The Sports Minister Solomon Dalung gave a clear definition of his red beret on tweeter as follows :”The red barret is signature of commitment to selflessness to the wellbeing of the masses and to me is like a religion of a sort”. How with the activities of things going on, it seems as though his words are not being transmitted to reality.
The late arrival of Nigerian Olympic Kits to Rio, barely three days to the end of the Rio games is a clear indication that the minister probably got it all wrong as the man in charge of the Sports Ministry. Team Nigeria took part in the opening ceremony match past without the official opening ceremony attire, only for the attire and other sport kits to arrive Rio 3 days to the end of event, this does not in anyway speak well of the ministry under his administration. It becomes worst since this is the first time such trend is happening in the history of Nigeria.

The minister did the nation a lot of disservice by making discouraging comments about the Dream Team, when it was obvious that the team were stranded in Atlanta USA. His coming out before the media to say “Who took them there, and why is it my business that they are having problem” is a clear indication that his words and actions contradicts the real essence and significance of the red beret, which he claims is for the wellbeing of the masses.
In fact, asking John Mikel Obi to take charge of the team as reported by Vanguard, just because a frustrated Coach Samson Siasia lamented their predicament on social media is an evidence that he has no single idea of what goes on in Sports, and lacks the competence to handle crises management related issues in the Sports Ministry. In fact, he was also quick to forget that Mikel Obi did not take part in the opening ceremony due to shady arrangement made for the team.
While the minister and other government officials preach patriotism, selflessness and commitment to the cause of Nigeria, that does not reflect in their own call to service, as no one uses his personal money to run the affairs of Nigeria, everything is budgeted and planned for, while Sports has suffered drastically, in an administration that promised “Change”.
Discussion about this post