Africa is celebrating. Never in the history of the Mundial has the game of football inspire an entire continent to dream and hope for a brighter future than the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup. The soccer event, brings hope and joy to a continent long ravaged by poverty, wars and diseases. -> Recent articles and publications on Africa.
Soccer unites the country - even if only for 90 minutes
Whether this “big dream” is achievable is another issue altogether. But fans in this soccer crazy country have always hoped against hope even when the odds are against our team, the Super Eagles, a team that qualified for the 2010 Mundial through the skin of its teeth. But in the game of soccer, it is okay to dream big, even for the weakest of teams! In Nigeria, football is religion; it has the power to unify the fractious ethnic groups together. It is a game that inspires hope among Nigerian population. When a football match involving the Nigerian team is being played, the frenzy and camaraderie among Nigerians is amazing. Now it does not matter which ethnic group you belong because for the ninety minutes the game lasts, we are one people.
An ethnic Yoruba man will throw his doors open for an ethnic Hausa man to watch a Super Eagles match. In Nigeria, politics divides and impoverishes us but football unites. Crude oil wealth has led to militancy in the oil rich Niger Delta, home to the country’s vast oil reserves. But when it is time for football, the guns go silent; enemies become friends again, at least for ninety minutes! We lose and win together. And that is why Nigerians find it hard to forgive their teams for failing to qualify for major competitions. The failure of the country to qualify for the Germany 2006 World Cup led to bitter criticism of this country’s soccer authorities. Now that is the passion Nigeria attached to football. But the South Africa 2010 holds a different meaning for the country’s soccer fans.
There is the general belief that since this World Cup is being held here, an African country may win it this time. That is a tall dream if you ask me but hopes and dream die hard when it comes to soccer. The South Africa 2010 has seen Nigeria drawn in the same group with old foe, Argentina, which has the world most deadliest striker, Lionel Messi. Also in the same group is Greece and South Korea. Nigerians are hoping the Super Eagles would survive this group and advance to the second round of the competition. With other African countries such as Cameroon and Ivory Coast, two countries that have some of the best footballers in Europe, Didier Drogba of Chelsea and Samuel Eto’o, hopes have never been this high. But we have to wait and see what happens as the World Cup progresses! There are other reasons why football has gained so much ascendancy in Africa. The export of players to European clubs has brought so much soccer wealth and lifted families out of poverty. Now it is commonplace to see young boys playing soccer with any round object they could set their legs on.
Football Academies springing up
With Football Academies springing up in different countries of the continent, football has become the most popular sport. Now every parent in Nigeria wants their children to play soccer even though the bulk of national teams’ players come from mostly working class groups and poor neighbourhoods like the popular Ajegunle slum in Lagos. But this trend has changed in the last few years with affluent parents now wanting their children to play football considering the fame and prestige the game has brought. On their birthdays they are presented with soccer balls and told to look up to Mikel Obi of Chelsea and other famous national team players. On the streets of Lagos, you would think you are in a stadium because football jerseys have become a fashion statement of the young ones.
To understand the passion Nigerian soccer fans attach to the World Cup, I visited a bar in downtown Lagos. Inside the smoke filled bar, youths in Super Eagles jerseys were locked in a bitter argument about who will win the World Cup. These brash, beer drinking youths believe the Super Eagles stand a good chance of keeping the Cup in Africa but some also strongly think the Super Eagles will not proceed beyond the group stages. These beliefs are infectious. On streets, bars, market places and public parks in Lagos, when Nigerians are discussing the Mundial, the arguments are always very passionate. Everybody belief this is Africa time of winning it. But not many shared this tall dream.
The Nigerian team has been weak in recent times. The country has not even won any major competition since the 1996 Atlanta Olympic football gold and the players are accused by the media of not being committed to the national team. The World Cup fever will also have tremendous impact on the family system here. In normal days, wives and mothers in the country are often found complaining that their husbands do not stay at home. But now they can be sure to spend time with their spouse for the next one month the games are played in South Africa because the men will stay at home to see the games! The media which has always been critical of the country’s preparation for the Mundial has also joined in the celebration of the first African World Cup. But the media would also be the one to criticize the performance of this team if they crash out and fail to make it to the second round. Surely, the World Cup provides journalists with enough to report for the next one month.
World Cup offers the opportunity to tell the stories of Africa
The players of course will be under pressure to perform. Already pressured is being pilled on them because of the importance of football to Nigeria. Before they left for South Africa it was not a coincidence that the President hosted the team in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the nation’s capital, he will also spend some time with them in their World Cup camp in Durban, South Africa. That is the seriousness the Nigerian government attach to football because of its capacity to drive the unity of the fractious country torn along ethnic and religious divide. Now as the country waits for the country’s first game against Argentina, bars and drinking joints are stockpiling beers and drinks. In Lagos, where power cuts are frequent, the bars are filled up with football fans that drink and argue about which player should make the Nigerian team. In bars across this city and in different parts of Nigeria, the next one month will be a boon as they are sure to have enough patronage from football fans that will most certainly drink to all the sixty four matches of the World Cup. The South African Embassy in Lagos has been overwhelmed with request for travel visa by football tourists in the last one month since the countdown to the Mundial began. I have been visiting the South African Embassy in the last one week since the World Cup began, I hope to visit South Africa to attend the events and write about everyday life in SA and how this World Cup has come to transform the once fragmented rainbow nation. In the meantime, I am watching the games at home, walking the streets of Lagos and doing a daily diary about how this tournament has come to make Nigerians forget their personal worries while they stay glued to their television watching the matches. It is exciting to report how Nigerians crazy fans are now sleeping, waking and eating football. I hope my country would learn some lessons from the South Africans on how to organize a World class event in the magnitude of the World Cup. I also hope this tournament will truly unite Africans and trigger a new development paradigm in the continent long after the final whistle is blown on July 11.
There is also a sense of belonging among journalists and the people that a World Cup on Africa soil affords us opportunity to tell our stories to the outside world. The Vuvuzela has also become the official musical instrument of the South Africa 2010 World Cup even though coaches and some visiting soccer fans have found it’s humming, bee-like and grating noise discomforting. They don’t seem to have a choice though. They will have to cope with it for the duration of the World Cup. But my fear is that the hope that has gripped an entire nation could fizzle out as soon as it began if the Super Eagles fumbles in South Africa. At the moment, as the World Cup gets to a roaring start, Nigeria is gripped by the World Cup fever. It’s time to celebrate, bring your Vuvuzela.
About the author:
Bayo Olupohunda is a Nigerian newspaper columnist, writer and journalist based in Lagos. His writing interests span the arts, culture, education, environment, global issues and development politics. He currently writes for both the influential The Guardian and 234Next Newspapers in Lagos. He also contributes articles and opinions for several online based media.