I Rest My Case – I think Nahim Khadi was sycophantic on SLBC

I am neither a sports fanatic, nor acquainted with any senior sports official in the country. I have heard the name Nahim Khadi (President of the Sierra Leone Football Association) for quite a while, but have never met him…even though I can easily identify him.  (Photo:  Nahim Khadi)

Listening to him speak on the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Cooperation (SLBC) Tea Break program last week and to hear him boasting that the government of HE Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma has allocated unlimited funds to him for the sole purpose of promoting football in the country, I came to realize that I was in fact listening to a heap of trash coming from somebody with a sycophantic mentality.

Rather than sticking to the hot questions being posed on him by the guy himself, Samuel Valcasel, Mr. Nahim Khadi, attempted to toy with the focus of the interview by spending all the useful time showering misplaced praises on the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) and President Ernest Koroma, and in the process making such a wild and unrealistic statement that unlimited funds have been allocated to his office for the purpose earlier specified.

He however did not get his way because each time he tried to evade the question posed, Samuel will call him home.

The thrust of the said interview was for him, as the man responsible for football in the country, to express his views about the surprising performance staged by the Leone Stars in Egypt, that saw the Sierra Leone national side celebrating a one-all draw with their Egyptian counterparts who happen to be the football heroes of Africa.

Forgetting that the said performance is perhaps the best ever staged by the Leone Stars ever since he assumed the position of president of SLFA, Mr. Nahim Khadi, dressed in the gown of pretentiousness, blew the relevance of the clearly impressive performance/achievement beyond proportion.

The fact that Mr. Khadi was not in Egypt to witness the match first-hand, is an indication that he himself never had confidence that the team would have staged such a remarkable or lucky performance. The whole thing came to him as a real shock…and was unable to control the emotion and excitement that accompanied it.

“Come on man…don’t refer to that as small victory”, was the response Samuel Valcasel got when he tried to caution Mr. Nahim Khadi that “it is too early to celebrate”, considering the dismal performances by the Leone Stars over the years, and especially under his unimpressive and divisive administration.

Finance, for quite some time now, has been the greatest hindrance to the promotion of football in the country.

For Mr. Nahim Khadi therefore to have gone on air and stated categorically and in all certainty that unlimited funds have been allocated to SLFA, when in fact the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports under which it is operating cannot boast of such in its budgetary allocation, sends wild signals that the subject, Nahim Khadi, has proved himself to be what he is said to be… a diabolic liar and a sly partner. He first lied to the nation when he ate his own words… by declaring that he was going for only one term. Despite pressure for him to stick to his words, the man campaigned vigorously for a second term… and could even go for a third term if he has his way.

The whole interview turned out to be laughable when after making so much boast about his unlimited funds, he refused to give listeners an indication of how much exactly the government has so far bumped into SLFA. When asked the question, his response was “No. I’ll not tell you… lest the other sporting disciplines will become jealous”. So why then did he say what he said about unlimited funds? I guess not even State House, the Office of the President, could boast of unlimited funds to run the overall affairs of the state.

By making such a big-mouth statement, Mr. Khadi, a clearly unsuccessful football administrator, was, either knowingly or unknowingly, giving the impression that the major obstacle that was holding the progress of football at bay has been effectively overcome and that from henceforth, Leone Stars has no alternative but to come out with good results like the one in Egypt.

If Mr. Khadi is boasting of unlimited funds, then this should have a reap over effect on all regional and district football teams, from where the boys graduating into the national side get their grooming. Am not sure this is the case, because we have scores of teams out there that heavily depend on handouts from mining companies, mobile telecommunication companies and other commercial houses. What about our football officials…how is this thing about unlimited funds reflecting on their professionalism and motivation? What about the football academy…is everything alright there, courtesy of funds derived locally?

One important question that came to mind hearing Mr. Khadi’s empty bluff, was ‘what will this man say to the nation if with all the so-called unlimited funds, Leone Stars fails to beat the Egyptian side in the return match or say qualify for the upcoming African Cup of Nations at which Sierra Leone has a history of absenting?’

For all I know, our boys staged that impressive performance not because of the amount of money poured on them, but courtesy of their sense of patriotism to their country and in fulfillment of their intrinsic determination to put the country once more on the map and thereby sending a clear message to the authorities concerned that they can do it.

I however don’t think it is timely to celebrate, as Mr. Khadi thinks. I rest my case!

by Theophilus S. Gbenda

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