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The football season
has come to a close around Europe, save for the Champions League final,
which comes up tomorrow. We won’t waste precious column space talking
about the finales and if that has anything to do with a certain London
club winning the English Premier League crown, then I stand guilty as
charged. One can only imagine the words that would have flowed on this
page had Manchester United retained the premiership for an
unprecedented fourth time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

One measly point separated the two sides and condemned all Manchester United supporters to a year of taunts from Blues fans.

The other Drogba

Some of this
sentiment must have contributed to the reported clash between some fans
in Maiduguri after the last games in the English Premier League. The
first emotion upon reading the article was astonishment – thousands of
miles away from the actual action, there was such high feelings as to
cause a violent disagreement! It’s not the first time this has
happened. We’ve heard of or read stories of stabbings, street scuffles
and arguments among rival supporters of European clubs. But it never
ceases to amaze. Of the two men injured in the Maiduguri conflict, one
was nicknamed Drogba. While his more famous namesake was scoring a hat
trick, he was being carted off to a clinic. Again and again, there is
proof of the worldwide appeal of the English Premier League. The
implication of this popularity is that fewer and fewer Nigerian
football enthusiasts identify with teams in our local leagues.

In a very
unscientific survey I conducted recently, I asked some football fans to
name five teams in the Nigerian League and not one could come up with
the correct answer. Yet our Nigerian Drogba feels the need to engage in
a largely meaningless scuffle with a Manchester United supporter. While
I’m not saying that there should be a clash between fans of Enyimba and
Bayelsa United, it would certainly be heart-warming to see some kind of
positive emotion associated with the local league. I repeat, I am not
advocating that Nigerian soccer fans should start widespread fighting
and stabbing in the name of supporting the Nigerian League.

Let it not be said
that I am a promoter of violence. It would be nice to see the Nigerian
League hold the same appeal as foreign leagues.

Solaja’s timely intervention

Moving away from
Maiduguri’s Drogba and his kind, I’d say it was uplifting to hear about
Kunle Solaja’s book launch. The book, “Super Eagles through the Ages,”
gives a historical record of the national football team from 1949.
There is such a paucity of information about sports in the country that
any publication aiming to fill this gap must be lauded. It is
noteworthy that the publication came from an individual and not from
the Nigerian Football Federation.

Can we say they
have made up for it in a little way by attending the launch and
purchasing numerous copies of the book? Commendable, no doubt but they
need to build on this and actually spearhead such initiatives. The NFF
ought to sponsor more efforts such as these, as opposed to relying on
the private sector and a few committed individuals.

There’s no reason
why we shouldn’t, for example, have a football museum. Not only could
entrance fees and sales of memorabilia generate revenue, but museums
also naturally serve as resource and education centres. Up to date
websites could provide much needed instant information for the general
public. And it shouldn’t stop at football.

The importance of keeping records cannot be overemphasized. It is
our responsibility to ensure that the next generation does not forget.
Only then can we have Maiduguri Odegbamis and Lokoja Okochas instead of
the Drogbas of Maiduguri.