{"id":1712,"date":"2019-08-09T21:20:55","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T20:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2019-08-10T12:05:55","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T11:05:55","slug":"world-cup-in-nigeria-jamboree-or-catalyst-for-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/world-cup-in-nigeria-jamboree-or-catalyst-for-development\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup in Nigeria \u2013 jamboree or catalyst for development?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigeria never ceases to rattle and to amaze me.\u00a0With all its chaos and crisis, there is no place quite like the country in the world.\u00a0It is difficult to understand what drives this most populous of Black nations on earth. \u00a0The Late Madiba, Nelson Mandela, said about Nigeria:\u00a0\u2018The world will never respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The Black people of the world are looking up to Nigeria to be a source of pride and confidence. Every Nigerian citizen should be made to understand this truth\u2019<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0That is the burden every Nigerian carries on an already heavily-laden shoulder as the Black person desperately seeks a place of dignity, respect, equity and justice in a world polarized by humans and designed so that he never attains the loftiest heights of equality, forever.\u00a0 The Black person knows fully well that these things would never be gifted him, and that he would have to work and earn them the hardest possible way.\u00a0\u00a0That state of global affairs is not about to be changed with the \u2018gift\u2019 of the opportunity for Nigeria to host the FIFA Under-20 Women\u2019s World Cup. Rather, it may be a clever ruse to silence Nigeria forever, following whispers around the football planet that Nigeria may be considering seeking and bidding soon to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, an ambition that must be halted by all means for any of the superpowers to have access, for, interestingly, by 2030 it will Africa\u2019s turn again to host the world.\u00a0 So, even I was taken by surprise early this week when Nigerians woke up to the news that a FIFA delegation was in the country to inspect facilities that the country would need to host the 10th\u00a0<\/sup>edition of the FIFA Under-20 Women\u2019s World Cup. It was a bolt of lightning out of the blues.\u00a0Before now, it was customary that a country that wins the bid to host the major FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup is also given the opportunity to first host the Under-20 version two years before the main event, to serve as a test-run. That makes absolute sense except that this is not the case in this instance.\u00a0\u00a0The two countries earlier reported to be bidding to host the championship, India and South Korea, withdrew their bids last month. Then, this development shrouded in secrecy.\u00a0 This past week, there have been all manner of spins and twists to the story of the championship to be hosted by Nigeria: the project had been on the table of discussion since 2018; the project has a national coordinator as well as a consultant; the federal government was aware of it since 2018 and had given its blessings; Lagos State was originally pencilled down to host the entire event, but a few more States have now been added (more may still be added for political balance); token \u2018fees\u2019 have already been paid to consultants for preparing a bid document that is not required in this case; Nigeria has conditions to fulfil in order to host.<\/p>\n

What balderdash! The deal is done, sealed and delivered. Nigeria\u2019s name has already appeared on several important forums as host of the Under-20 Women\u2019s World Cup. So, who is fooling who, in this effort to pull wool over people\u2019s eyes and kick-start another corruption rigmarole?\u00a0By this weekend the four already selected venues (all in the South of Nigeria) would have been visited, assurances secured from the State governments of their preparedness to host a befitting event, courtesy visits completed, and gifts distributed to the delegation to demonstrate Nigerians\u2019 hospitality.\u00a0The facts are as follows:<\/p>\n