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WILL DARE DARE TO BE GREATER THAN SOLOMON?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Nigerian sports community is welcoming Sunday Dare as the country’s 35th sports minister since the era of the first occupier of that position, Chief Joseph Modupe Johnson (JMJ) in 1960.
This is the post that the ever-lively Chief Alex Akinyele once described as the Games Master General of the Federation.
But as was the case with most of the 34 helmsmen before him, there is little or nothing to connect him to sports. He will have to learn the principle of sports administration and organisation while on the saddle.
As earlier remarked, he is not alone. In the past, possibly only five or six of the 34 sports ministers/National Sports Commission chairmen have claims to sports background.
Anthony Ikazoboh led the pack as a former player of the then famed Stationery Stores in the 1960s. Others with claims to sports before assumption to offices as either NSC chairman or sports minister were Silvanus Akinwunmi, Jim Nwobodo, Stephen Akiga, Sani Ndanusa and Taoheed Adedoja.
Of the previous 34 helmsmen before Dare, only the late Sampson Emeka Omeruah ever got a second chance. The new sheriff at the sports ministry therefore has to hit the ground running.
He is coming in on the yet to be officially accepted 86th anniversary of the oldest sports federation in the country, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
His coming is also coming during the African Games holding in Morocco. That will undoubtedly be his first attention.
Being a ‘stranger’ in the sports community or just learning the curves may not necessarily be a disadvantage if Dare applies the best principles of administration.
After all, the celebrated American football player and coach, Vince Lombardy in his famous quote: “The Habit of Winning “remarked that ‘running a football team is not different than running an army, a political party or a business.
“The principles are the same”. The object is to win – to beat the other guy. That Dare is a stranger in the sports community may therefore not be a hindrance if he employs Solomonic wisdom. After all, the Biblical Joseph made great impact in a foreign land despite not having been schooled in the principles of administration.
For the records, Dare becomes the 14th sports minister since the advent of the present democratic dispensation 20 years ago.
The import is that the sports ministry is the most unstable and therefore has the highest turnover of ministers. On the average, a minister spends just a little over one year in office before he is shown the exit.
Only Solomon Dalung, the immediate past sports minister served a full term. This is the first lesson Dare has to have at the back of his mind.
Time is too short to begin any experimental exercise. Like most before him, it is very likely he too is planning a visit to the National Stadium in Lagos.
The new minister should just save himself the rituals, which almost all his predecessors had done since 2003 when the previous national edifice of pride went into ruins.
It became a sort of ‘tourist’ attraction to every new sports minister. Dare should just ask for the files and go through all the observations of his predecessors and attempt a revival of our national pride.
That was the arena that had hosted two final matches of Africa’s premier football competitions in 1980 and 2000. That was an arena that hosted the All Africa Games in 1973 and the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship (now tagged U-20 World Cup).
That was an arena that had witnessed more renovation that any other sporting facility in the country having been upgraded for the 1980 African Nations Cup, two botched World Youth Championships in 1991 and 1995 and finally 1999.
It is a great irony that the coming of democratic rules in the country suddenly brought ruins to such a massive edifice that is situated right in the heart of a mega city. Dare should look at the various reports his predecessors had written after pilgrimages to what was dubbed ‘Sport City’ when the arena was very functional in the 1970s and 1980s.
Europe and other parts of the world boast of time-honoured sports arenas that are constantly being upgraded and maintained to meet current demands. Our own National Stadium has turned a haven for hoodlums. The arena and the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan are in need of massive facelift.
A former sports minister, Taoheed Adedoja, once spoke of plans of turning the National Institute of Sports (NIS) hostel to a 130-room four-star sports hotel.
Adedoja, a professor of sports administration, also spoke of plans for the 50-room Games Village in Surulere Lagos and the 55-room hostel complex at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan as well as a similar 40-room facility of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna attaining the status of three star hotels. The hotels were to be named after outstanding athletes.
All those plans were in the ‘pipelines’ that have since been vandalised. According to Adedoja, each of the hotels was expected to generate half a million-naira daily and would be run by professionals in the hospitality industry.
He reasoned that such venture could provide additional source of revenue for the ministry, which is ever complaining of lean purse.
Whatever happened to that plan enunciated in February 2011, barely three months to end the tenure of the government that appointed him?
The former Liberty Stadium main bowl (now Obafemi Awolowo Stadium) has been a shadow of itself as it had not hosted any major football match since Al Ahly of Egypt beat the Shooting Stars on home soil in the 1999 CAF Champions League.
The minister should consider reviving this premier Nigerian stadium. Possibly, the high turnover of sports ministers is due to their overwhelming interests in football.
Virtually all the preceding 14 sports ministers ended up being football ministers to the neglect of other sports.
Will Dare dare to be different by not being a football minister? Except probably Bolaji Abdulahi who resolved lingering issues in the NFF, football spelt doom for all the other past sports ministers since 1999. This is a big lesson.
Dare should endeavour to build a functional sports data bank for the sport ministry. Anthony Ikazoboh on September 26, 1990 inaugurated a 25-man National Sports Library Committee under the leadership of Dr. Awoture Eleyae.
The objective was to document all aspects of Nigerian sports. Ikazoboh remarked at the time: “sometimes, records available are too old to depend on for modern treatment of sports”.
Continuing, the Air Force man noted: “all along, we have depended on half-truths in some cases to decide on issues for lack of reference points and low academic content of publications on sports”.
Over 30 years since, the committee did not achieve the set goal, possibly because months later, Ikazoboh whose project it was, was transferred from the sports ministry to transport.
If there were a functional documentation process at the sports ministry, it will aid the functions of organisers and other administrators.
Planning process would be aided with such records serving as working documents, even for a new comer into sports administration. A body without history will not be able to know its past and evaluate the present and project its future.
With well-articulated programme, Sunday Dare, as in the book of Matthew 12:42 should be able to proclaim: “A greater than Solomon is here”.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK
Africa emerged as the most successful confederation in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with an unprecedented 90 percent of its representatives advancing to the Round of 32.
Nine of the 10 African teams that started the tournament secured places in the knockout phase, giving the Confederation of African Football (CAF) the highest qualification rate among all six continental confederations.
The African nations progressing to the Round of 32 are South Africa, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Senegal, Egypt, Ghana, DR Congo and Algeria.
Only one African team failed to survive the group stage, underscoring the continent’s growing competitiveness on football’s biggest stage.
CAF’s 90 per cent success rate placed it ahead of South America’s CONMEBOL, which saw 83.33 per cent of its teams advance, and Europe’s UEFA, whose members recorded an 81.25 per cent qualification rate.
The figures represent a significant shift in the global football landscape, where European and South American nations have traditionally dominated World Cup competitions.
The expanded 48-team format appears to have provided African countries with greater opportunities to showcase their progress, and they responded with a series of impressive performances throughout the group stage.
Cape Verde emerged as one of the tournament’s surprise packages by reaching the knockout rounds for the first time, while South Africa, DR Congo and Algeria also celebrated historic advances.
Senegal made history by becoming the first African nation to score five goals in a World Cup match, while Morocco continued the momentum generated by their remarkable semi-final run at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
In contrast, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) endured a difficult campaign, with only 22.22 per cent of its teams progressing. The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) recorded a 50 per cent qualification rate despite having the advantage of three host nations.
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) failed to place any team in the Round of 32.
World Cup Round of 32 Qualification Rates by Confederation
- CAF (Africa): 90%
- CONMEBOL (South America): 83.33%
- UEFA (Europe): 81.25%
- CONCACAF (North and Central America/Caribbean): 50%
- AFC (Asia): 22.22%
- OFC (Oceania): 0%
The statistics show Africa’s growing influence in world football and raise hopes that the continent could produce its strongest collective performance ever in the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup.
With nine teams still in contention, Africa enters the Round of 32 with more representatives than any other confederation and a genuine opportunity to challenge for the latter stages of the tournament.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK.
Ecuador will look to continue their strong record against Concacaf opposition when they face Curaçao in a Group E encounter at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The South Americans enter the match having won their last two World Cup meetings with teams from the Concacaf region and will be eager to maintain that trend as they chase a place in the knockout rounds.
For Curaçao, however, the fixture represents an opportunity to create history.
The Caribbean nation is one of the tournament’s debutants and is still searching for its first World Cup victory. After suffering a heavy defeat to Germany in their opening match, Curaçao will be desperate to demonstrate the resilience and determination that earned them a place at the expanded 48-team tournament.
A victory would make them the first of the World Cup 2026 newcomers to register a win and would provide a significant boost to their qualification hopes.
Ecuador are expected to rely on their experience at this level, but they know underestimating Curaçao could prove costly. The underdogs have already shown flashes of attacking quality despite their difficult introduction against Germany.
As the group stage begins to take shape, both teams understand the importance of securing points. Ecuador are chasing progression, while Curaçao are chasing history.
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK.
As Morocco edge closer to the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup 2026, captain Achraf Hakimi finds himself at the centre of two parallel narratives; one being football excellence and the other by legal proceedings that continue to cast a shadow over his career.
On the pitch, the 27-year-old has never appeared more influential.
Morocco’s 1-0 victory over Scotland not only moved the Atlas Lions within touching distance of the Round of 32, it also elevated Hakimi into the record books as the African player with the most FIFA World Cup appearances.
The Paris Saint-Germain defender made his 12th World Cup appearance, surpassing the previous mark jointly held by Cameroonian legend François Omam-Biyik and Ghana’s all-time leading scorer Asamoah Gyan.
It is a remarkable achievement for a player who made his World Cup debut as a teenager in Russia in 2018 and has since become one of the most recognisable faces of African football.
For Hakimi, the record is another milestone in a career already decorated with major club honours and individual accolades, including the African Footballer of the Year award. It also reinforces his status as one of the driving forces behind Morocco’s rise as a global football power.
His influence was most vividly illustrated at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Morocco became the first African and Arab nation to reach the semi-finals of the tournament. Hakimi’s composure, leadership and attacking flair helped transform the Atlas Lions into one of the competition’s most compelling stories.
Four years later, he remains the heartbeat of a Moroccan side determined to prove that their success in Qatar was no one-off achievement.
The signs have been encouraging. Morocco opened their campaign with an impressive 1-1 draw against five-time champions Brazil before defeating Scotland to move within a point of qualification. A draw against Haiti in their final group match would be enough to secure passage to the knockout rounds.
Yet while Hakimi’s football achievements continue to accumulate, events away from the game have ensured that public attention remains divided.
The defender is facing the prospect of a criminal trial in France following allegations of rape first reported in 2023. Hakimi has consistently denied wrongdoing and has sought to challenge the legal process through the courts.
French media reported this week that an appeals court rejected a challenge to his referral to criminal court, clearing the way for a future trial.
Responding publicly, Hakimi reiterated his innocence and welcomed the opportunity to present his version of events.
“Today, a story that isn’t mine is being told at the expense of my family, my life, and above all, the truth,” he wrote on social media platform X.
“I’ve been waiting for this trial since day one. And now I’m looking forward to it. Finally, I’ll be able to speak out.”
The legal proceedings remain ongoing, and no trial date has been announced.
For now, Morocco’s captain appears determined to keep his focus on football.
That ability to compartmentalise challenges has become a defining characteristic of elite athletes, particularly those operating under intense global scrutiny. With millions watching every move, Hakimi has continued to perform at the highest level for both club and country.
His record-breaking appearance against Scotland demonstrated once again why he remains indispensable to Morocco’s ambitions. Whether surging down the flank, organising teammates or inspiring supporters, Hakimi has become the symbol of a generation that has redefined expectations for African football.
As the World Cup enters its decisive phase, Morocco’s hopes of another deep run rest heavily on the shoulders of their captain.
The legal questions surrounding Hakimi will ultimately be settled in court. On the field, however, his contribution to Moroccan football is already firmly established.
And as the Atlas Lions pursue another place in World Cup history, their captain continues to add chapters to a legacy that has made him one of Africa’s most accomplished footballers.
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