Lagos, Nigeria – 13 November 2009

If there is a true example of Why Sport Matters in a country, you would have to look no farther than Nigeria. We were told (and read) many things about this country in the heart of West Africa prior to coming, but one must visit here to really experience it.

Nigeria is alive with excitement due to the U-17 FIFA World Cup going on right now. We had the fortune of attending yesterday’s semi-finals here in Lagos, and were part of one of the wildest sporting events we had ever witnessed. Our first “Teammate” for Why Sport Matters, Tunde Ajibode, gave us the good advice to get to the stadium early as he explained that Nigerians “don’t attend sport events like they do in your country.” The best piece of advice on this trip so far.

The streets surrounding the stadium were flooded with people. Somehow, our driver managed to navigate all the way to the main entrance, where the crowds pushed towards the stadium. Military police forced us to move to the side as the Governor’s motorcade passed us while the crowd bordered on anarchy. In a piece of African ingenuity, our driver tagged on to the end of the motorcade thanks to the flashing of our press badge and we got inside as the military police were pushing back the surging crowd trying to get inside!

The madness outside the stadium was matched inside. The 25,000+ stadium sang and blew horns and noise-makers the entire time. It was amazing to witness the atmosphere as the young Nigerians delighted the crowd with a 3-1 victory and passage to the final. They were so excited that fireworks began, and the lights were turned off, before the final whistle blew! (Check out this video as proof!) We have never witnessed a sport event like this before.

Our first impression upon landing in Lagos was how different it was from the previous two weeks in Egypt. Yes, the traffic and chaotic beat of the city was the same as Cairo, but the feel is completely different. The sprawling city on the southern coast has green fields and trees, waterways everywhere leading out to the Atlantic Ocean, and obviously a different look to the locals. Lagosians took a liking to both of us and were not shy to approach us and even take photos. The friendly term for white person in the local Yoruba dialect is “Oyinbo”, which we were affectionately called numerous times.

We were fortunate to have been hosted by a South African living in Lagos which made our stay here quite comfortable. In addition, as a seasoned sports correspondent, Tunde helped us coordinate a fast-paced week of meetings and interviews, only slowed by the grinding traffic (“go-slows”) which plagues this city of 15+ million, the biggest in all of Africa. We met with several prominent sports journalists, Olympic Committee members, and government ministers. We also had the pleasure of interviewing a couple of famous Nigerian former athletes: Olympic runner Gloria Obajimi and international footballer Victor Ikpeba.

While still a developing country where everyday life can be quite hard on the average Nigerian, sport is one of the key ways Nigerians come together. And once again, the key sport is football (soccer). In what was an adventurous past two days, this passion for football showed itself. Unknowingly, John was invited to participate in a football match amongst sports journalists, the only “oyinbo” on the field or in the stands. Upon scoring the first goal of the match, the locals watching went crazy, even chanting “Oyinbo! Oyinbo!”. After the match, John was interviewed by some of the players (who were also journalists) and did several live radio interviews and a couple of video interviews that were broadcast on Nigeria TV later in the day.

Today was a travel day and we are now in Abuja, the capital. We will take in the atmosphere of what should be an incredible finale to the tournament on Sunday. We will also look forward to seeing FIFA Master alums Samson Adamu and Musa Adamou. In the meantime, Saturday is the crucial day in African qualifying for South Africa 2010. Nigerian hearts will be broken if the Super Eagles don’t go through (they need to win at Kenya while Tunisia needs to lose at Mozambique). We will also be keeping an eye on the other crucial qualifier in Cairo, with Algeria and Egypt in a winner take-all battle (Egypt needs to win by two goals though).

Should be an amazing weekend. Hard to even think that we will be in Kenya next Monday!

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