Dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, do the needful......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
I am writing this piece as a global strategic communications consultant and from this perspective. Actions communicate intent but actions from Governments reverberate in the corridors of other State Houses.
The Super Eagles were in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda in September 2024 for an AFCON 2025 qualifier with the national team of Rwanda. The camaraderie I witnessed amongst the boys at their hotel, bus ride and at the stadium has not been felt in years in the national team. The backroom staff; all versed in their fields, well-travelled and professional.
Nigerians home and abroad were alarmed and shocked at the barbaric tactics and unprofessionalism by the Libyans meted out on the Super Eagles; the football national team of Nigeria. It was shocking to Nigerians but to keen African football watchers and Nigerian football journalists, this archaic and diabolic antic by Libya was not surprising. It has been a recurring decimal with Libya and the North African region.
This is a snapshot of what Nigerians face; wickedness wrapped up in bureaucratic officialdom (covertly or overtly) in hostile countries. I will come back to this in this long read. Permit me to include the Nigeria Football Federation’s twenty-point blow by blow account of what transpired.
Twenty Points
1) The chartered ValueJet aircraft departed from the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo at 11.55hours on Sunday, 13th October 2024, and landed at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano at 13.10hours, for the completion of immigration formalities and for the aircraft to refuel.
2) The aircraft took off from Kano at 15.18hours, for the 3 hours and 35 minutes flight to Benghazi, Libya, expecting to arrive a few minutes before 8pm Libya time.
3) Just as he was about to commence his initial approach into Benghazi, the captain (pilot) was instructed by the control tower that he could not land in Benghazi (despite having all the required landing papers and having completed all formalities before leaving Uyo and later, Kano, but should proceed to the Al-Abraq International Airport, even though the airport lacked the control navigators for landing at such hours. He complained that he was short on fuel but his words fell on deaf ears as he was told in stern manner that the directive was from ‘higher authorities.’
4) On landing at the Al-Abraq International Airport, in the small town of Labraq, at 19.50hours, it was clear that the airport was not a well-utilised facility. There were no scanning machines or the usual equipment for this service, and officials had to make do with mobile phones to scan passport data pages.
5) The delegation, which included 22 players and team officials; NFF President Alh. Ibrahim Musa Gusau; Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Philip Shaibu; a couple of NFF Board members; NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi; a couple of parliamentarians; a couple of NFF Management; a couple of media representatives and; a couple of stakeholders, was shown scant respect by the airport authorities who applied curt manners and stern tones.
6) It took over one hour for the team’s luggage to roll through the carousel, despite the fact that the bags and other items had already been hauled from the aircraft immediately on arrival.
7) No official of the Libyan Football Federation was at the airport to receive the delegation, as is the best practice globally. Airport officials could not answer the simple question on where the buses that would take the delegation members back to Benghazi (where the NFF had booked hotel rooms) were.
8) When delegation members including the NFF President, Comrade Shaibu and Dr Sanusi attempted to venture outside the airport to ascertain if there were vehicles waiting for the team, they were stopped in the most uncouth of manners by airport security personnel.
9) Calls to the General Secretary of LFF, Mr. Abdul-Nasser by Dr Sanusi yielded no fruits as the former kept promising that the buses would arrive in ‘10 minutes’, which later became ‘two hours’, and afterwards, ‘three hours.’ Later in the evening, it was no longer possible to reach him on the phone. Frustrated by this attitude, Dr Sanusi approached the security operatives to request that the team be allowed to go out and board the buses the NFF eventually hired. This request was rejected with insults. It took the intervention of the NFF dignitaries to prevent what would have escalated into a row as the NFF President himself was not spared when he heard exchange of voices between the security personnel and his General Secretary. This aggravated the tension and further frustrated the team.
10) Hour after hour, and with mounting frustration, delegation members, particularly the players, grew restless. There was no food or water provided by the LFF, or where to even procure these items, and there was no network or internet connection at the airport. These swiftly increased the level of frustration and anger.
11) At past midnight, it was learnt that there had been word from ‘higher authorities’ (Libya is a jurisdiction governed by two different administrations – a UN-recognized cabinet in Tripoli and a self-imposed team over Eastern Libya including places like Benghazi and Labraq) that the Nigeria delegation should be delayed for minimum of 10 hours at the airport for what they falsely claimed was done to their team in Nigeria. (All conversations between the NFF General Secretary and the LFF General Secretary on the match in Uyo, both written text and voice notes, are still in the NFF General Secretary’s phone).
12) The NFF team was shocked because the incident referred to in Nigeria was entirely generated by the Libyans. They informed the NFF that their contingent would be landing in Port Harcourt, and not Uyo, only two hours to the team’s arrival in Nigeria. Despite this, the NFF moved swiftly to get authorities to grant their aircraft movement permit from Port Harcourt to Uyo, but this was jettisoned as the LFF apparently did not cherish the additional fee dispatched by the charter company. They opted to travel by road, refused to use the buses hired by the NFF and instead hired their own, and disrespected advice not to travel by night. When they stuck to their guns to move by night, the NFF provided security. The NFF even provided the team training facility the day after the match and secured direct flight permit from Uyo to Benghazi for the delegation.
13) Infuriated, the NFF President reacted: “We anticipated some shocks here given the false account of what happened in Nigeria as narrated by their team captain. But we did not expect these shenanigans. What I am seeing is despicable and has no place in the game of football which is meant to foster excellent relationships among nations and bring peoples from diverse cultures, religious persuasions and economic and political interests together in an ambience of peace and joy.”
14) The NFF learnt that the Embassy of Nigeria in Tripoli had written, a fortnight earlier, to the authorities in Benghazi that they would want to welcome the Nigeria delegation on arrival. This application was said to have been rejected outright.
15) In a conscious effort to play down their frustration, anger and hunger, players and officials resorted to playing games, listening to music, chatting themselves up, scanning through the airport exit door to see if any vehicles had arrived, and generally looked forward to daybreak, which they hoped would bring much-sought-after relief.
16) Many calls were made to higher authorities in Nigeria to apprise them of the situation, and these persons all expressed fears for the safety and security of the team. These fears were real and justified given the plethora of threats thrown by the Libyans on legacy and social media in the days before and after the match in Uyo. At 2am, Captain William Ekong met the NFF President in the company of the NFF General Secretary to inform the President that the team may not be able to go ahead with the match, due to trauma, fatigue and body aches that resulted from lack of food, dehydration and very cruel and unimaginable treatment, which had led to some players falling ill.
17) The NFF repeated calls to officials of the Confederation of African Football, Nigeria’s FIFA Council Member Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick and higher authorities in Nigeria. It dispatched a letter to CAF in which it detailed the antics of the hosts and hoped that the continental governing body would go ahead to “punish this rare bestiality visited on the beautiful game.” It noted that the Super Eagles had travelled hoping to enjoy a great game of football but had been sorely disappointed and frustrated by the unprecedented level of hostility and poor attitude of the hosts.
18) At daybreak, Mr. Maurice Eromosele, president of the Nigerian community in Eastern Libya, arrived with words of empathy from the Ambassador of Nigeria to Libya, His Excellency Alhaji Muhammad Muhammad. He expressed shock at the treatment meted out to the Nigeria delegation, who were made to spend the entire night inside the departure lounge of the Al-Abraq Airport. He said His Excellency ordered him to get a few things for the team, and he later returned with plastic bags loaded with croissants and drinks. These served as breakfast for the team.
19) More calls were made and eventually, it was agreed by all parties that the team should not go ahead with the match, but return to Nigeria to await the decision of CAF (who were briefed in detail on the situation) with regards to the un-played match.
20) After spending many more hours waiting for the Al-Abraq airport authorities to sell fuel to refill the chartered ValueJet aircraft (which was initially proving to be some sort of robotic engineering), the Nigeria delegation departed the Al-Abraq Airport (not worth the toga of ‘international’ by any scale) at exactly 15.05hours, bound for the city of Kano, and onwards to the Federal Capital, Abuja.
No Holds Barred Perspective
Everything you read is from a communications perspective. Any Nigerian who travels around Africa will understand what the national team went through; either the Nigerian has experienced something similar in minute or large doses or heard of citizens who have gone through inhumane treatment. Being a Nigerian is an interesting sport in some countries nowadays. When a country isn’t afraid of instant punitive actions meted out by the Nigerian State, Nigerian citizens will be maltreated and treated sub-humanely. Stories are told and stories abound of such. Most times, the victims are not well-known personalities, high placed persons or have connections to people in high places who can place calls and sort things out. How many law-abiding Nigerians have been stonewalled by bureaucratic officialdom in other countries for no professional or justifiable reason? It is becoming rampant. The diabolic detention by Libya of the Super Eagles team should be treated with the utmost punitive measures. Until the Super Eagles team left Libya, no single official from the football federation of Libya came to the dungeon called the airport.
Countries on the African Continent and outside Africa are watching and awaiting how your administration will handle this. Anything short of a sledgehammer; will give other countries the greenlight to maltreat law-abiding Nigerians. South Africa tried it with Chidimma Adetishina; Libya has tried it with Nigeria’s Super Eagles. Now, these are well-known individuals. What is the fate of that Nigerian who knows nobody but God? There should not be a third incident. Enough is enough. Nigeria should take the lead and not wait for the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Any Nigerian or African sports journalist in private conversations will always state that you don’t wait for CAF to take appropriate sanctions as past incidents have shown. A wolf does not seek leadership from a sheep.
What happened in Libya and by Libya was an international fiasco, a one-man pissing contest and monumental sh*tshow (Mr President, forgive my French) and beyond football. The era of Big Brother of Africa has been over years ago (albeit subtle). A Big Brother role should come with a whip and cane (if a younger sibling messes up, he or she collects.) A friend years ago in Lagos, told me a saying which goes thus: “When they pull a gun; you pull out a bazooka.” The days of niceties in diplomacy when cruelty and barbarity and not reciprocity by the other country; should be over. Kenderick Lamar said it best: “They are not like us.” The diabolical and despicable detention of Nigeria’s darling Super Eagles should be used as a lesson to other countries who are known and not-yet-known for maltreating law-abiding Nigerians. These countries are watching and waiting for the Nigerian actions your administration will take.
At this juncture, it will be great to suggest to Nigerians and people in general reading this open letter; to always register their presence at their country’s embassy in a new country they visit; either on holiday or business. This singular act goes a long and has several ramifications.
The Nigerian publisher Chief Pius Odebiyi who was the first editor of Central Bank of Nigeria’s Bullion magazine in the 1960s used to tell me of an old Jamaican saying which was popular amongst the members (members like Maya Angelou) of the Harlem Writers’ Guild in New York the 1960s and it goes thus: “You don’t play fair with people who don’t know fear.” Fear in this context means God. A strong punitive response will send the right message to Libya and to those watching who are already towing the Libya route. Nigerians home and away expect your administration to do the needful. It will reset some recollective memories and put a stop to all shenanigans ongoing; and it will reset the boundaries when it pertains to the treatment of Nigerians.
I conclude with this quote by the captain of the Super Eagles William Troost Ekoong which he posted on his twitter account when the team landed safely in Nigeria; “Proud of this team, Naija Spirit can’t be broken. Throw at us what you want, it is in our blood to overcome. I have seen a lot in my ten years with this group, but nothing like this. An experience that has brought us even closer together.”
Dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, do the needful.
Dolapo Aina, a global strategic communications consultant and founder of The Write Communications in Kigali, Rwanda.