Prof. Bunting, who advised Africa to create a register of its athletes in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, said the sportsmen and women can be used as diplomats to great effect.
Speaking at the first Sports Diplomacy Colloquium organised by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos, yesterday, Bunting advised NIIA to champion the quest for African unity using the continent’s athletes in the Diaspora, who can be used as global diplomats.
He said: “Officially, there are 300,000 Nigerians in Texas, U.S., but in reality, there are more than two million Nigerians in Texas.
“In the next few years, because of the Antetekounpo phenomenon, the entire Milwaukee will be a little Abuja. Already, AKeem Olajuwon is the mayor of Houston. So, Africa can leverage on these popular athletes to great effect.”
Pointinbgv at the effect of Senegal’s victory at the last Africa Cup of Nations to buttress his point, Bunting added: “Just imagine after Senegal’s victory, they come together to tell Africa to unite for peace and prosperity and drop the guns. If every single one of them do that, the message will go out all over the world.
“A couple of weeks ago, two Nigerian mixed martial arts champions, Israel Adesanya and Kamoru Usman made the continent proud by their refusal to go against each other.
“The story was that Usman had, through his demands, prized himself out of a big pay day. But when I read the article, I said this guy is intelligent; he didn’t prize himself out. He said, ‘give us 100 million dollars and my brother and I can split it 50/50.
“‘It is better to have two Nigerians with one championship each than one Nigerian with two championships because we are brothers, we are united.’ You know how powerful that statement is?
“Just look at the Antetekunmpos and all of the black athletes have a message like that; that will take us up in leaps and bounds.
“The African Union, ECOWAS, East African Community can collapse all their protocols and treaties for all Africans to move freely anywhere in the continent.
“There is an African free trade agreement, but the politics have not allowed it to be implemented. We need the diplomacy from the ground up because no change comes from the up to down. It always comes from down up and sports is the tool to exploit it, together with music and the arts.”
According to Bunting, Africa would be the most prosperous continent in the world if it unites, adding that unity will usher in peace and political stability to the people.
