“Truth is like a surgery, it hurts but heals while lie is like a pain-killer, it gives instant relief but side effects forever,” – google.

Whenever there is a sad news of death, what you hear from people is, “We mourn, we commiserate, we send our condolence messages, RIP, we are going to immortalize them, we pray God to give them rest and the families they left behind the fortitude to bear the loss, and others.”

But nobody will like to say the truth, some of us don’t want to offend anybody because of our daily bread but we should remember that, whatever we wish others is what will become of us and this is the reason why the problem we are experiencing lingers.

Precisely 19 years ago, a journalist colleague was knocked down by a careless driver in front of the Gateway Stadium now MKO Abiola Sports Arena and nobody thought it wise to have a minute silent in his honour because he is a nobody?

Two years ago, 2022 in Asaba, Delta State, a boxer from Imo State died, he was not mentioned let alone a minute silent in his honour because life has to go on hence it is not relevant?

And just last Friday, the Taraba State contingent had an accident but thank God, no life was lost but the Kano Team was not lucky as about 21 athletes, journalists and officials died.

The next thing in the news is that the Kano State Government declared Monday, June 2, 2025 as a public holiday to mourn, sympathise and pray with the families who died in a fatal accident. What effect will that have on the dead? If they had done the needful, will it have happened? After one week, everybody will forget them and as usual, life continues.

It was also reported in the news that the Ogun State Government led by its deputy governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele during a visit to Kano, donated N1m each to the families of the deceased as initial support for the loss. Waoh! What a wonderful gesture!

I am very sure that the Kano State Government will also add to the N1 million given by the Ogun Government, the question is, where are these monies coming out from?

If the deceased had demanded for N185,000 to fly, like them, they would turn them down and have said they are demanding for too much and probably drop them from the team but here we are, they are doling out the monies.

Ogun State Government that couldn’t take care of its visitors – athletes, officials, journalists, and others, claiming that they don’t have money, despite getting monies qfrom more than 20 sponsors now suddenly have money?

A State that couldn’t pay its athletes peanuts as allowances and bonuses which led to protest a day before the closing ceremony, suddenly have money to give to neighbouring state. A state that couldn’t support those that propagate their activities for almost two weeks, will definitely dole out money if they heard that a journalist.

The annoying aspect is the managers of the various teams in Nigeria. They are always thinking of themselves instead of the team given to them to manage .They want to drive the latest cars, buy mansions abroad at the expense of the athletes, footballers, etc.

What they cannot do to their girlfriends let alone their children is what they do to athletes, footballers and others. That is why they won’t allow their children to participate in sports. They see it as activities for the poor.

They pay for flights for their girlfriends but allow those doing the work to travel for hours on the road, sleep on the floor or flat mattress, most times without fans. Eat rubbish in the name of food without meat, drink sachet water while their girlfriends stay in five-star hotels under air-conditioned rooms, eat chicken, and drink juice with bottled water.

The athletes or footballers who need energy drinks, glucose or juice to recover after burning their energies are left to drink zobo or kunu (local drinks).

What happened in Abeokuta showed that some of our administrators are not only self-centered but half-baked. Thank God, Dr. Amos Adamu is still alive, maybe they should go and learn some management skills on how to run an organization from him.

I doubt if some of them that are managing sports especially football, had ever sat down in a class to receive lectures, that is why it is easy for them to treat athletes and others anyhow and run the organization like their private homes.

Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC claimed that the accident was caused by overspeeding, how do they know, did they travel with the vehicle or do they have a device to judge or is it because the death cannot speak?

When they noticed that the driver was overspeeding, why didn’t they stop and arrest him for over-speeding than allow him to waste people? Maybe they were busy extorting motorists when the driver passed and just wanted to have something to say to justify their presence on the road.

There is a possibility that the driver might have been tired driving all the way from Abeokuta, Ogun State. Investigation shows that the distance between Abeokuta and Kano is about 20 hours or thereabouts because of the bad roads. Even if the person is a machine, it will breakdown without rest. The northerns especially trailer drivers are known for long distance driving but that cannot be compared with a civil servant who probably drives short distance within Kano.

For instance, airplanes flying from Nigeria to Australia do have a stopover, not only because they want to pick passengers at different airports but because they want to refuel and also give the plane the opportunity to rest.

I don’t know why some people enjoy being wicked to others. The annoying aspect is that those doing these wicked acts are the ones that have passed through the same route as athletes or footballers who became administrators overnight and when you ask why they are doing the wickedness, you will hear something like, “It is my turn to enjoy,” “I also suffered when I was a footballer or athlete,” “Let them manage what they get, during our time, we were competing for free.”

These same sets of people go to churches, mosques and other places to pray and yet they are mean to their neighbours.