Nigeria is the giant country among all other countries in Africa is what we're being told. But how this slogan correlates with precisely what is on ground is what is difficult to understand.
Right from tender age, we have been instructed in the national anthem to serve Nigeria with love, strength and faith. Of course we believed that serving one's nation was a sign of patriotism which we surmised would be of benefit to us in return. But in my view, this is not the case considering the way those who had served the country diligently are being treated today.
Few days ago, it was reported that the Olympic gold medalist, Wilson Oruma, who had once obeyed Nigeria's call to serve with his heart and might was lying helplessly on a bed in an undisclosed hospital. Oruma was reported to be on a drip while receiving treatment via the urinary catheters.
Before this time, Oruma has been undergoing a hard time. He was reported to have been suffering from mental disorder which resulted from losing all he had worked for in his entire career as a footballer to a fraudster who disguised as a pastor, and offered to help Oruma invest his fortune in oil and gas business. The ex midfielder was allegedly duped by the pastor the sum of #2 billion. And since this incident, Oruma has been in an unstable mind.
Had help come in time to save Oruma's health from getting deteriorated to this extent, I believe the ex Nigeria International wouldn't have been in this critical condition. One would definitely wonder why a country, whose flag had been flied by a patriotic Oruma, would abandon the same man to carry his own cross during the time that he needed his country he had once helped to promote its image all over the world. Is it true that there isn't a provision in Nigeria to take care of Nigerian football players after retirement from active football?
Yes, Oruma wanted a good life after his retirement from active football. And during the course of finding a way to set the ball rolling, he was duped and dispossessed of all his entire fortune. And this brings another question: What is really the role and impact of the Nigeria Football Association and the federal government in securng good living for Nigerian footballers after retirement? Isn't it the responsibility of the NFA to design a structure that will provide guidance to ex footballers before they enter into contracts with anyone or organisation?
Honestly, no one would expect Oruma's fortunes to go down the drain just like that in this age. Oruma's wealth did not go like that of Emmanuel Eboue of Ivory Coast which was backed by the law. His (Oruma's) wealth disappeared through duplicitous means which our law here was unable to help retrieve. What had the NFA/FG done to help Oruma reclaimed his fortune is a question Nigerians will like the NFA and federal government to answer.
Footballers - like a political office holders, for instance governors and presidents - served Nigeria with all their might. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, they say. But why is there no provision for ex footballers after retirement like it's in the case for governors, presidentts and other public office holders after leaving offices?
Nigerian politicians, after being fed and equipped by the taxpayers wealth, designed conditions that would take care of themselves and their entire households for the rest of their lives. But here is a man (Oruma), who, despite the risk of getting injured and losing his asset(legs) for the rest of his life, still went ahead to bring honour to his fatherland.
Oruma is languishing, and he needs his country to lend a helping hand. Has the help come from the same country he had served? What could have been the reason for abandoning a patriotic Nigerian like Wilson Oruma is what many patriotic Nigerians are yet to understand?
I believe that a nation which demands patriotism and wants its entire citizens to be true and loyal to it will never take the wellbeings of those who had, in the past, paid their dues with levity. How do one expect a young man of today to devote and sacrifice his energy to the development of a country whose attitude to its past heroes is not encouraging?
We have had many patriotic Nigerians like Wilson Oruma whose lives would have been saved had help come at the appropriate time. But unfortunately Nigeria is a country which has no plan, most especially for its past flag-wavers..
The Nigeria Football Association and the federal government need to see Oruma's predicament as a wake-up call to do the needful, and make a proper arrangement to design a solid structure that will see to the welfares of our retired footballers so as to avoid the re-occurence of Wilson Oruma's painful experience in future.
A football player who is guaranteed of better live after retirement from active football career will not hesitate to answer his country's call anytime his service is needed. if we really want the present players to dedicate their energy to the service of the country, the people in power should, as they think of themselves, start thinking of others also.