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Soccer fever in Nigeria

Adrian Kriesch in Yola, northern Nigeria / shJuly 1, 2014

For Nigeria’s Super Eagles the FIFA World Cup is over. They lost in the first knockout round against France 0-2. But for the many soccer fans back home, the tournament will only end with the final whistle.

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Nigeria's goalkeeper Enyeama and other players looking happy before the game with France
Image: Reuters

The fans went wild in Yola in northeastern Nigeria when the Super Eagles scored the first goal in their game against France. But when the linesman raised his flag to signal offside, joy quickly turned to disappointment for the more than 20 people crammed into one room to watch the match which ended with a 0-2 defeat . They were there because public viewing centers and pubs are not allowed to show the soccer tournament following attacks by Islamist terror group Boko Haram. In the words of one fan: "We used to go to the center with my friends and my brothers. But now there is no security in Nigeria."

13 people died last Friday (27.06.2014) as the result of a bomb explosion in a hotel in the northern city of Bauchi where they had gathered to watch World Cup highlights on TV.

The bombed out hotel in Bauchi
A bomb attack on this hotel in Bauchi killed soccer fansImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Emos Dauda runs a public viewing center in Yola which can accommodate 100 fans. Now it is empty and Dauda is angry. He doesn't agree with the ban which he sees as giving in to the terrorist. "It's just like saying I should not go to the market because there could be explosives in the market. Or don't go to the supermarket because there could be explosives in the supermarket." Eventually, he says, that will mean people can't go anywhere anymore.

The uniting power of soccer

The press spokesman of the federal government of Adamawa state, Ahmad Sajoh, can understand such feelings. The last attack in Yola took place two years ago and since then it has been relatively calm. However, he justified the ban to DW, saying there were not enough security personnel to protect everyone.

"That is why we had to provide a blanket ban and deny a large number of people from watching the football matches [even though this] could easily have provided them some kind of relief," he said.

A Nigerian journalist wears a green T-Shirt with the slogan "The world unites against Boko Haram"
A Nigerian journalist in Brazil has this message for the terroristsImage: J.Samad/AFP/GettyImages

But Nigerian football enthusiasts don't give up that easily. A shop for electronic goods in Yola quickly became a new meeting place for fans, squashed in between refrigerators and flat screen TVs. Any hopes shop owner Solomon Bitrus may have had of increasing his sales have not been realised but he takes it with humor. "They are good neighbours. I believe I know 70 percent of them and I believe they will do no harm. I enjoy watching with them – it is fun!" he said.

Although there was little to celebrate after the Super Eagles' defeat by France and the end of Nigeria's dreams of advancing further in the tournament, at least there were no reports of any further attacks. And while the Super Eagles failed to win on the pitch, they did succeed in welding the nation together, irrespective of religion or ethnicity, at least for 90 minutes.