29 years later, Who remembers this IYC song?

I was in Abuja, on my way to the airport when this song came to me from nowhere. I mean, from absolutely nowhere.
Its a song from my childhood days and it came to me very suddenly.
Such was the clarity (none of those 'Kai, I dont remember this word') it felt like I was singing it along with other children, only yesterday.
This made me think i just had to share.
There's got to be someone who remembers this song

International Year of the Child/
International Year of the Child/
A year of faith/
A year of hope/
A year of dedication/
1979 we hail thee!/
1979 we hail there!/

Who else remembers? It cant be just me, surely.
And what memories does it stir up for you

NFA's bungling merry-go-round

Is there some curse on whoever and whichever group moves into the Glass House that they must lose all sense of logical reasoning?

I am sitting in Abuja and being a very interested spectator in the comedy of errors that is the process of appointing a new coach for the Super Eagles.

Okay, scratch that. Its a new assistant coach for the Super Eagles. No, I meant to say, just coaches for the national team.

Are you as confused as I am?

Well, thats exactly how confused the folks trying to appoint somebody, anybody for the national team are.

The exercise which took place on Wednesday was ostensibly to select a replacement for Berti Vogts. But constrained by a contract they signed (I will charitably assume they did so blindfolded--nothing else explains it) with the German, the NFA have got themselves tied up in knots.

On Wednesday, Committee chairman Taiwo Ogunjobi was quoted as saying that they were only going to appoint assistant coaches.

This, inspite of Sunday Oliseh making it clear he had applied for the top job and nothing less. Same with Stephen Keshi.

So what is the problem really.

It all boils down to a comprehension deficit from the Glass House. Either that, or the people were in so much of a hurry to pander to the wishes of the masses, they failed to sit down and look at the document they signed in the first place.

By the way, these are the same people who harp on about following 'due process'.

Here are the REAL FACTS of this whole sorry situation.

1. The NFA held a series of meetings in Ghana prior to and after the 2-1 quarterfinal loss.

2. At the meetings prior to the QF, there was a consensus that Vogts was not the man to take Nigeria to the 2010 World Cup

3. Consequently, it was decided that Vogts will be asked to go, especially if he failed to make the semifinals. A consensus was also reached that th enext coach would be local.

4. After the defeat in Ghana, the NFA were poised to announce Vogts' dismissal (without recourse to his contract), but were advised, with barely an hour to spare, that the contract stipulated a 30-day notice in the event of dismissal.

5. The NFA subsequently did an about-turn at the world press conference where his dismissal was to be announced.

6. On arrival in Nigeria, the Sports Minister asked the NFA to hold on before sending the German his notice.

7. After holding on for a while, the FA then sent out the notice.

8. After receiving the notice, Vogts lawyer came out with a statement saying that ' because of the behaviour of the NFA during and after the Nations Cup, further co-operation with the NFA was impossible.'

9. Vogts lawyers then followed this up with a letter to the Nigeria Sports Commission (NSC) acknowledging the notice sent to him.

10. Somehow, this acknowledgement letter was misconstrued as a 'resignation letter'. And Vogts' statement to the international media was interpreted as a breach of the confidentiality clause in his contract, even though he made no reference to the letter.

11. Meanwhile, up until the NFA board meeting on Thursday, most NFA board members had not seen the purported resignation letter.

12. Yet, the recruitment exercise for a new coach was initiated on the basis of the fact that Vogts had resigned.

13. When it dawned on the NFA that they were stepping on quicksand by starting a recruitment process when the 30-day notice was yet to expire, Ogunjobi came up with that statement of 'interviewing assistant coaches'

14. By Thursday morning, prior to the board meeting, the tune had changed. Now they were just interviewing coaches for the national teams. Comical.

But what was the hurry? What stopped the FA from waiting until the 30-day notice had expired?

In light of our catastrophic failures in the past, why not hand over the process over to a reputable consulting agency?

Now, our 'wise men' once again find themselves in a quagmire of their own making and are desperately looking for a way out.

From where I sit, there is none to be seen.

And Egypt claim No 6, but what happened to Eagles?

Neither of the two teams in the Final of the 26th African Nations Cup were my choices, and as a matter of fact, I watched the game as a neutral without supporting either side.

I would probably have preferred both teams to lose.

Oh well. . .

My choice of winners, after Nigeria were booted out in somewhat humilating fashion, would have been Ivory Coast. But they imploded against Egypt, and again in the third place match against Ghana.

Well, its come and gone, and that it.

I have been inundated by calls to speak up on the inside details of what went wrong in the Nigeria camp.

All I can say is that I will, in the next few days. Right now, I am putting my thoughts together.

What I want to do is examine the whole situation with a clear head.

I am in a position where I have good relations with the players, the coach and with certain people in the FA, and there is blame on every side.

What I will do is sit down and do everything with a clear head and not the knee-jerk thing we have been subjected to all over the place.

Besides, I have obligations to folk who pay me for these thoughts and they must come first.

What I can promise though, is that I will do what needs to be done without fear of favour.

THAT, You can take to the bank!

In-flight jitters

This post should have been made at least two weeks ago, but maybe I am still to recover.

Flying has never been a problem for me, despite all the crashes we have had in Nigeria. Whenever I get on a plane, I hand myself over to God's protection, and to His glory, he has been kind and kept me safe.

Of course I feel the normal take-off butterflies everytime(who doesnt), but that is usually about it.

This tim however, I endured the worst experience of my flying lfe.

It ws on JAn 16, on my way to Accra for the African Nations Cup. The flight was virgin Nigeria.

Usually, I do my ablutions (err, and this includes everything else you do in the 'white house') before I leave home every morning.

On this day however, I needed to catch that flight--it was for 7am. When you leave where I leave (Ajah) and you have to be at the Murtala Mohammed Airport by 7am, you leave by 5:30am at the very latest.

So I left the number one as I didnt have time for it.

When we gotto cruising altitude, I decided to go do my 'business' in the head, as I had become so uncomfy I was sitting on one nyansh.

Wrong timing.

Almost as soon as I started, we hit the worst kind of turbulence imgaginable!

The aircraft was climbing and droping at an alarming rate. Of course, everything went back in.

One big dive had me feeling like I was going through the roof.

But I told myself that noway on God's good earth was I going to get out of that place without wiping and washing my hands, not even when the hostess announced that 'the gentleman in the lavatory should please come out and take his seat and fasten his seatbelt."

My first thought was how on earth she knew it was a gentleman in there. I quickly looked up to see if there was a hidden camera somewhere.

I barely had time to steady myself as we took another really big roll.

The planned climed, and I felt like I ws going to go through the floor.

This time, her announcement was for everyone to take the emergency position and await further instructions.

Luckily, the aircraft steadied a bit, which allowed me time to do the necessary and step out, and quickly take the first seat I could find, which was just in front of the loo.

By that time, I was sweating buckets, and happy to just sit down. Most folks were in the emergency position, and I quickly followed suit.

The plane continued to dance ajasco as as the pilot fought his way through the turbulence.

I didnt have the liver to go back in there, and waited patiently until we were back on good ole terra firma.

Whew!!!!