As the keynote speaker at last month's Kennedy Memorial Lecture in Massachusetts, Boston, in the USA, the Scottish born Prime Minister of Britain, Gordon Brown, postulated that our destinies do not constitute our history.

Rather he argued,"It is the sum total of what the individual decides to do, contribute and create to change their society that determine the history of that particular society".

He asserted that sometimes visions and programs are considered untenable, risky and sometimes suicidal at their onset.

The thought of putting a man on the moon and the need to affirm the equal rights of the Negro were once considered untenable.

Similarly, untenable was the fact that power, in the international system, should not only embrace negotiations with the enemy, but also, in the exercise of power, nations should show compassion to the poor and to the triage nations of the world.

He therefore extolled, the humanity of former USA President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in founding the American Peace Corps and unleashing the corps to Africa and the rest of the developing world.

Football, Futaball, Voetball, Calio, Jiso, Soccer, whatever this game with the round leather ball may be called in various languages, is the game with the widest international following.

FIFA, (Fédération Internationale de Football Association or International Federation of Association Football), has at present, 208 member associations. In Brazil, England, Italy, Spain Argentina, the Netherlands, etc., soccer has become so much the opium of the people that the names of the football stars have emerged to overshadow the names of Presidents or Prime Ministers, catapulting the former into demigods and national symbols.

In Argentina, Diego Maradona, the gift of the gods, remains, even in retirement, the greatest Argentine actor in the history of that country's international relations.

Apart from Peron, Maradona is without compare. His brilliant and awesome left foot contributed more than any other historic figure in playing up the Argentine flag and throughout the years he reigned, Diego Maradona was crowned the king.

When he crashed as a result of drugs, envious Brazil and contentious Italy with a lot nerves, sang the song, "Don't cry for him, Argentina!", distorting the words of a popular song composed for the musical Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

In the same vein, Spain cherishes Emilio Butragueno, fondly called "The Vulture" because of his intensity and uncanny sense to slot in the goals.

The millionaire Prime Minister of Italy may also own majority of the Italian media but he is in no way more popular than Roberto Baggio, who at his prime, was 'the world's greatest player'.

Always in front of the mean 'catenaccio' the Italian term for defense, he was the Italian footballer whose special talents singularly denied Nigeria the chance to win the World Cup held in the USA in 1994.

Compared to the Nigerian team that played in the 1994 World Cup are two of the Nigerian super Eagles memorable squads of all time.

The first is Father Tico's team that drubbed a German side, 9 goals to nil and killed the host of the Olympic Games, Canada, by 4 goals to nil. Brazil scampered away at the last minute to engage the Nigerian side in a pre-tournament practice session.

Lack of scientific judgment and inability to discern core interests led Nigeria to boycott the games in a season where they had the best team to conquer the world.

The other team is the squad that had Thompson Usiyen, Muda and Okalla, and still lost to Tunisia by own goal scored by Godwin Odiye!

Kalu Nwankwo, the most accomplished Nigerian footballer who, in his prime, went under the knife for a corrective heart surgery was never a member of the greatest eleven of the Nigerian teams. On the other hand, he was the Captain of the Junior Atlanta Olympics that destroyed Brazil, Argentina and won the gold for Nigeria.

He has won national championships with Ajax, Netherlands with whom he also took the UEFA champions league title, he was with Inter Milan and he was with Arsenal when the gunners took the English FA cup twice and more.

Approaching his middle age, he does not have to run with the ball the way the English understand and play the game.

With a smile on his face, he is the poison that melts the defense. At the least mistake within the opponents eighteen, the slow engine wrecks all the effort of the opposing team, sometimes, with only one goal or one critical assist.

Last weekend, when very few supported his suicidal return to football after his heart surgery, when most handlers were laughing at his slow but dangerous pace, when most Nigerians were calling him 'Papa', this lanky footballer propelled Nigeria's diplomacy, employing the instrument of football to win goodwill for Nigerians in England.

At a time when our country's leaders and governors are continuously being arrested at Heathrow for one crime or the other, Kanu Nwankwo has projected a sublime Nigerian image from London to all those parts of the universe where the game is called Soccer, Futaball, Voetball, Calio and Jiso.

Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, in his reception of Kanu Nwankwo in No. 10 Downing Street, would also celebrate his Boston thesis. Destiny cannot be allowed to determine History.