NIGERIA 4-3 MOROCCO

I grew up among males,…My Pastor Dad watches ball as if he were in the stadium and he includes match details in his sermon if need be. The passion with which he analyses ball can be compared to Keshi’s technical crew and I pray someday he coaches Nigeria to win the world cup…(I hope he doesn’t see this, I love you dad). My brothers like ball too and yes…I like football. My favorite club is Chelsea FC and my favourite team is erm….yes!…the Super Eagles of Nigeria (feeling patriotic).

So what happened on Saturday between Nigeria and Morocco?

Morocco had beaten Nigeria, it was 3-0.

Psychology experts tell us that continued/repeated success boosts morale and continued/repeated failure dampens morale. If we go by this analogy, at the end of the first half, the morale of the Nigerian team should have been so dampened such that Morocco would have scored even more goals in the second half….but the reverse happened. Nigeria’s Uzochukwu slot in the ball into the net, Rabiu Ali came around at the right time and put the ball where it was supposed to be at that time, Ejike Uzoenyi did his thing on the dot of the 90^th minute…and just at the extra time, Abubakar Ibrahim’s strike into the net made all the difference.

I learnt something from all this: NEVER GIVE UP!

There are times truly in one’s life where it looks like all hope is gone. That moment when you’re in your finals and you check your result to see a 1.2CGPA; That moment when the doctor hands you the pink slip and you discover it’s a cancer afterall; That moment when the guy/lady you planned to spend your entire life with walks away; That moment when you miscarry that baby whom you had started to love with all your heart; That moment when you wished you were  dead….such moments come in life but if there’s one lesson we should take through life, it is this: Don’t ever give up. We’ve got to learn to fight and not to take flight. Honestly, I’ve had times when I took flight but had to come back to fight. I’m still learning how to fight, I’m learning that true strength is born in those times of weakness. I’m learning not to run from issues, but to face and deal with them; I’m learning how to give ”one more push”. Who knows? The baby may come out at that push. Who knows? The fight may be a triumphant fight against cancer, Who knows?...who, who knows?

So, I’ll face life head on and stay on the battlefield. I’ll pick up the fragments of courage that kept me till this present time and with God, the source of my strength, I’ll be the last man standing!