Source: guardian.co.tt
I cannot get Benjai’s (I am a Trini) infectious melody and lyrics out of my head but Carnival, Soca and Calypso aside, the issue of good governance in sports and the twin pillars of transparency and accountability remain a recurring theme. In the face of ideological sophistry and political mendacity a clear definition seems, on the surface, to defy all efforts at clarity as to what exactly is the meaning of good governance. Depending on who is doing the talking, the definition takes on shades and hues. Interpretations differ; convenience and justifications shape the dialogue surrounding good governance.
This is not to say that there should be a witch hunt or that there should be a holding onto past hurts, anger or fear. There must be a letting go of the past if we are to embrace the future. This doesn’t mean that we need to condone the actions or for that matter ever trust again those who have betrayed the trust given to them. However harbouring resentment or holding a grudge is not the answer.
While drowning in a sea of bitterness will not solve the reality or perception of a lack of good governance, we must, however, be in touch with reality rather than hide or deny the truth and stop defending and justifying a bad situation. T&T is a small place and space so there will be those who will prefer that you don’t rock the boat, that you mind your own business, that you don’t make waves, don’t wash dirty linen in public. All that is well and good, no one likes to be banished to the proverbial doghouse but there comes a time when silence is not golden neither is doing nothing. In this context, what is taking place in the Middle East and North Africa presents powerful and profound lessons, and a cautionary tale for those entrusted with the responsibility of stewardship—the contagion will spread. Modern technology and better educated young people have said enough is enough. The fact that, in the main, they are doing it in a non violent and pro democratic way—at least so far—will prove inspirational.
Notwithstanding enormous petroleum wealth authoritarian governments have been brought to their knees. Expectations are understandably high and disappointments will surely come. But the young people of the Middle East and North Africa inspite of fear or concern for their personal safety have eloquently spoken by their actions. In a small society such as T&T not a day goes by when one can escape asking the question: good governance—what does it mean? If there is a concept of good governance what are the consequences, if any, of falling short? Is transparency and accountability elusive ideals? In his book The Middle Passage—first published in 1962—VS Naipaul suggests that “T&T is a materialistic immigrant society... never setting into any pattern... that the absence of a history of enduring brutality has given us (T&T) its special character, its ebullience and irresponsibility... and more... an indifference to virtue as well as vice.”
He (Naipaul) further describes T&T as having no guiding taste. “Living in a borrowed culture...and that our situation required not a leader but a society which understood itself and had a purpose and direction.” In the middle of the Carnival season the ongoing saga of the legal battle between some members of the 2006 Soca Warriors and the T&T Football Federation (TTFF), the resolute descent into the abyss of mediocrity by the shell of a once great institution called West Indies cricket, the challenges facing the T&T Olympic movement, falling sport participation and retention levels are examples of the question of good governance rearing its head. As I juxtapose the words of Benjai’s “I am a Trini” and VS Naipaul I ask myself what does being a “Trini” mean for good governance.
Editor’s Note: Brian Lewis is the Honorary Secretary General of the T&T Olympic Committee- www.ttoc.org. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the TTOC.