{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Mathematical 7","provider_url":"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7","title":"FIFA Presidency \u2013 an inquest is required! - Mathematical 7","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"9MBPlYIIbe\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/fifa-presidency-an-inquest-is-required\/\">FIFA Presidency \u2013 an inquest is required!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/fifa-presidency-an-inquest-is-required\/embed\/#?secret=9MBPlYIIbe\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;FIFA Presidency \u2013 an inquest is required!&#8221; &#8212; Mathematical 7\" data-secret=\"9MBPlYIIbe\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!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);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/fifa_logo.jpg","thumbnail_width":275,"thumbnail_height":183,"description":"This will be my last piece on my FIFA election odyssey, an experience so brief but yet so rich and beautiful. I deliberately choose to look on the brighter side of that adventure, the side that celebrates the \u201caudacity of faith\u2019, that leaves the legacy of self-belief in the capacity of our youths to dream big and be anything they choose to be by simply \u2018daring\u2019. My philosophy teacher tells me \u2018not to curse the darkness but to behold it, for underneath it is a hidden treasure\u2019. I rest my case on that wise counsel.  Now let me look at the main issues of the entire project. To start with I knew that to become the president of FIFA was never going to be a stroll in the park. It would take tears, sweat and blood as we are already witnessing in the unfolding drama in FIFA. Everything tells me that the drama of the 2016 FIFA Presidential election has not ended. I was taken off the plane as it prepared for takeoff, left holding on to the straws of my ambition by those who were themselves not prepared to embark on the journey and would not let anyone else do so. Short as my part was in the drama it was a great experience whilst it lasted. I saw the resurgence and the celebration of hope in many people. It was going to be a blockbuster script of an adventure where Nigeria would have created unprecedented global excitement by daring to be the first black country in the world to climb the Everest of the politics of football administration. A few months ago such an ambition would have been considered a heresy, but by the time of the deadline for submission of documents last week, Nigerians were brimming with determination and the winning spirit. All of that has come to nought, no thanks to a few persons that may have chosen parochial self-interest ahead of national interest. I want to put the records straight for the purpose of history only. Everyone involved will confront their own demons, as they will reap abundantly from what they have sown, so say all the Holy Books.   So, permit me to state some of the fundamental facts without going too deep into the details of all that transpired. Sepp Blatter had just resigned five days after winning yet another re-election. The stage was set for a massive purge of most of the executive members of FIFA following the unprecedented corruption scandal that had engulfed the organisation. There was an opportunity for Africa to produce the next president because what the situation demanded was a brand new, untainted leader with the right pedigree and credentials! I took the bait and for the first time in my life, I did all the preliminary political strategizing and background consultations. Most importantly I prayed for God\u2019s guidance before embarking on the most challenging of journeys. I was very aware of the several odds against me. To start with, I am not considered a friend by the NFF because I do not belong to the system that has been controlling the strings of Nigerian sports since 1993 when Chief Alex Akinyele, without knowing the import of what he was doing, committed the gravest and greatest error in the history of Nigerian Sports by appointing a sole administrator for the Nigeria Football Association. That innocuous decision eventually led to the financial asphyxiation of all the federations, transformed the NFA into a body that even the government that funds it could no longer control, converted FIFA into a monster that makes Nigerians catch a cold any time FIFA coughs. Nigeria has now inherited a 4-yearly ritual at its federation elections that would make the corruption scandal in FIFA look like child\u2019s play. Being a writer and a newspaper columnist compounds my own matter. You cannot be an honest critic and have many friends left in the football system. So, I am not many stakeholders friend because of the views I express in my writings that would sooner or later not favour them. That\u2019s why I am not Amos Adamu\u2019s friend in the true sense. That\u2019s why he could come out, fresh from his global suspension, when he should have quietly lived his life without drawing too much attention to himself, and championed the cause of convincing former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu to run for the FIFA presidency, and for all Nigerians to support him and not me. He threw caution to the wind! Amos Adamu would never support me under any circumstance, and I know that fact. I am not Sepp Blatter\u2019s or even Issa Hayatou\u2019s favourite person in football. There has not been a more virulent critic of both men about their perpetual stay in office and their absolute control over national football federations with the awesome power of incumbency at their disposal. In the case of Amaju Pinnick, I know he respects me a lot. Like so many others in the football system, he appreciates my humble contributions to football and, like the others, he would rather I stayed away with my \u2018puritanical\u2019 ways, and not stir up the dust of the activities in that agency of government. So, against all these odds my chances of getting a straight-forward nomination by the NFF were slim. What happened in the end, therefore, did not come as a complete surprise. My only hope was based on the change mantra of the new political dispensation in the country of which I was a major actor in my community. I believed the reforms in all other sectors would infect sports enough to ensure that no one dared deal with sports issues with the impunity of the past. I believed that the fear of PMB would affect attitudes in sports."}