As a fresh fresher who just gained admission into the prestigious University of Ibadan to study in the prestigious department of English, I had always wondered how I would be accepted, welcomed, and integrated into the “social” circle of the department. I would endlessly think of the enormous-looking task of interaction with my classmates and seniors- I wasn’t so confident until a window opened.

During the freshers welcome program (2017/2018 session), I discovered that there was going to be a freshers-versus-stalites football match and I was like, “okay, this is good ”. At first, I was reluctant about going but my police friend encouraged me and we “turned up” (the usual freshers-kitless turn up) at SUB pitch under the scorching sun. We were all dehydrated before the match started. Right there and then, I met several of my classmates that I had not noticed in class and we instantly connected (why wouldn’t we? It’s football). The game ended 2-1 in favor of the stalites of course, they had just won the super four in the previous session. Our only goal came from the penalty kick Dr. Charles awarded after I was fouled meters away from box eighteen. Who cares? We scored. After the match, all of us were drafted into the team and our journey in the department fully began.

In the same session, as part of the departmental week celebration, the committee organized a-day inter-level sports competition. This was the first time I ever saw NASELSites in large numbers come out to cheer their classmates. Interestingly, this was an event with no “item seven”. People were willing to stand in the sun to encourage the footballers and the athletes. By the way, my level won the football competition, we thrashed all the levels, yeah, you read that right.

Why all these stories? The mantra of the last two administrations has been to unite NASELSites and make us all sociable. One would ask, are NASELSites not indeed social beings? Is it so difficult to interact with other students in the department regardless of the level? I will leave the answer to you. However, have their chants turned into reality? NO.

One tool these people have failed to use to foster unity and oneness in the department is SPORTS- this was the window that opened.

Sports is a universal activity designed as an instrument to foster unity across all levels of participation. It holds physical, moral, and social benefits. It is important not to let this window close and rust, let us embrace the power of sport to connect us, ease tensions and help us realize we share much more than what divides us. Be it basketball, football, handball, volleyball, swimming, we can unite, address our problems whilst having fun. Sport is nondiscriminatory, does not have a language, does not care about your religion, race, or belief, and it encourages similarity.

In football, right from the 5-asides on your streets to your faculty dean’s cup and to your team’s champions league match (except you support Arsenal), you would see the spirit of oneness hovering around the teams and their supporters. Curses hurled at the opponents, lauding their players, and the rude gestures are thrown towards the referee for unfavorable officiating, all done in unison and unity. Nasels can experience this kind of oneness if sports is paid attention to.

We must realize that it is true not everyone is a sports person, but to a reasonable extent, it can be used to form an unbreakable bond between those involved. We must stop borrowing jerseys, our ladies must start participating in the faculty competitions and we must also extend our horizon beyond football. The University has facilities that can and will cater to other sporting activities. We must ensure that proper plans are put in place in order for us to have good results in our competitions. Participation first, then unity follows.

I must remind the current executives of their promise towards sports, Naselympics. It is noble and commendable and I sincerely hope it materializes into something “hooge” and beautiful. We patiently lookout and we await the success.