It is obvious that the change of government in Kano state has brought changes in the state entirely in which sports and its administration are not excluded.
This is because Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim Galadima, the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission and Kabiru Baita, the interim Chairman of the Kano Pillars Football Club are no longer in the driving seats of the two agencies.
I was reliably told that Dr. Galadima has since submitted his handed over notes to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of Kano State while I am still not certain about that of Kabiru Baita.
This means that all the forces and powers that combined and halted the staging of the maiden edition of the Aspira Kano Heritage Marathon are no more.
With the above scenario, I don’t see any reason why the genuine organizers of the Aspira Kano Heritage Marathon, the first of its kind, should not return and continue their good work.
Honestly, I am among the hundreds, thousands or even more citizens that are very sad and aggrieved with the unfortunate situation that the competition and its genuine organizers found themselves in.
For sure, it was the imported internal crisis into the main organizing committee of the competition that warranted the series of postponements of the competition before it was finally suspended indefinitely by the organizers.
As I said it before, that crisis was intentionally imported into the main organizing committee by some agents of doom within and outside just to do away with some individuals in the committee.
To say the fact, it was the alteration of the leadership structure of the main organizing committee sponsored by a member of the committee which was seconded by the sports commission that started the crisis.
Happily, now that the sports commission has removed itself and promised never to interfere again, I see it as a golden opportunity for the committee to regroup and put its house and things in order and continue with its good work.
Honestly, I see a lot of negativity in the actions that halted the competition because a lot has been expended and a lot has also been put in place.
I am aware that the committee had sought and got a multi-million Naira sponsorship for the competition, which is the first of its kind in the state.
Besides, the committee has sourced for some funds within and opened two accounts, Naira and Dollar accounts.
The Dollar account according to my findings was opened because of the anticipation of the participation of athletes from foreign countries.
I am also aware that some interested athletes and institutions had indicated their interest to participate by collecting and returning their completed application forms with stipulated payment of registration fees for the historic event.
I am also aware that this is the first time in the history of Kano state that a Multi-million Naira competition of this magnitude, sponsored by a private organization is going to be staged in Kano state.
I was also made to understand that a lump sum of money has been expended in making the jingles and airing them in some selected media houses.
I don’t want to forget about the money spent in the branding of a bus with the sign and logo of the competition and not to talk about the ups and downs together with the printing and purchase of stationery.
With the above and many unforeseen activities which the committee have done, I am not in support of allowing this important competition to just go down the drain.
Something must be done especially now that there is a change of government in Kano state. The organizers should urgently regroup and work out on the possibilities of bringing or making the Aspira Kano Heritage Marathon a reality.
The organizers should forget and put behind them all what happened before May 29th and swing into action for the actualization of this important and significant event.
In doing so, I want the organizers to look and study thoroughly at the summation of lawyers’ of Hon. Abdurrasheed Saleh Machika to the chairman of the then chairman of sports commission.
The committee should without delay abide by the terms and specifications set out in the MOU duly executed to govern the implementation of the competition.
The lawyers demand on the whole issue are:-
(1) The immediate reinstatement of Hon. Abdurrasheed Saleh Machika as chairman of the organizing committee in line with provisions of the MOU duly executed to bind the parties.
(2) Allowing the organizing committee to carry out their functions, powers and operate without any external interference.
(3) Scraping any other account subsequently opened to receive money or any other financial benefit for the project from the sponsors.
(4) Recognition of the accounts opened by the promoters and organizing committee as the surviving accounts to operate for the project.
To me, the above must be respected for peace to reign and for the competition to commence.
I am sure bringing back and staging the competition will no doubt put smiles on the faces of the registered athletes, their supporters and the generality of the Kano people because it is what they are praying to see live and participate.