1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="MoXXJ4TCHf"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/looking-at-nigerian-politics-through-sports/">Looking at Nigerian politics through Sports!</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/looking-at-nigerian-politics-through-sports/embed/#?secret=MoXXJ4TCHf" width="600" height="338" title="“Looking at Nigerian politics through Sports!” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="MoXXJ4TCHf" 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/2017/09/Nigerian_Sports.jpg275183I am not a politician. I have never been one. But one cannot be alive in Nigeria today and not be politically involved, either as an activist or a victim, in the political theatrics ongoing in the country. My head is in turmoil. The political game always leaves me confused. The more you look the less you see and understand. I am not an authority on the subject even though I have been alive through the period of all of the political developments in the country from Independence to date. But surely like life itself, politics is a game. That’s why I can relate to it even now. I look at it through the prism of sports and try to understand it thus. Most of the time, at the end of the day, I am left still groping in perplexity at its intricacies and complexity. In sport, I am used to its simple rules and simple ways. But then, politically, there is something fundamentally not right about Nigeria, its construction, its evolution, and its vision. I still do not understand it and I will not pretend I do. The present agitations and drumbeats emanating from different parts of the country do not make sense to me. The threats and even ethnic killings in some parts make the entire scenario even more confounding and confusing. My simple mind, fertilized on the fields of sport, cannot imagine or accept such dehumanization, such wanton recklessness, such avoidable senselessness, such total disregard for everything that competitive sport represents in its pure and undiluted form – fair play, integrity, decency, a level playing field, equity, high morals, dedication, teamwork, team spirit, determination, patience, single-mindedness, winning fairly and losing graciously. And it is not that I have not tried to understand politics by listening to, and learning from, those that seem to have all the answers. The point is I live on another planet entirely - that of sport. In sport, all I see on a daily basis, despite the shenanigans of those that dominate their administration through this worst present period of Nigerian sports, are the incredible fields of opportunities that can impact young Nigerians, change the country around positively and make the country rich, to work better and to be able to attain it’s universally well-acknowledged potentials. Sports will, therefore, be an example for other sectors of Nigerian life.