The Executive Chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick, on Friday attributed the success of sacked Sports Minister, Mr Bolaji Abdullahi to President Goodluck Jonathan, maintaining that the President “gave him everything he needed to succeed.”
President Jonathan, on Wednesday sacked Mr Abdullahi and ordered that one of the 11 newly sworn in ministers, Dr Tamuno Danagogo, take over.
While on Sunrise Daily, Pinnick, who lauded the sacked minister, Bolaji Abdullahi as an excellent man who had a vision and mission, opined that “Sport is a continuous process and the minister being removed is a case of the devil and the deep blue sea.”
He also maintained that Abdullahi’s record beats those of his predecessors over the past 20 years. “In fact, in the last 20 years, he’s one minister that has been very exceptional in brilliance and putting things together but it goes beyond that.”
He further credited the ex-minister’s success to his easy access and rapport with the President, who gave him everything he needed to succeed.
He said that the success recorded by the former minister were also as a result of the President’s support. “That’s the key element; the Presidency gave him all the support, so you cannot attribute his success to him alone but also to the President.”
Mr Pinnick also credited the Nigerian Football Federation “as well as some state governments including Lagos, Delta, Cross Rivers, Rivers and (maybe) Ondo for giving the former minister a good platform to work on.”
According to Pinnick, “The good news about this whole thing is that he has been able to establish a template” which his successor will benefit from and improve on. So, the success story of Nigerian sports development can continue.
“I think in the historiography of Nigeria, annals of history in Nigeria, his name certainly will be etched in one place.”
On speculations that Abdullahi was sacked for political reasons, Pinnick said “you cannot serve two masters” and so “nobody wants to care whether you are successful.”
He maintained that people should not fault the President’s action as he may have information they are not privy to. Pinnick further advocated a fixed tenure for the position of Sports Minister in order to control how they are removed from office.
