Otherwise several things have occupied my time. One of them is a visit I paid to Ogoniland. Yes, a visit to Ken Saro Wiwa-country in the Niger Delta. My friend, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja (the same one, the former Chairman of the Nigeria Referees Association, and now an active politician in Rivers State) had extended an invitation of his friend, the Chairman of Dokana Local Government Area, Mr. Victor Giadom, for the foundation-laying ceremony of a brand new 8,000-capacity stadium right in the heart of Ogoniland, to me and a few of my friends. When he told me about Mr. Giadom’s activities and his plans for sports and football in particular at the grassroots level I could not refuse the invitation to be a part of the programme and use the opportunity to see the hinterland of the Niger Delta for myself. I am glad I did.

I went with my friend, The Prince of Monaco Victor Ikpeba, and we caught up with Super Eagles Interim Coach Austin Cerezo Eguavoen at the fast-growing village. The road ride from Port Harcourt to the local government took approximately one hour. We were met at the Local Government Secretariat by the Chairman himself and all the sons and daughters of the locality.  The publicity that some icons of Nigerian football were going to be guests at the event brought out the entire youths of Dokana to the event. We were driven in a convoy of vehicles to a field where a friendly football match had been arranged to showcase footballers in the community. It was a great surprise to find that even in that hinterland football of very high standard was going on. Cerezo was so impressed he actually took down the names of three of the players and the rest of us agreed they showed exceptional talent. We were joined at the field by the Deputy Governor of Rivers State (representing the Governor) and thereafter we all drove in a convoy to the site of the proposed new stadium complex.  We were joined there by several members of the Rivers State Executive Council, spiritual and political leaders, and my friend and former Green Eagles colleague, Chief Justice, Adokie Amiesimaka!

It was a great celebration of football and footballers.  The Chairman of the Local Government, Victor Tombari Giadom, a genuine hero amongst his people, as was evident all around us, must have notched up his political profile by bringing such high profile ex-international footballers to his grassroots programme. On the other hand we were all honoured to be a part of history. I believe that the Dokana Local Government Stadium complex facility is the first such project in the country. It is an ambitious stadium complex designed to engage the youths of the community, provide first class training and competition facilities in four different sports for the youths, and to serve as a social and commercial hub for the people in the surrounding communities. The multi-sport, modern stadium is to be completed in 24 months.

Let me confess that before that visit I had serious misgivings about the Niger Delta as a whole, particularly what we used to read about life in the hinterland of the Niger Delta and about Ogoni land. I came away from that visit with fond memories of the natural beauty of the environment, of a great and welcoming people, and the visionary leadership of Victor Giadom. His is a demonstration of love for his people and service to the communities in the Local Government. I wish that other political leaders in the local government could come to Dokana LG, see for themselves what is being done here, and take away the challenge to go do likewise.