Nigeria Content Online

Lagos
was agog when the Super Eagles finally returned to play last Wednesday
at the “Centre of Excellence” after close to a decade of absence. And
as early as 12 noon on Wednesday, February 9, the gates of the Teslim
Balogun Stadium (TBS) was opened for the match billed for 7pm to fans
who were hungry to see their stars in action.

Even though the
Eagles won 2-1 win over the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone some fans are
still counting their losses and others the gains accruing from the
hurriedly arranged international friendly match.

More money

Kayode Olaniran is
one of the lucky ones, the middle-aged Okada rider plying the Surulere
axis not far from the venue of match said he was less bothered about
the outcome of the match as he was more concerned with the brisk
business opportunity the game availed him.

“I didn’t watch the
match but I am happy the Eagles were here, business was very good for
me; there were more passengers and we could even charge them higher” he
said.

Also for the
hundreds of traders that had one souvenir or the other and also snacks
to sell, it was just not another day as some people claimed their sales
increased over 150%.

“I am very happy
about this match, the leftover of the vuvuzela I could not finish
selling during the Nigeria 2009 were all sold in less than four hours,”
an ecstatic trader that wants to be addressed simply as Iyabo stated.

For others seeing
the Super Eagles stars was a dream come true as many reckoned they have
only seen the likes of Mikel Obi who sat through the game, Osaze
Odemwingie and the rest of the players only on television.

Sour points

Looking back also,
some complaints have also trailed the epic return of the “big boys” to
play in Lagos. While some complained of pick pocketing, there was also
the issue of poor crowd control outside the stadium.

Sports analyst,
Godwin Enakhena expressed disgust at the manner in which the bouncers
assigned to maintain order at the venue carried out their job saying
they were not civilised in their approach.

While it is almost certain that the Eagles might have kissed Lagos
good bye yet again majorly for the fear of playing on artificial turfs
like the ones at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, the fans attitude towards
the end match has also raised some eye brows Augustine Equavoen who is
in charge of the U-23 national team said it was high time for not just
the Lagos fans but all Nigerians to know that the Super Eagles is the
country’s team and deserves all the backing they can get.