For decades, sanctions have tried to suffocate Iran. Instead, they forced the country to turn inward—into its laboratories, universities, and research institutes. Isolation became a catalyst for scientific self-reliance. Eventually, the world witnessed something remarkable: the battlefield quietly became a physics laboratory. Missiles do not obey politics. They obey mathematical equations.
At the heart of every ballistic trajectory are the laws formulated centuries ago by Isaac Newton. A projectile does not know whether it was launched by a rich nation or a sanctioned one. It does not care about GDP, oil reserves, or international alliances. It only knows mathematics. Give it velocity, mass, and direction, and it will faithfully follow Newton’s laws across continents.
With Newton’s laws of motion, Iran has resisted the bullies. Now the world is in an energy crisis because even the powerful countries do not want to cross the Strait of Hormuz for fear of Iran’s ballistic missiles.
The US/Trump’s demands have shifted from dismantling Iran’s nuclear programs to include stopping its missile technology.
That is the brutal neutrality of physics.
Today, the powerful countries are studying the science behind Iranian ballistic systems with great attention.
But here is the uncomfortable question for us in Nigeria.
What do we think physics is?
In our universities, physics is often treated as a consolation prize—a department for students who could not secure admission into medicine or engineering. High UTME scores chase medicine. Prestige chases engineering. Physics gets the leftovers. Yet the uncomfortable truth is this: the real strength of world powers begins in physics laboratories, not hospital wards or construction sites.
Semiconductors? Physics.
Space technology? Physics.
Nuclear energy? Physics.
Missile guidance systems? Physics.
Artificial intelligence hardware? Physics.
The most powerful technologies shaping the 21st century are built on foundations laid by physicists, chemists, and biologists. From nuclear power, to chemical power, to biological power to the power of ballistic missiles. But in Nigeria, the disciplines that shape the future are treated as academic afterthoughts. They are the most poorly funded programmes in our universities.
We celebrate professions that apply knowledge, but we quietly neglect the disciplines that create knowledge. Until we reverse this mindset, we will remain enthusiastic consumers and slaves of other people’s discoveries. Because nations that respect fundamental science design the future.
Nations that don’t simply import it.
Physics is not a fallback course. It is the grammar of power.
©️Amoka
