OUR VERY OWN AUSTRALIA*

WITHOUT A DOUBT, WE NIGERIANS HAVE A CRAZE FOR FOREIGN MADE, FROM ITALIAN LEATHERS TO FRENCH WINES, SAUDI GOLD TO SWISS FABRICS EVEN GHANA SOAP ALSO KNOWN AS OSE GHANA


THE MOST CULPABLES OF THE ABOVE ARE THE FEMALE FOLKS, ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN TALKING SPORTS ESPECIALLY FOOTBALL, THE AVERAGE NIGERIAN MALE GOES FOREIGN

THE ENGLISH LEAGUE HAS OVER THE YEARS, TAKEN OVER FROM ITALIANS SERIA A TO BECOME THE WORLD’S MOST WATCHED AND EXPENSIVE LEAGUE.

NIGERIANS ARE NOT LEFT OUT IN THE SELECTION OF FOOTBALL CLUBS TO FOLLOW, WITH CHELSEA, MANCHESTER UNITED AND ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUBS, GAINING MORE GROUNDS THAN OTHERS.
EVEN THE CORPORATE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE RECOGNIZED THE KEEN FOLLOWERSHIP OF THE ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE AND HAVE BEEN SIGNING AWAY MILLIONS OF NAIRA TO ENGLISH CLUBS TO PARTNER WITH THEM TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF THEIR CUSTOMERS WHO ARE MOSTLY NIGERIANS.

NOW, THAT IS WHAT I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH.
HOW MUCH EMPHASIS CAN BE LAID ON THE ECONOMIC EFFECT OF THESE ACTS.

IT IS APPLAUD ABLE, THE WAY MOST NIGERIANS ARE GOING AFRICAN IN THEIR WAY OF DRESSING, AND SUPPORTING THE NIGERIA FILM AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES.

I AM PATIENTLY WAITING FOR THE SEASON EVERY NIGERIAN WOULD SWITCH SIDES AND HAVE A LOCAL TEAM TO SUPPORT.

IN THE NEAR FUTURE, I WOULD LOVE TO ROOT FOR WARRI WOLVES OR SUNSHINE STARS, AND I PRAY THAT JUST AS WE HAVE EMBRACED THE ANKARA FABRIC WHOLE HEARTEDLY (OOPS! ANKARA IS OF TURKISH ORIGIN, ANYWAYS, IF ANKARA WERE MAN, HE WOULD BE HOLDING A FULL OFFICIAL NIGERIAN PASSPORT BY NOW, RIGHT??) WE WOULD EMBRACE OUR LOCAL LEAGUE.

SO WHY THE CRAZE FOR FOREIGN FOOTBALL????

FIRST, ORGANIZATION PER EXCELLENCE, FANTASTIC MEDIA COVERAGE AND HIGHLY EFFECTIVE HYPE SIMPLE!

I HEREBY CHALLENGE THOSE IN THE POSITION TO DO RIGHT, FROM THE PLAYERS, TO THE MEDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT, TO PLAY THEIR RESPECTIVE ROLES TO PROMOTE THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL SCENE

I PRAY SOON, THE NIGERIA LEAGUE WOULD BE WORTH FOLLOWING AND EARN A GOOD FAN BASE AS THEIR FOREIGN COUNTERPART.

DID I HEAR AN AMEN???


* AUSTRALIA IS A COUNTRY EVERY ONE KNOWS BUT DOES NOT GO OR PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO. IN THIS CONTEXT THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL LEAGUE IS LIKENED TO AUSTRALIA, AS EVERY ONE KNOWS WE HAVE A FOOTBALL LEAGUE BUT PAYS NO ATTENTION.