So I got a chess set for my 21st birthday when I Was in school. Actually a game box with 12 games. So whenever people came visiting I asked,do you play?. Many said “No” & I said it’s easy,I can teach you. I tried & tried. Only few picked it up for some reason. It’s simple.

I didn’t understand why. It’s a game like any other game.But I figured out the problem.From the people I tried to teach chess,just so I can have someone to play with. I figured the problem is that for some reason, Nigerians can’t understand complex systems. Gov’t is an example.

The problem is that they couldn’t understand a system or game where all the pieces have different functions,operated by different rules & moved differently.The fact that at every point in the game you had to process multiple possibilities, & consider multiple threats as you move

That was the problem. Everything wasn’t flat & uniform,where only one thing can be true & only one possibility could exist, bc they can only process one thought. in the game they fixated on one piece & ignored all others pieces,only to start asking “wait, what just happened”.

When they won a piece, they thought they were winning & didn’t understand how they lost when it happened.They can’t process strategy.The real life equivalent plays out everyday.Most people here can only process one idea or 1 thought, everything else is a lie. Multiple can’t exist

Or to consider that there are multiple interests at play on board.Instead they can only consider one & say any other possibility presented is a lie or “conspiracy theory” Eg. -There’s an ongoing genocide - True - America is coming here bc they care about you - not true.

But you see, entertaining two or more ideas that aren’t uniform or flat is where that world famous Nigerian “sharpness”. Bc all ideas & thoughts must be Uniform, ignore nuances, interests, human nature. Etc.that’s too much to ask their processors to do. It’s a classic setup.

This very reason is why most Nigerians think chess is a difficult game & only some super smart people know play it, when it’s just basic 3D thinking. That’s why the slum guy that’s not in the top 1k world ranking has them thinking he’s Gary Kasparov & they expected more from him.

Nigerians are flat landers who can only perceive the world in 2 dimensions, the 3rd dimension is a “conspiracy theory”, “heresy”, “ “a lie”. It was the downfall of their ancestors, it’s their downfall today.

I mean their ancestors thought to themselves “these pink people that came on ships giving me gin,mirrors,beads & red wrappers are our friends. If they were bad why would they give us all these shiny things. Surely they crossed the ocean to be our friends. I laugh in Kunta Kinte

I’m sure the few chiefs who told their kings to be wary, bc there’s something else they pink people aren’t telling you were called “conspiracy theorists”. Bc entertaining or processing more than 1 idea isn’t a part of the culture, surface value thinking is their forte.

When they started taking slaves.Even the ones who captured their kin & sold to slavery thought to themselves “hmm, I’ve been selling my kin to these slavers, they’re my friends” &ended up on slave ships too. So many stories of slavers sold along with those they came to sell

@SpacemanAp I think the problem boils down to lack of exposure. When you travel and mix with people from other communities, you realize the world is complex and you're forced to think critically. A lot of Nigerians haven't left their state let alone Nigeria

@NosaOdiase6 Yessssssssss. People will get angry o. But I’ll say it. I can’t take a person too serious or hold their opinions of the world highly of they’ve never left the state they were born or grew up.

@SpacemanAp It's an educational problem, out educational systems don't teach critical reason and coexistence of multiple truths. How can you call invaders missionaries?

@Kingsleyodoh80 Bingo. That’s it.

@SpacemanAp I have read these tweets and wish I can stick it in the brain of every Nigerian, especially the area that many possibilities exist in an idea. The biggest noise we make here is based on people arguing and protecting their own possiblity and won't accept that of others.

@tweetjuwon See how angry they’re getting & foaming at the mouth when all I’m asking them to do is to “look at the situation carefully & consider all the possibilities and interests at play.”.They’re fixated on the example I used.And ignoring that it applies to everything else.We’ll be fine

@SpacemanAp Nigerians are not daft. Not everyone find chess interesting, but saying Nigerians are daft because some of your friends declined to learn Chess is false. Govt. Has been eating fat on the lives of the needy and when help comes, they shouldn't embrace it?

@masta_of_inks So you read all that. In clearly worded English & saw “Nigerians are daft”. Hmmm. May God help us

@SpacemanAp @DavidHundeyin Don't be a pseudo-intellectual. Why drag 200+ million people because they don't find a specific board game fascinating? I'd like to think chess isn't popular in Nigeria because it has always been branded as an elitist game.

@SpacemanAp Chess is hard to pick up anywhere in the world, which is why it’s not that popular. It’s kind of niche. It’s the same with understanding complex things. You’re mixing up not trusting the system with not understanding it. Our interactions with government are often messy and

@SpacemanAp This read like a big leap from a small anecdote. Chess uptake is mostly about exposure, coaching, and incentives, not innate capacity. Preferring ludo or draughts doesn’t mean people can’t handle complexity; those games are strategically rich too. If you want evidence, look at

@SpacemanAp @joshgyang Don’t think the chess example is it, Although, your point is valid regardless, all over the world chess is not a game people are really interested in, it’s not a Nigerian thing

@SpacemanAp lol coming from a panafricanist with a child level geopolitics

@SpacemanAp So all this language you speak have your family been a victim of terrorist attack? If the answer is no, don’t reply cuz you’ve given me my answer.

@SpacemanAp Nice piece, I wouldn't take this whole lengthy tweet as just another Nigerian complaining. You have identified why you deem a problem, what do you suggest as the solution?? Genetic rewiring? Devine Deliverance? More lengthy tweets about the shortcomings of Nigerians ?

@SpacemanAp It all comes down to how our educational system was structured - we were never meant to be critical thinkers. We weren’t even meant to know our own history (remember, Obasanjo scrapped it). That’s how dumb our government and their masters want us to be

@SpacemanAp When are we playing ours ?

@SpacemanAp Your wrote well

@SpacemanAp How long ago was this 21st birthday that you are generalizing like this? How many people in different places have you met? Are you aware that there are local board games that are "complex" too? Nigeria is the last place you should be generalizing.

@SpacemanAp Your Argument is not valid. Chess is not a game that originated in NIGERIA. It doesn’t suit our Society, and not out of lack of intellect, it’s same way a lot of Nigerians will prefer ludo or draft over Monopoly. Nigerians are smart we just haven’t grown to think of our enemies.

@SpacemanAp I don't this it because they lack complex thinking. It's a passion thing. I learned chess in sec school because I desired it. I see it in movies and it looked liked rich people game so I took it as an opportunity to learn something I thought I would never learn. I Loved it.