by Vennisa Owusu-Barfi

The stage is set.

Sixty-thousand fans screaming as the eleven-man squads of Ghana and Nigeria bask in the spotlight to play out one of the greatest rivalries in West African history. 

I had never felt so much pride.

As a Ghanaian, I am clearly biased; consecutively booing the Super Eagles (Nigeria’s National Team) and heavily criticizing the slightest errors from the Black Stars (Ghana’s National Team). It is in this hodgepodge of emotions however, that most Ghanaians and Nigerians find themselves in; a seeming appearance of heavy-handed criticism of our respective teams but one rooted in deep pride.

Below we see the double faceted sides of criticism to support and pride as described above:

Abedi Pele’s son here refers to Jordan Ayew (striker for the Ghana Black Stars)

Ghana becomes the first African Nation to qualify for the World Cup.

The Jollof Derby, as the match was aptly described, brought to light the long-standing rivalry between the two countries. As the two most dominant English-speaking countries in a largely Francophone West Africa, the two nations have bantered over food (Jollof), music (Afrobeat), sports (football), movies and everything in between. 

In my opinion, the Jollof wars, as I like to call them, should be encouraged by both countries (within civil limits, of course). As in the case of many nation states in Africa formed by arbitrary European borders, it takes an incredible amount of effort to create a sense of unified identity among each nation’s myriad of distinct people groups. However, a sense of unity/oneness manifests itself when each side banters with the other easily dissolving ethnic lines in favor of national ones. I don’t expect our differences to disappear overnight with this, but it seems like a wonderful way to begin.

As we celebrate the qualifications of Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, and Cameroon on their journey to the most watched sporting event in the world, we recognize the deep importance and popularity of the sport on the continent. In addition, we celebrate the ability of friendly rivalry to unite a diverse group of people.

Sources:

1. “Most Watched Sporting Events of All Time.” Stadium Talk, https://www.stadiumtalk.com/s/most-popular-sporting-events-world-8fc518d95d104c16#:~:text=The%20most%2Dwatched%20in%20history,surpassed%203%20billion%20in%20viewers.

2. Thumbnail image credit. CNN, https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/30/football/nigeria-ghana-world-cup-qualifier-crowd-trouble-spt-intl/index.html