On Sunday, February 4, a senior colleague, Mr. Gani Oloyede called and said, “In 2013, we went to African Cup of Nations, AFCON in South Africa and brought back the cup. This is 10 years after, you people should come back with the cup ooo.”
Although the cup was not won but what came to my mind was, can he prove to anybody, with evidence, that he was part of the team that laboured to bring home the trophy, because he was not given any medal, or award of recognition or anything.
Whenever any national team wins a trophy or does well and return with silver or bronze, only the players and the technical crew are rewarded. They are given cash gifts and most times national honours like Member of the Niger (MON) or Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) but some people who also laboured like the players and coaches are not rewarded especially journalists and Supporters Club members.
Some argued that journalists get paid by their organisations. What about the players? Are they not being paid by their various football clubsides? Somebody might also argue that the players are representing their country, are the journalists not also serving their country? If a journalist misbehaves, they will definitely refer to him as a Nigerian journalist.
What about the members of the Supporters Club? Even though they seem to be divided, these sets of people traveled all the way from Abuja, Lagos to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire by road for two days to support the national team. They are not doing it for themselves but the country even though some of them get tips from friends and well-wishers but it is not enough to appreciate what they do.
These guys take care of their basic needs – feeding, transportation or fueling of their vehicles, accommodations, while some sleep on bare floor. When the Super Eagles went to Bouake to play South Africa in the semi final, they travelled for five hours and arrived at their abode after the match in Abidjan around 2.30pm, likewise the journalists while the players flew.
Meanwhile, if the journalists don’t send stories or reports back home, how will people in Nigeria know what is happening at AFCON or any event?
During the AFCON, things were unbearable for Nigerians due to the exchange rate but yet they managed all through using their hard-earned money for national course.
Food was very expensive in Cote d’Ivoire, it went for between 2,000 and 3,000 cefa and you eat thrice a day, some people resorted to twice. Movement within the town was as high as 3,000 to 5,000 cefa which is equivalent to N6,000 to N10,000 for a trip.
Information has it that Moroccan journalists numbering about 200 were sponsored by their government to AFCON 2023, to understudy the event as the next host. They were adequately catered for considering the type of facilities they stayed in Cote d’Ivoire.
It was also reported in the news that the Ghanaian government were paying their journalists $500 weekly because of the high cost of living in Cote d’Ivoire.
Morocco and Ghana both crashed out in the first round but Nigerian journalists were in Abidjan till the end of the tournament for the final match against host nation, Cote d’Ivoire.
Somebody would also argue that they are serving their father’s land, hence don’t deserve compensation, the players and others are also serving their father’s land too. This is not to condemn the compensation of the players and officials, they deserve everything that would be packaged for them but others should be considered.
What if the journalists at the AFCON decided to write negative stories all through the tournament, of course the players would have been distracted or if the Supporters Club decided to throw their support to opponents, of course the team would have been demoralized and would never had got to the final but patriotism made them to support theirs all through.
It would be a thing of joy if President Tinubu, who is the father of all can put others into consideration and it would also be on record that he is the first president to do it. He would be remembered for life especially by the beneficiaries whenever AFCON is being discussed and that would also help to motivate those that would go for subsequent tournaments to be up and doing and also give their best knowing fully well that they would be rewarded also.
Leave a Reply