The world cup is here. Everywhere you look you find flags of the participating nations hanging from buildings and in the malls. Many cars now fly their South African flags very proudly. The South African jersey is fast becoming the national uniform. I think people who don’t know what to wear to work can be pardoned for rocking up at work in their Bafana Bafana jerseys; in the spirit of the world cup. I am sure that even the sight impaired can feel the charged atmosphere. Regardless of the Transnet industrial action the sense of national pride is quite rife. I guess that’s one thing football does to people; a sense of pride and unity in diversity.
I cannot wait to see the looks on the faces of the skeptic English who believed that the whole of Africa is probably one country. I don’t blame them. Questions eliminate ignorance. The English have questioned our preparedness for the world and our answer is about to eliminate their ignorance. Especially when they see that the Wembly Stadium they celebrate so much has been duplicated in several copies in Mzansi (I dare even say superseded in beauty). Some of these new stadiums can compare with the best stadiums anywhere in the world. Sorry if I am sounding biased but I guess if you do not celebrate your own, then who will? After months of construction, South African engineers and workers have delivered to us world class stadiums that we can be proud of. They have showed their creativity and ingenuity by giving us designs that are not only original but also epitomizes the architectural innovation on display in South Africa.
The 70,000-seater Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban has been specifically designed as a multi-purpose venue and an amphitheatre complete with a cable car which ascends to a viewing platform at the top of the expansive 350m arch, a staggering 106m above the pitch. From this vantage point, visitors can experience spectacular panoramic views of the nearby shoreline and the city. It takes its design inspiration from the South African flag, with its grand arch representing the new unity of this once –divided but sport-loving nation.
The Green Point Stadium is one of the most artistic soccer venues in the country and is situated in one of the much sought-after areas in the city of Cape Town. Fans will be a stone's throw from the ocean and the Table Mountain will also provide the backdrop for matches. The stadium, which has an exterior that is covered with noise-reducing cladding, has a capacity of 68,000. The design of the Soccer City in Johannesburg is inspired by the iconic African pot known as the calabash. It has an encircling roof and its aesthetic appeal will be heightened when the stadium is lit at night. It is only a short distance from one of the country's football-crazy townships, Soweto. It has a capacity of 94,700 and has 184 suites.
The infrastructural gains of the world cup are numerous. Roads have been expanded, Gautrain built (even though it wasn’t part of the world cup plans), bus transportation has been improved on, airports renovated and cities have been beautified in anticipation of the soccer mundial. At some point in time, the whole of Gauteng looked like one big construction site with incessant traffic jams. The only consolation during this period creative madness was the fact that you could practically see transformation in progress. I once almost got lost because I was not familiar with a new on-ramp from Malibongwe Drive joining the N1. I used the same road the previous day and was surprised that the on-ramp had been changed to the new lane on the far left instead of the first on my right. But it is a beautiful and welcome development. The story is the same all over the country. Being an engineer, I can tell from observing the construction processes that many of these infrastructural projects would last many years.
Unlike many construction projects in Nigeria that are built to expire in months. If a contractor can build a road that needs reconstruction only in 6 months time, he really has no business in construction. South Africa has just showed the rest of us; Africans that where there is a will there are ways. Have you seen the airports? South Africa built the new King Shaka International airport at La mercy in Durban in less than 33 months. It was a Greenfield project; I was there when there was nothing but a plain land. It’s almost like magic to me because of my Naija background. I remember that the local airport in Lagos got burnt in 2000 while I was still at Nigeria Airways. I believe we only finished construction last year or there about. Our Muritala Muhammed International airport has nothing international about it. I would like to suggest that IATA should strip such airports of such names as it is misleading. Even when the reconstruction was going on at OR Tambo International, you cannot compare it with our dirty water-logged MMI. As we say in Yoruba, “it’s almost like comparing sleep with death-impossible”. It would be criminal to even attempt to do that. Yet we want to keep deluding ourselves that we are the giant of Africa. We wish…
I get angry when people tell me about the many beautiful things that Fashola has done in Lagos. How can anyone call making Oshodi sane an achievement to celebrate forever. It was an aberration the way it was and we are only just moving back to what is normal for sane people. It is good to beautify the roads with flowers but we need to move beyond mere window dressing. That is not to rubbish the efforts of the dedicated governor who I think has the right mind set of a good leader. But the followership needs to wake up and move beyond celebrating what really is their entitlement. Good governance requires a knowledgeable followership that engages the leadership instead of being complacent. The power sector needs to be overhauled, education needs urgent attention, enabling environment for jobs to be created should be put in place, corruption needs to be checked while political godfatherism and sect violence should be eschewed from our society. Lets not forget the backlog of infrastructural development and equity in the sharing of the “national cake”.
That notwithstanding I would still be behind my team – Super Eagles. I am not expecting anything extraordinary from them but I sure would be positively shocked if they do well. As they say, “when you fail to prepare then you automatically are preparing to fail”. My dilemma now is that I do not know where I would watch the world cup. My initially plan was to watch it at home and then go to any of the fan villages when a big match is on. But to my surprise and shock, my TV packed up last week. Can FIFA please give me a TV? At least they have made billions from the poor masses around the world. So if you are my friend and you see me at your door with my camping gears & back pack…please don’t make me pay before I come in. People, it’s an African world cup; we look forward to welcoming you to the rainbow nation. Ke nako (It’s our time). See you there.
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