Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom
State is giving out the sum of $40,000.00 (N14 million based on the
exchange rate of N350 to $1) to the Nigerian senior national
football team, the Super Eagles, for defeating their Cameroonian
counterpart, the Indomitable Lions, at the Godswill Akpabio
International Stadium in Uyo on Friday September 1, 2017, in
fulfillment of his ostensibly impulsive promise to donate $10,000
to the team for every goal scored.
If it is necessary to donate public
funds to players, who have already made it in life materially,
before they can win a match at home, then what is the cacophony
about?
Ironically, two years after the
state government owned Akwa United FC won the 2015 FA Cup, Governor
Udom Emmanuel is yet to fulfill his promise to give each of the 34
registered players of the local club N2 million and a house.
I do not like sports. However,
anytime that the Super Eagles plays, I do devote considerable time
to watch their match if circumstances gives allowance for me to do
so.
Like every patriot, I am delighted
that Nigeria won. What I will not concede to, is the argument that
because of Friday’s victory by our national team, I, as an active
and responsible citizen, should not interrogate the economic value
of the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium to Akwa Ibom
State.
The Godswill Akpabio’s
administration awarded an estimated, whopping $250,000,000.00 (Two
Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars) contract for the construction of
the stadium in 2012 to Julius Berger Plc. The project was slated to
be completed in 2014.
It was designed to be a 30,000
seater ultra modern MULTI-PURPOSE sports complex, modeled after
Allianz Arena, a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with
a 75,000 seating capacity.
Apart from the football pitch, a
400m-running track for athletic events and other sporting
facilities were supposed to be part of the structure.
Today, people seem to have
forgotten the outrageous amount of money that was thrown into the
construction of the stadium. I also wonder why those who constantly
admonish me to be “a constructive critic”, have not asked questions
about the whereabouts of the athletic and the other components of
the stadium?
Why is the stadium SINGLE-PURPOSE
(solely for soccer) and not multi-purpose as specified in the
contract?
Why are we reticent about the fact
that nearly Seven (7) years after Senator Akpabio awarded the
scandalously inflated contract for the construction of the stadium
to Julius Berger Plc, the project, like most of Akpabio’s other
White elegant projects (like the Tropicana Entertainment Centre,
Four-Point Sheraton Hotel, etc) remains uncompleted?
Where is the 250 Million Dollars,
which if it had been properly invested, could have yielded 31
industries across the 31 Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State
(which Akpabio promised, budgeted funds for, but NEVER built a
single industry)?
The stadium, we were told, was
going to boost the internally generated revenue of Akwa Ibom
State.
Today, I am publicly challenging
anyone who feels that the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium
has economic value to Akwa Ibom State, to tell us how much, in
figures, have been generated by the state government between 2014
when it was commissioned to date?
What we see clearly is that rather
than generate revenue for the state, the Godswill Akpabio
International Stadium has become a liability. It is a drain on the
resources of Akwa Ibom State.
If emotional satisfaction and not
profits is all that we derived from having “an International
stadium”, it means there is a problem.
Akwa Ibom State Government spends
money to lobby the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) in order for
matches to be brought to the stadium. The state government also
gives out money to players to “motivate” them during matches. It is
evident that funds also go into certain logistics each time a match
is to be played at the stadium.
How much has the state derived so
far, from sales of tickets? Investment without returns is useless.
Football is business. That is why Alhaji Aliko Dangote is
reportedly looking into the prospects of buying Arsenal club.
The money that goes into the
private sector from visiting spectators who lodged in hotels and
patronised goods and services in Akwa Ibom State each time an
International or local match is taken to the stadium, will never
justify the huge amount of money dissipated by the state government
on the construction of the stadium and hosting of matches.
A vast majority of the people who
go to the stadium to watch matches are residents of Akwa Ibom State
who have no need of securing hotel accommodation.
In the final analysis, we will all
see that an International stadium (uncompleted), is not a priority
for a civil service state like Akwa Ibom where politics is the
largest employer of labour.
The stadium is an unproductive
legacy of a squandermania. It is a white elephant project that was
used to siphon money.
While basking in the euphoria of
Friday’s victorious outing of the Super Eagles at the Godswill
Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, let us bear in mind that the
stadium is owned by a state in Nigeria where pensioners and
retirees are dying without receiving their gratuity and
pensions.
Do not forget that in that same
Akwa Ibom, the next-of-kin of late primary school teachers between
1991 to date have not received their entitlements.
It is in that same Akwa Ibom State
that Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ recently terminated its
contract with the government to manage the state-owned Five-Star
Hotel, Le Meridien Hotel & Golf Resort, over debt of N394
million owed the international hotel services company by the
government.
In counting areas where the Akwa
Ibom State Government has FAILED in its responsibilities and
financial obligations, the list is endless.
If $250 million had been invested
wisely in education, job creation or mass housing in Akwa Ibom
State in 2012, it would have had tremendous generational impacts on
the citizens of the oil-rich but impoverished state.
Tragically, the then profligate
governor played to the gallery and dissipated such huge but scarce
resources on a needless stadium project which remains uncompleted
and economically unproductive.
May Nigeria not be destroyed by the
crass misadventures of morally deficient, financially reckless and
intellectually bankrupt leaders who would rather mortgaged the
future of the citizens than invest sensibly in productive ventures,
in their outrageous and insatiable propensity for vainglory.
Inibehe Effiong is a Legal
Practitioner and the Convener of the Akwa Ibom Conscience.
Email:
inibehe.effiong@gmail.com
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom
State is giving out the sum of $40,000.00 (N14 million based on the
exchange rate of N350 to $1) to the Nigerian senior national
football team, the Super Eagles, for defeating their Cameroonian
counterpart, the Indomitable Lions, at the Godswill Akpabio
International Stadium in Uyo on Friday September 1, 2017, in
fulfillment of his ostensibly impulsive promise to donate $10,000
to the team for every goal scored.
If it is necessary to donate public
funds to players, who have already made it in life materially,
before they can win a match at home, then what is the cacophony
about?
Ironically, two years after the
state government owned Akwa United FC won the 2015 FA Cup, Governor
Udom Emmanuel is yet to fulfill his promise to give each of the 34
registered players of the local club N2 million and a house.
I do not like sports. However,
anytime that the Super Eagles plays, I do devote considerable time
to watch their match if circumstances gives allowance for me to do
so.
Like every patriot, I am delighted
that Nigeria won. What I will not concede to, is the argument that
because of Friday’s victory by our national team, I, as an active
and responsible citizen, should not interrogate the economic value
of the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium to Akwa Ibom
State.
The Godswill Akpabio’s
administration awarded an estimated, whopping $250,000,000.00 (Two
Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars) contract for the construction of
the stadium in 2012 to Julius Berger Plc. The project was slated to
be completed in 2014.
It was designed to be a 30,000
seater ultra modern MULTI-PURPOSE sports complex, modeled after
Allianz Arena, a football stadium in Munich, Bavaria, Germany with
a 75,000 seating capacity.
Apart from the football pitch, a
400m-running track for athletic events and other sporting
facilities were supposed to be part of the structure.
Today, people seem to have
forgotten the outrageous amount of money that was thrown into the
construction of the stadium. I also wonder why those who constantly
admonish me to be “a constructive critic”, have not asked questions
about the whereabouts of the athletic and the other components of
the stadium?
Why is the stadium SINGLE-PURPOSE
(solely for soccer) and not multi-purpose as specified in the
contract?
Why are we reticent about the fact
that nearly Seven (7) years after Senator Akpabio awarded the
scandalously inflated contract for the construction of the stadium
to Julius Berger Plc, the project, like most of Akpabio’s other
White elegant projects (like the Tropicana Entertainment Centre,
Four-Point Sheraton Hotel, etc) remains uncompleted?
Where is the 250 Million Dollars,
which if it had been properly invested, could have yielded 31
industries across the 31 Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State
(which Akpabio promised, budgeted funds for, but NEVER built a
single industry)?
The stadium, we were told, was
going to boost the internally generated revenue of Akwa Ibom
State.
Today, I am publicly challenging
anyone who feels that the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium
has economic value to Akwa Ibom State, to tell us how much, in
figures, have been generated by the state government between 2014
when it was commissioned to date?
What we see clearly is that rather
than generate revenue for the state, the Godswill Akpabio
International Stadium has become a liability. It is a drain on the
resources of Akwa Ibom State.
If emotional satisfaction and not
profits is all that we derived from having “an International
stadium”, it means there is a problem.
Akwa Ibom State Government spends
money to lobby the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) in order for
matches to be brought to the stadium. The state government also
gives out money to players to “motivate” them during matches. It is
evident that funds also go into certain logistics each time a match
is to be played at the stadium.
How much has the state derived so
far, from sales of tickets? Investment without returns is useless.
Football is business. That is why Alhaji Aliko Dangote is
reportedly looking into the prospects of buying Arsenal club.
The money that goes into the
private sector from visiting spectators who lodged in hotels and
patronised goods and services in Akwa Ibom State each time an
International or local match is taken to the stadium, will never
justify the huge amount of money dissipated by the state government
on the construction of the stadium and hosting of matches.
A vast majority of the people who
go to the stadium to watch matches are residents of Akwa Ibom State
who have no need of securing hotel accommodation.
In the final analysis, we will all
see that an International stadium (uncompleted), is not a priority
for a civil service state like Akwa Ibom where politics is the
largest employer of labour.
The stadium is an unproductive
legacy of a squandermania. It is a white elephant project that was
used to siphon money.
While basking in the euphoria of
Friday’s victorious outing of the Super Eagles at the Godswill
Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, let us bear in mind that the
stadium is owned by a state in Nigeria where pensioners and
retirees are dying without receiving their gratuity and
pensions.
Do not forget that in that same
Akwa Ibom, the next-of-kin of late primary school teachers between
1991 to date have not received their entitlements.
It is in that same Akwa Ibom State
that Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ recently terminated its
contract with the government to manage the state-owned Five-Star
Hotel, Le Meridien Hotel & Golf Resort, over debt of N394
million owed the international hotel services company by the
government.
In counting areas where the Akwa
Ibom State Government has FAILED in its responsibilities and
financial obligations, the list is endless.
If $250 million had been invested
wisely in education, job creation or mass housing in Akwa Ibom
State in 2012, it would have had tremendous generational impacts on
the citizens of the oil-rich but impoverished state.
Tragically, the then profligate
governor played to the gallery and dissipated such huge but scarce
resources on a needless stadium project which remains uncompleted
and economically unproductive.
May Nigeria not be destroyed by the
crass misadventures of morally deficient, financially reckless and
intellectually bankrupt leaders who would rather mortgaged the
future of the citizens than invest sensibly in productive ventures,
in their outrageous and insatiable propensity for vainglory.
Inibehe Effiong is a Legal
Practitioner and the Convener of the Akwa Ibom Conscience.
Email:
inibehe.effiong@gmail.com