{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Mathematical 7","provider_url":"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7","title":"Nigerian sports in 2030 - Jamaica shows the way! - Mathematical 7","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"uoGoE2vfVG\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/nigerian-sports-in-2030-jamaica-shows-the-way\/\">Nigerian sports in 2030 &#8211; Jamaica shows the way!<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/mathematical7.com\/m7\/nigerian-sports-in-2030-jamaica-shows-the-way\/embed\/#?secret=uoGoE2vfVG\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Nigerian sports in 2030 &#8211; Jamaica shows the way!&#8221; &#8212; Mathematical 7\" data-secret=\"uoGoE2vfVG\" 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\/2020\/10\/dennis-johnson_864_486.png","thumbnail_width":864,"thumbnail_height":486,"description":"I was jolted by a friend\u2019s short message last weekend.\u00a0 He had read \u2018My message to Nigerian youths \u2013 Gene and Geography\u2019. He decided that the article needed a response which he delivered in a rather scathing, rhetorical statement pregnant with meaning.\u00a0\u00a0Sadiq Abdullahi wrote from America:\u00a0\u2018I have read your piece today. Still it is not clear what you want us, the readers, to do. For me, the issue has always been \u2018how\u2019 not \u2018what\u2019.\u00a0 In other words, action should speak louder than voice. Very true.\u00a0  For too long many of us sports analysts have directed our criticism at government, blaming all the failures in sports on the failure of governments to do the right things, appoint the right kind of leadership, and prioritise the sector for the benefit of the youths. We cannot continue to live in that unyielding bubble. We must explore outside the conventional box of government and seek other options. We must start to drink from the fountain of new ideas.\u00a0 \u00a0That\u2019s what Sadiq Abdullahi, former African Tennis champion, Olympian, adjunct professor in a university, all the way from his base in Miami, Florida, wanted me to tell us: the \u2018how\u2019 to make things happen.\u00a0\u00a0With the current state of Nigeria and the failures in virtually all sectors that are considered even more important than \u2018mere\u2019 sport, to continue to hope that anything would change soon through government involvement may be wishful and foolish. Successive governments at State and national levels have failed to see sport beyond its recreation content, and to appreciate its power sport to impact society greatly and become a major contributor to the economy to the country. It is unlikely that more criticisms will change those attitudes even now. So, rightly, we must seek other options.\u00a0\u00a0"}