If you are given a course work to write about Lamentations on a topic of your choice, you may not need to go far to get one. The Nigeria Football ecosystem is a good topic. You will come up with a very rich submission. To make it easier for you, the situation of Football in FCT will provide you sufficient information for your work.

Why choose the Federal Capital Territory especially that it may not be the best example in Nigeria? It has to be chosen because of its strategic position in the country. Football in Nigeria can be described as a mini Nigeria. It's like it is a miniature of the political, economic, social and other issues related to the Country. Sometimes you will sit and wander in your thoughts why certain issues cannot be resolved with despatch and alacrity. Why is it such a herculean task to appoint Coaches for our National Teams especially the Super Eagles? Why are we always failing to develop Football and rather prefer to prepare for competitions? Manu Garba was appointed only three weeks to the last outing of the Under 17 National Team. What is wrong with appointing him at least 12 months before the competition? Now, we are on the move again and looking for a Coach (Manager) for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Who is the person? It takes a long time looking for a Coach and a short time preparing for the main task. You can call it misplacement of priority. This is a topic for another time. Let me come back to the Travails and Lamentations for Football in the Federal Capital Territory.

The presence of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium makes it look like the FCT has a befitting Stadium. No! The stadium as the name implies is a National asset situated in Abuja. Godswill Akpabio stadium belongs to the Akwa Ibom State Government. You can conclude that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) only have stadiums or stadia under construction. We are waiting for the FCT Minister (Mr Projects), Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike to commence work on the completion of the stadiums. The upgraded Bwari Township Stadium is the only facility for now. I have excluded the Old Parade Ground which operates as an *all purpose facility*. The condition of the grass turf is lamentable and overused. Don't even talk about the Area Three Stadium which has been neglected. The Area Three Stadium is a sad narrative. Recent activities on the land has shown that the Abuja city may soon not have a stadium because the Abuja Investment and Property Development Company has shown its presence with mobilization of materials to the land. Setraco Construction Company was working on providing an additional football pitch and were stopped by the government Agency. If they have been handed over the land, no "wahala". The question now, what do they intend to build on the land? Shopping plaza? If it is with business facilities around it, I will give them a thumb up. If otherwise, it's a thumb down. I remember some years past in an advocacy visit to a former Minister of State, Olajumoke Akinjide, I led a delegation of the FCT Football Coaches Association and requested among other things the preservation of land earmarked for Sports and Recreation. With what I call invasion of Area Three Stadium by Abuja Investment and Property Development Company, it is becoming clearer that sports may have lost all its lands for other purposes especially housing estates. That's part of the Travails and Lamentations for Sports in FCT. The only hope now is a wait and see posture for the FCT Minister who according to reliable sources is working towards giving some leverage to sports development. Let us for now wait and see what happens in the near future.

While sports stakeholders travail and lament on the poor state of sports infrastructure, they are also lampooned by other factors which have the tendency of reducing their performance. Let me zero down to Football. Just like the facilities for football are not given deserved attention so is the travails of Football Club owners in FCT. The Football Clubs in Abuja seem to have been destined not to go beyond the Nigeria National League (NNL). The FCT has always been regarded as no man's land where the best of football officiating is recorded. Abuja is a place where a better away team can pick their points while it is different for FCT teams in their away games. With improvement in officiating the EFCC FC two seasons ago and the Sporting Supreme FC last season got close to getting promotion to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) but your guess is as good as mine. Family Worship Centre (FWC) Champions got close to picking an NNL ticket but were prevented by a referee who decided to cancel a good goal that would have given them promotion.

Football in Abuja can best be described as an orphan because the stakeholders have been abandoned and left it to their fate. No facilities, no good officiating. These and other reasons are the travails and lamentations of Football Stakeholders in FCT.

What are we missing? So much, you can say. Let me encapsulate what we are missing into this very short story. A football enthusiast/scout in Europe wanted a situation where he can watch some NPFL games only in Abuja. He was told that there is no team in Abuja playing at the highest level of the Nigerian League. Why? He asked. He was told that the Clubs here are unable to secure promotion. Another sad tale. A deliberate tale. Unfortunately, government teams go on relegation and are aided to get promotion the following year. Why are we not able to aid teams in FCT that have the capacity to play in the NPFL through providing a level playing ground for the best team to emerge.
The FCT is indeed ripe for a return to the NPFL as this will attract domestic and international economic and political benefits to Nigeria. Let those who have ears and care do the needful but for now it is still a situation of Travails and Lamentations for Football in FCT.

I am Spectator.