one time or the other. They should be the ones to recommend to the Presidency names of people to be considered for national awards. In our country, our ex-internationals in the NSC think of themselves alone.'During the last presidential campaign, I was one of those that participated in the 'Sportsmen rally' in support of the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan. I did not do it for financial gain, but to lend my support to a man that believes in justice.'He added: 'Many former internationals are dying in silence. My children are still young and I am finding it difficult to take care of them. I am not begging for money from the NSC, but my wages. They should pay. The NSC should stop frustrating my life. I represented this country with all my heart. I don't deserve this bad treatment from my country. Is it a sin to come from Nigeria' No, I don't deserve this treatment.'You represent your country at your tender age only to discover when you are no longer representing her thatnobody wants to touch you. If you want to see the minister now, they will say fill this form, sign here, sign this, sign that. They just used me and dumped me. I went to the Olympics and other competitions. I did not disgrace the nation but won laurels.'When I was representing Nigeria, there was no money in sports. We were doing it because we wanted to represent Nigeria with pride and bring glory to our fatherland. It was not because of money. I went to Ghana some years back and when they told the Minister of Sports that I was around, he sent for me and commended me for making Africa proud.'He said they should take me out and give me whatever I wanted to eat. When I was going back to my hotel, I took a taxi and the taxi driver did not take money from me. In Ghana they made me feel happy, but in my country, nothing like that is happening. Why should I live in penury''Last year, the immediate past chairman of the NSC, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, was said to have waded into the issue by calling for an out-of-court settlement. But according to Okorodudu, 'some people at the NSC have constituted themselves into a cog in the wheel of progress and do not want me to be paid my due. But I know that my victory is certain, and soon, too.
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