Opinion; AFCON 2019: Shame On President Paul Biya

AFCON 2019 : SHAME ON PRESIDENT PAUL BIYA By Desmond Ekwueme Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Friday stripped off the hosting right of the 32nd AFCON tournament from Cameroun. For those who know the football history of the Central African nation especially as it concerns AFCON and the stars she has churned out, this is very sad. It does not matter if you are not a Camerounian. It hurts the beautiful game and it's teeming followers in Cameroun. To think that Indomitable Lions of Cameroun are the defending champions of the tournament sinks the pain deeper. They would have had the opportunity to defend their title in front of their home fans and that could have possibly propelled them to win it again. Cameroun has a rich record of winning the AFCON. Three of the five times she won it were against the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The 2019 edition would have presented yet another golden opportunity particularly if you consider the quality of players the team has and the commitment of their new coach in Clarence Seedorf. Cameroun has produced great AFCON stars like Roger Milla, Theophilus Abega, Thomas Nkono, Stephen Tawtaw, Emmanuel Kunde, Cyril Makanacky, Ole Ole, Samuel Eto'O, Patrick Mboma, Antoine Bell and Rigobert Song among others. More of such great names will surely emerge in this tournament espcially when playing at home. But this opportunity has eluded the Camerounians...no thanks to the inability of their government to fix six stadia earmarked for the tournament. Cameroun had known that she would be hosting this tournament a couple of years before now. As a matter of fact she bidded. They know the workings of CAF having been discussing with its leadership and inspection team for long. Perhaps, President Paul Biya did not show enough commitment to this project. He probably has spent so much on his recent re-election. So much so that his country could not rehabilitate six stadia within the time frame given by CAF. He has sqaundered money on his re-election to the detriment of infrastructural cum sports development. This is a huge shame to a President who has spent 36 years in power. He is 82 years old. By the time he finishes his present seventh term he would be 92 years of age. History suggests Biya will likely be looking to fulfill his presidential mandate tucked away in luxury, far away from Cameroon. Earlier this year, an investigation found Biya has spent nearly five years out of the country on “private trips” and an extra year away on official visits. In 2006 and 2009 alone, Biya spent a third of both years out of the country. Biya’s private trips which are shrouded in secrecy have been met with protests at home and abroad. Local speculation suggests the trips, mostly to Switzerland, entail lavish shopping and some hospital visits—a common trend with African leaders. While the purpose of Biya’s trips are unclear, its steep costs are: the investigation estimates air travel and hotel fees at around $182 million. Cameroonian activists in the diaspora have at times protested outside his luxury hotel. For a President who spent a whopping $182m on luxurious lifestyle, why would he pay enough attention on infrastructural plus sports development which should encourage the youths and take them off crime especially at this point that Boko Haram has been recruiting members from unsuspecting citizens of countries within the Chad Basin which of course includes Cameroun. President Biya reportedly spent huge amount of state fund on his reelection and to think that he could not mobilise the private sector to invest on the hosting of AFCON through the completion of the six stadia in a record time is shameful. His actions or inactions will rub off on Cameroun's youth. Football stakeholders in his country especially someone like Samuel Eto'O who has done so much in the last one year in ensuring that his country host the tournament will be utterly disappointed. CAF did not ask for a brand new stadium but that Cameroun should simply refurbish the existing ones. That is the issue President Biya could not fix. What a shame for a sit-tight leader!