By Stellamaris
The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Philip Shaibu, has said the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, could have stood at the airport and waved at the victorious Flamingos as other Nigerians did.
Shaibu spoke on Tuesday in an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief. He was reacting to the controversy over claims that officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) stopped Obi from greeting the Nigeria Under-17 women’s team at the Abuja airport. The former deputy governor of Edo State said he did not think waiting at the airport to greet the players was necessary.
In his view, the support given to the team before and during the competition mattered more than celebrating its victory afterwards. He said the President would not play to the gallery, and neither would the First Lady. As far as he was concerned, going to the airport to see the players would amount to playing to the gallery.
Shaibu said President Bola Tinubu personally called the players before, during and after the tournament. He added that such gestures meant more when the team was going through difficult moments in the competition. He said he consistently tells Nigerians that the President’s calls before, during and after matches matter more than any call after victory.
According to him, when the players’ spirits are low and the President calls to tell them to forget the last match and focus on the next, that means more than showing affection in a popularity show after winning. He said the players deserved to be received and deserved every accolade, but that the foundation and preparation behind the victory were the key thing.
The NIS boss, who said he is a former player and served as the deputy governor in charge of sports in Edo State, described the President’s direct communication with athletes as an important source of encouragement. He said it was often hard to get governors to speak to players in the dressing room. By contrast, he said, nobody had to compel, appeal to or beg the President to call the Flamingos. He said Tinubu volunteered, asking how the girls were doing and saying he wanted to speak to them.
Shaibu said that, as a former player, he knew what it meant to be in a dressing room and hear your President speaking to you. That, for him, mattered more, and it is what the President does. Asked whether NFF officials did the right thing by stopping Obi from welcoming the players, Shaibu said Obi could stand at the airport and wave at them, as everyone else did.Shaibu also recounted meeting Enyimba players at an airport.
He said he waved at them and let them continue their journey after being told they were travelling. He explained that teams sometimes have instructions restricting players from interacting with people while travelling, and that such arrangements should be respected. He said that when he was actively involved in sports, there were times the team’s system told them not to talk to anybody and just wave, and that they had to follow such instructions. Shaibu added that teams manage interactions with players in different ways, depending on the circumstances.
The controversy followed Obi’s allegation that NFF officials stopped him from greeting the Flamingos when they returned to Abuja on Monday after winning the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco. Obi said he arrived at the airport at about 7am to board a flight to Enugu and asked his protocol officer, Jackie Wayas, to find out whether he could greet the players. He alleged that he was told the officials had refused his request and warned that they could lose their jobs if he approached the team.
However, the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, said the officials who received the team reported that they did not see Obi near the players or around the international terminal where the team arrived. Dikko said two people wearing Obi’s campaign face caps and other campaign attire approached the officials to request a meeting and photographs with the players.
He said the request was declined because the players had just arrived after a demanding competition and needed to be considered. The NSC chairman also urged Obi to apologise to the players, saying their achievement should not be overshadowed by the controversy. The Flamingos beat Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final in Morocco to win their first FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title, becoming the first African country to win the competition.
