As a child, Bash Ali was a popular name and icon within my family circle. Sometimes my uncles will say ‘I will Bash Ali you now’ to me. He was a household name and perhaps, he’s still a VIP in Nigeria.
I got to know about his proposed Guinness fight through an SMS sent to my phone- as he sends me updates of his struggles on a regular basis.
Bash Ali is proposing a Guinness book of world records fight which will see him go back to the boxing ring and fight. However, another boxing champion has requested a fisticuffs from the legendary boxer but he refused.
Bash Ali’s story is starting to become pathetic.
At some point, he was sleeping at a motor park in Abuja, he also gate-crashed at the PDP headquarters on several occasions and I have visited him more than twice on his invitation to the NEXIM bank headquarters in Abuja – a place he turned temporarily to his place of abode, protesting with his loyal supporters.
It is so ridiculous to see a man who has laboured hard for the nation, a man who ought to be a mentor, a man who should be a boxing teacher or analyst, a man who should be the voice and face of boxing in Africa, subjected to such acts. It is a shame, and I ask- what exactly does he want?
Judging from my meeting with him in Abuja, Bash Ali is hurt and embittered by the way he was treated in a country he believed to have served in fairness and love.
This supposed record-fight, according to Bash Ali, will enable him to enter the book of records as the oldest man to have gone back to the ring.
I am opportuned to have seen some documents where he accused NEXIM BANK and also a former sports minister of sports of indulging in corruption. I think the case should be investigated by the federal government or the NOC.
I cannot say he was right or wrong, and will not take sides as we know that corruption is the order of the day in our dear nation – in fact, anything is possible.
But, Mr Ali did not tread on the right path by resorting to violence, assaults and threats which I absolutely fault him on. On the other hand do we say it was because he refused to play along and accept bribe as he alleged? Probably if he danced to the gallery, something would have come out of it for him and both parties could have smiled to the bank – and that is tantamount to corruption.
So many questions to be answered and the truth is somewhere as I always say there are three sides to a story, your side, my side and the truth.”
This same fight has led Bash Ali to Kuje prison, bundled to jail and locked up like a criminal and yet he is a hero, how sad!
On the struggle of this record-fight, over 200 companies were said to have rejected the sponsorship of his project as we know that Bash Ali has been attracting controversies since he started pushing for the federal government to sponsor his fight. And recently, he wrote the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari concerning this fight. How long will this continue? One wonders…
I am a big fan of Bash Ali but I will suggest he mentors the upcoming pugilists- that is if they want to listen because he has been exposed to ridicule, assault and disgrace some even tagged him, trouble maker, some even said he has mental problems.
Bash Ali should stop chasing the fight and concentrate on mentoring and lecturing the upcoming boxers, he should use his energy and time to source for more recognition for the game.
Some corporate organisations are trying to revive the fight. These are the people he should work with to save and enhance the image of the sports where he once excelled.
I wish you all the best Bash Ali. You can ceasefire and move onto better things, the world needs you, Nigerians need you. That aspiring/amateur boxer needs your expertise and help.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija
Opinion article written by Aderonke Ogunleye-Bello, a Journalist, Speaker, Change Agent, Sports for development Enthusiast , Advocacy, can be reached via twitter @AderonkeW
