. LAMENT CONDITION OF HEARTLAND FC, GRASSHOPPERS, OTHERS
It is very certain and clear to all that the election battle in Imo State is over following the victory of His Excellency, Governor Hope Uzodinma in the just concluded Imo State November 11, 2023 Governorship Election.
Except for legal battles, it is expected that efforts will be geared towards continuing the good works of Gov Uzodinma in the State after his 27/27 victory at the Guber polls.
It is however worrisome that the Sports Sector has not particularly experienced the true benefits of Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction as well as the ‘Shared Prosperity’ mantra the Governor visited other sectors with.
One is tempted here to ask, what is really the problem and why is the Sports Sector lagging behind including our darling teams, Heartland FC, the Grasshoppers (Handball team), Volleyball team, Basketball, Athletics, Hockey among many other Sports that Imo is relatively known to always do well in?
Most Sports Stakeholders in the State and even beyond know and can attest that the Governor is doing his beat by releasing funds for grassroots Sports Development and for athletes welfare but the big question remains why are they still not getting the results required?.
Sports enthusiasts in the State and lovers of Sports really applauded the Governor when he wisely and for the first time appointed a true Sports man in the person of Prince Eleazar Ogbonna as the Sports Commission Chairman. It even got more interesting when without getting any subvention Ogbonna set out to start recovering and refurbishing dilapidated facilitates at the Dan Anyiam Stadium with his personal funds.
It would be recalled that in one of his addresses, he said, “I can’t wait to start attracting investors and my partners to help resurrect Sports success in Imo again.
He even went as far as setting up programmes the Commission under his watch will be undertaking, including the Talent Hunt/Heartland FC scouting trip to Spain which we understand is still on the card.
Unfortunately, all these seemed to have faded away when suddenly the Sports Commission Boss was struck with a Strange Illness and had to travel back to Europe for medical attention. But he never gave up on his dreams and aspirations of making the Imo Sports Sector work again like it is in Edo, Delta, Lagos and Bayelsa States before attention of all the State Government functionaries were directed to reelecting the Governor back to office for a second tenure.
Now that the elections are over and the Eagle has finally landed with a 100% victory at the polls, the Stakeholders are seriously worried sick and would want to know why “Ambassadore” whom we all know is capable to help His Excellency reshape the Sports Sector back to the glory days with his contacts and programmes has been quiet all this while?
Imo State Sports Stakeholders are wish to ascertain if there is any fishy business going on that we are not privy to, which is hindering Ogbnna from exercising his responsibilities by engineering the rebranding of the Sports Sector for good and in line with the 3R/Shared Prosperity mantra.
It is also obvious they would equally wish to use this medium to plead with our dear Governor to quickly look into the misdemeanor going on in the Sports Sector with the view to setting things aright.
They in their wishes believe that this the time to put things in its perspective so that the Professor of sports whom we all know has the qualities and capacity to salvage the ugly situation of our sports can work with his contacts and goal oriented programmes to help truly drive Sports Development particularly from the grassroots including placing the welfare of our dear athletes as a priority in the State and help generate revenue for the State’s IGR.
It is sad to state here that Heartland FC is almost heading back to relegation with their female counterparts, Heartland Queens, barely managing to look like a professional side and even more sad to report that other sports seem to have all been forgotten with some of them who are very passionate with what they know how to best result to contributing personal funds to enable them attend National events.
Your Excellency Sir, we know these are not your intentions for the Sports Sector in Imo State and we know that you can redirect the situation as this is one sector that has continued to provide job for our youths, happiness to Imolites, unite Imolites and strengthen our togetherness as well as engage our youths meaningfully that if well managed has the capacity to empower millions of our talented youths and produce stars in the nearest future.
“Onwa Oyoko”, we believe in your Shared Prosperity mantra and these sector is a sure true means of actualizing your dream of making millions of our youths prosper and you have a Sports Commission Boss that is tested and trusted in such aspect but he should be allowed to reel out the magic touch of using sports to actualize the good programs of your Government in the Sector.
