1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="GfI4mjTkSO"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/my-political-diary-day-44/">My Political Diary – Day 44</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/my-political-diary-day-44/embed/#?secret=GfI4mjTkSO" width="600" height="338" title="“My Political Diary – Day 44” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="GfI4mjTkSO" 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/2019/01/hand_writing.jpg275183For some unknown reason I have not been reading newspapers for some weeks now. I did last Sunday. Until I did it never occurred to me how 'poorly' I was doing in the public space with my campaigns that have not followed the regular patterns of politicking. I had been limited by my choice to do things differently, not to compromise my basic priniciples, not to accept demeàning values, and to sew my coat according to my cloth. To show how impactful my work has (not) been, of the 4 newspapers' projections of the chances of candidates in the Ogun State gubernatorial elections, of the serious candidates being considered based on public polls, my name did not even feature anywhere! It should have been a numbing experience. Surpringly, it was not. I have worked my arse off, travelled all over the State, met people in different communities, had close one-on-one conversations with community, cultural and even spiritual leaders in their domains, and sold my vision of a new Ogun to any willing ear. Do the newspapers mean that with the sum total of all my work I have not made a dent on the political space? Chai! I am in 'trouble o'. We are in trouble. The Yoruba race is in trouble. The tribe faces a serious existential threat. Already, completely fractionalised by politics of the worst kind going on in Ogun State presently, the tribe is almost unrecognizable from the Omoluabi of a few decades ago when its products and environment were a global model of industry, education, development, liberalism, cultural traditions and the highest values in morals, decency, civility and good conduct. Time was when a good nàme and good character were valued and were the simple requirements for cultural, spiritual and even social and political leadership. Then the West came with its democracy, drove a wedge into our established and functional ways and sold us a system driven by materialism and narrow self interest, and in the process destroyed the foundation of who we are! Let us examine the present political scenario dispassionately. What we have all around us on the eve of elections in Ogun State are brazen impositions,  physical threats, destructive violence, obscene display of ungodly wealth and power, fights and killings, open bribery, falsification of qualification documents, display of ill-gotten wealth, and the open buying of votes and voters. Thats on one hand - condemnable acts that would have been considered sacrilegious had the Yoruba continued along their original paths of moral rectitude. On the other hand is an alternativè that very few consider a winning formulàr because it promotes a cleansing of the soul, getting rid of the temptation of materialism, and focusing on doing right for a future common good, thè pursuit of happiness for the entire people, the fair and judicious use of the common wealth for common good, and shared responsibility to win or lose together as a team. Where we stand today in Ogun State there are two options and one of two choices.Those who have ears let them hear. There is a small army of truth, integrity, decency, honesty and fortitude within the political space. They are not the empty vessels that are making all the present deafening noises. They are in their various homes going through life as victims of the present State of affairs. They are not the hired ones at most political rallies, rather, they are the millions in mosques, churches and other worship houses nursing unger and pain, praying and fasting for divine intervention to rescue them from hunger, poverty, neglect, under-development, unemployment and mental enslavement that have all combined forces to destroy their being  and their blessed land. They are the ones immobilized by the seeming impossibility of political 'change' because they continue to look only through the present political prism and see 'no time, no posters, no billboards, no money, no political structure, and no godfather in the usual nature of things' and they despair, giving up and joining in the ignoble and destructive bazaar of evil political practises. Their painful experiences make them to forget that with faith the size of a mustard seed they can move mountains. Despairing and waiting for God to come and do what they should do themselves, nothing happens in the clearest demonstration of their lack of faith! With the Creator of all things, three days to an election is nothing. The Universe was created in one moment. So, despite what the papers say,  I shall hold on to my faith and pray for patience, the strength to resist all temptation, the grace to get divine favour, guidance and the stamina to persevere and be faithful till the very end, the eventual outcome of the elections being totally irrelevant. I visited a mosque last Friday at the invitation of the Deputy and the Chief Imam of the Ansarudeen Muslim movement in Abeokuta. My Deputy is the wife of the Chief Imam of the Ansarudeen congregation in Ijebu Ode. It was an incredible experience, a christian being subject of an entire sermon at their Friday worship. They fervently prayed for me and I was richly blessed. I also had an interesting conversation this morning with one of the young persons working to canvas votes for me on Saturday. He complained that he and his group of my supporters have been the least funded, the ones without posters and billboards, the ones that can't offer voters money to support me on election day, the ones that have suffered the most by not switching political camps for personal gains, the only ones that are likely to lose out in the final money game at the polling booths. I tell them not to worry. I tell them the story of my friend who told me I posed no electoral threat to their party because they would be waiting for me at thè polling booths on election day where I will be trampled with the size of bags bringing illgotten money. I laugh. They know nothing about the power of the people, and of the Creator of all things who has been looking for one 'righteous' politician in the land to rise up from the debris of corruption, challenge the system courageously. Should he find one such humble servant, an army will be raised even from the pebbles at the polling booths that will humiliate the wicked, exalt the just and rescue the people from hardship and the pangs of poverty. All of this hinged to the faith of One person! I can testify, on the eve of the guber elections, to the awakening of more than ONE righteous person. There is now a whole army of 'soldiers' of truth and decency that have woken up from induced slumber and will be heading to the polling booths this Saturday to confront their greatest enemy - corrupt politicians! I have met several of them in the course of this political journey. They are fasting and praying and getting ready to confront the 'enemy' and their blood money at the polling booths. They have bought into wisdom's eternal counsel: 'what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?'. As for me, I am happy to be the underdog in these elections. That way the ultimate victory will be sweeter.