SUNDAY TONIC


It is just a way of keeping fit during the week,” recounts my mobile host. “I do this regularly before going to the Mosque for my Sunday prayers.” He soon breaks off into a jog while others coming behind are either sweating or soaked. Such sights are not a rarity but today I am surprised to see a jogger being tailed by his ram which follows its running master dutifully along the Alaka area. The traffic behind does little to deter the dutiful creature which trots, stops and continues behind its owner who is bound for the stadium. Following closely behind this weird duo are a bunch of kids who cannot be up to a decade-old. Their tender ages have not deterred them from donning the toga of exercise or the sacrifices it entails as they jog energetically to the National Stadium. The venue might have been brought to its knees due to years of neglect, but it still retains tons of attraction for athletes and others who make it a Mecca of sorts every weekend. Gone are the football matches which made it the toast of league enthusiasts and club supporters, but that has not eroded its trait as a melting pot for sport-minded individuals who restrict their exertions to its concrete interiors. The practice is even more appreciated when one considers the fact that it has outlived popular weekend activities like the rested Bar beach Show and Sunday Jump which took most youths away from Sunday worship in the past.
Today is a Sunday, and if the stadium could be likened to a place of worship, it would be the largest gathering of people devoid of a pastor, Imam or spiritual leader. Still, it does little to erode the religious dimension it has attained in the metropolis as people come from as far as Ojota, Ajegunle and other far flung areas to be at the sanctuary of sports once or twice a week. There is no communion or tithes though, just a pot-pourri of selected activities that increase fitness while sustaining dreams of fame via sports as many of the disciples of this temple are either passive or active sportsmen like Victor, a footballer who is still nursing dreams of soccer stardom despite being way past the required age.
“This week’s training is something else,” laments the part-time barber. “Once you stop for a while, it is very hard to get into the drill again.” Denmark is his dream destination, and like other footballers dotting the spacious interiors of the monument, they are split into different clubs for this purpose. The unofficial sides are a leeway for catching the eye of scouts who liaise with their coaches to push them to limelight, a fishy process, but with likes of Obafemi Martins and other big names tapping from this age-old approach, there is still light at the end of the tunnel for the dreamers of all ages, whether true or false.
Presently the stadium is no place or swimmers due to the dismal nature of the pool but it will do for the duo of pugilists who are busy shadow- boxing beside the football training pitch. One invites me for round but I decline as I hurry to accost a popular home video star who has come to pump weights in a secluded area of the capacious grounds. I am not talking to the press today,” he pleads. “Let us do this some other time.”
As he struts away to find his imposing weight-lifting colleagues with colossal biceps, who are probably club bouncers by night, I bump into another stadium frequenter who has come to burn fat. Her name is Victoria, and according to this female with a masculine mien, she used to ride her bike through the Third Mainland Bridge from her Tejuosho residence before settling for the stadium. Presently, her preferences are for jogging and light football. The part-time secretary trains with the boys who could be of different ages, buttressing the title of it being the world’s number one sport. With the efforts put into this weekend ritual, expectations for a multitude of international stars cannot be faulted, but sadly, this is not the case as the early interest is not sustainable due to various reasons.
“Before graduation, I used to play ball at Evans Square and once we were told to jog from one end of the Third Mainland Bridge to the other all in the name of roadwork,” recalls a Benue-based manager with a popular international brand. “At some point it felt so stupid and I had to take the bus home.” This was the last time he ever tried such a task. But it has not deterred others or the weekend pilgrimage which is synonymous with stadia around the country. Consequences abound though and in a situation where exercise is not properly monitored, serious cases of sudden death due to exhaustion are inevitable. Other caustic episodes include degenerative bone disease, arthritis and vascular ailments that silently creep up on the human form with the passage of time. But for now, the saying “No pain, No gain” might be a popular consolation, even for furry ung