1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="gRrlHYTaIc"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/a-letter-to-president-muhammadu-buhari/">A letter to President Muhammadu Buhari</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/a-letter-to-president-muhammadu-buhari/embed/#?secret=gRrlHYTaIc" width="600" height="338" title="“A letter to President Muhammadu Buhari” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="gRrlHYTaIc" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js /* ]]> */ </script> https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/President_Buhari_1r.jpg15981064My Dear President Muhammadu Buhari, I apologise earnestly for this intrusion. I am writing this, Sir, in my capacity as an official Sports Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an honour bestowed on me almost 2 decades ago by the federal government. Maybe I should also add that the federal government inducted me into the Nigerian Sports Hall of Fame at about the same period. Unfortunately, since honoured with that exalted title I have never been given any national assignment or invited to any national event on the strength of the responsibility of that office. Unfortunately, also, the centre and museum established at the time at the entrance into the federal capital city, Abuja, to house the pictures, books, historical relics, memorabilia and souvenirs collected throughout the country from heroes that constituted Nigeria’s history in sports, and archiving their greatest achievements forever, no longer exists. It has vanished from the face of the earth without a trace.  It is painful to think and realise that all the most valued collection of our historic past, irreplaceable items in sports, may now be lost forever without anyone held accountable.  That’s a clear demonstration of how successive governments have treated sports matters – with shocking levity and indifference. A specific new issue has come up again that bothers me so much I am compelled by my responsibility to sport and to my country, that I wish to bring it to your attention using this medium only because it is of manifest public interest. I appreciate, like most Nigerians do, that the country is going through very difficult and tumultuous times. The challenges in all sectors are almost unprecedented in our history.  Yet, the responsibility as the captain of this ship, to steer the country safely through the raging storms of seemingly intractable national problems, rests squarely on your slender shoulders.  I feel for you. I know how difficult it must be for you. I know also that you have the character of one who can deal with it if the issues are clear to you. In your first coming as our captain, the issue of indiscipline in public life was clear to you and you dealt with it very decisively to the admiration of all Nigerians then. That’s why I voted for you 4 years ago and repeated it again two months ago. Such was my frustration with the impossibility of the state of affairs in my country, even in my field of sports, that I took the weighted step that many people considered ‘reckless’ at the time, and ventured into the murky waters of Nigerian politics less than one year ago.  That was just a demonstration of my frustration at the failed system. I wanted governments (State and Federal) to see what is possible using sport, to pay a little more attention to it, to convert the energy in sports as well as the army of its followers to make a big difference in the growth and development of the country and its exploding youth population.  It was a lofty dream. Yet I believed it could become a reality, just as late Nelson Mandela believed and used in South Africa, just as late Obafemi Awolowo did and used in the old Western Nigeria, just as the Qataris are using to take their Country into the First World, and just as several leaders in developed cultures are using to drive their countries’ human, environmental, infrastructural and industrial development. Unfortunately, that effort of mine is now ‘failed’ history. Following all of that experience, a friend asked me exasperatingly after listening to my tales of woe: where do we start from in fixing the country?  It has been several weeks since Tunde Kelani asked me that loaded question. I am still thinking about it, groping in my mind for an answer. I have had to also ask a few other friends if they had an answer. Their responses have not been far from mine - a blank stare in furlong hopelessness. How did Nigeria get to this sorry state?