How a football league became a development project

Peter had no money or influence - just an idea and determination. His first helper in Nigeria was Mr (now Chief) Timothy Adetola. Mr Adetola and Peter both came from Ago-Are in Oke-Ogun, and Mr Adetola had been Peter's long-time mentor and friend. Mr Adetola was a successful businessman living in the state capital, Ibadan. Peter was able to telephone him from time to time, from the UK, and together they began to build the team of helpers that Peter needed.

The first task was to launch the football league. Mr Adetola assembled two committees to organise it: a coordinating committee and a management committee. All ten LGs were represented. There was an appropriate mix of Christians and Muslims, and a woman. The LG chairmen were all visited personally and included in the plans. The LG chairmen were to go to a formal ceremony where the state governor would present each chairman with a trophy to be played for in his area. Peter had gained the state governor's agreement to this idea. Nigerians are excellent at ceremonies, and this presentation of trophies to the LG chairmen was to be a great launch for the project. The ceremony was to be followed by tournaments within the LGs, then a grand tournament between the LGs for what Peter called "The Giant Cup". Peter had bought all the trophies and put them into a huge ornamental chest - which he described as a "ceremonial trunk". He predicted that a trunk of such flamboyant appearance, addressed to the state governor, would have a better than average chance of completing its journey free from tampering, theft and general corrupt practices.

In October Peter left for Nigeria. In addition to the football tournament he was preparing for follow-up activities, which were more directly connected with building a digital bridge. He was at the stage of building foundations on both sides of the digital divide and acting as the bridge between them

Peter died suddenly in December 2000, which caused the project to fragment. He was the only one with "the whole picture", and he was also the link between two cultures and across the digital divide. However, at his funeral people from both sides of the divide met face-to-face for the first time, and commitments were made to continue the work. The football league activities were in abeyance, but three members of the original football coordinating committee continued to meet in Ibadan. They agreed to share the role of "local champion", and formed the Oke-Ogun Community Development Agenda 2000 Plus committee. The new committee took its name from a genuine agenda, which Peter had written.