Presidential Retreat: I brought the Americans not Iweala - Abdullahi

*‘Government designed for new times’ Part 1.

Abdullahi...putting the records straight

In minutes, my phone was almost blowing up. My e-mail has streamed again so wild with responses. Anger in its original quality against our leaders is the summary. I have heard in the last 30 minutes so many unprintable things about our leaders. Incidentally, the Minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), Bolaji Abdullahi called too to put the records straight. 
His words: “you are my friend. As a journalist, I do not expect you to trade in rumour mongering. I brought McKinsey and not the Finance Minister. Iweala was only trying to help us. Its like you have you own agenda against the woman. I wish you will have the fear of God.”

As a mark of ethical balance, I had to do a rejoinder to place the minister’s comments straight against my 'uninformed position' which I could have cleared with the minister. However, I also owe myself and my readers and the nation a duty to state what I also know as the truth. This has to be preceded by a simple question: Nigerians CANNOT organise a simple session to look into their sports maladies. (Who are the oragisers of Soccerex in Lagos?). Only foreigners can.

Did Mr. President not say we should look inwards? So, there are no credible people who are sports consultants to do this kind of job to earn the kind of money McKinsey will earn? It is sad.

WORLD’S THIRD COSTLIEST MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: When I asserted that the cost of bringing the American was in the six-digit I am right. Authoritative management books (three of them) agree that, “It is widely recognised as the most prestigious consulting firm in the world.” Now, did McKinsey offered to do this gratis for Nigeria? At what cost is this firm coming to Nigeria for the retreat? Convert same to Naira, if that amount were invested in Nigerian athletes, would we be holding the so-called retreat?

What experience has McKinsey claimed in sports even in America? I checked their website: http://www.mckinsey.com they never anywhere claimed any knowledge in sports, not even remotely. So, what magic are they coming to play in our sports?

What Terms of Reference were they given to deliver? Does McKinsey have any remote or direct knowledge of the chemistry, psychology or economics of the Nigerian urban or and rural setting to what are the processes of discovering an athlete in any sport?

Please ask, if to organise a stakeholder function to discuss a Nigerian issue is costing six-digit Dollars, since no Nigerian can do it, two senior ministers had to collapse and do same, then, ask again, where was McKinsey gotten? Who sourced the contacts (okay, this probably was where the Finance Minister “helped” the Sports Minister?), Who is paying McKinsey? Who invited the stakeholders? Is the retreat going to be instructive, interactive or debative session? Who are the people attending the sessions? Were they not the people who lacked ideas as to delivering thus, the crisis causing the   retreat? What outcomes are expected after the session?

McKinsey’s values are alien to our sports: This is what the firm said about themselves. “We believe we will be successful if our clients are successful.

Solving the hardest problems requires the best people. We think that the best people will be drawn to the opportunity to work on the hardest problems. We build our firm around that belief. These two parts of our mission reinforce each other and make our firm strong and enduring.

We are a values-driven organization. For us this means to always:

·       Put the client’s interest ahead of our own: This means we deliver more value than expected. It doesn’t mean doing whatever the client asks.

·       Behave as professionals: Uphold absolute integrity. Show respect to local custom and culture, as long as we don’t compromise our integrity.

·       Keep our client information confidential: We don’t reveal sensitive information. We don’t promote our own good work. We focus on making our clients successful.

·       Tell the truth as we see it: We stay independent and able to disagree, regardless of the popularity of our views or their effect on our fees. We have the courage to invent and champion unconventional solutions to problems. We do this to help build internal support, get to real issues, and reach practical recommendations.

·       Deliver the best of our firm to every client as cost effectively as we can

We expect our people to spend clients’ and our firm’s resources as if their own resources were at stake.

We operate as one firm. We maintain consistently high standards for service and people so that we can always bring the best team of minds from around the world—with the broadest range of industry and functional experience—to bear on every engagement. (This is where the real stakeholders in the industry are to be involved).

We come to better answers in teams than as individuals. So we do not compete against each other. Instead, we share a structured problem-solving approach, where all opinions and options are considered, researched, and analyzed carefully before recommendations are made.

We give each other tireless support. We are fiercely dedicated to developing and coaching one another and our clients. Ours is a firm of leaders who want the freedom to do what they think is right. (This is where we should be able to have a voice.)

Primary conclusion: Like McKinsey, I have only attempted to Tell the truth as we see it: I have only attempted to stay independent and able to disagree, regardless of the popularity of my views. I have tried hard to draw the courage to invent and champion unconventional views to the existing problems of sports in Nigeria. I do this to help build internal support, get to real issues, and reach practical recommendations that can help us move our only nation forward to Eldorado.