Why Cameroon must fall

These are not the best of times for Nigerian football and for those in the business in Nigeria. Since the end of the last World Cup in Brazil the football industry has been in famine. The reason is simple – the fledgling Nigerian sports industry is driven by the success of the Super Eagles, Nigeria’s most successful international brand.


Everything was fine and promising until the team lost disastrously at home to South Africa a few weeks ago and the future has turned uncertain.
Nigeria cannot afford not to be at both the African Cup of Nations in 2019 and the World Cup in 2018.


Every time the Super Eagles qualify for either championship the Nigerian economy receives a boost of financial stimulant from the unprecedented followership and patronage of the two events.


It is still unclear what the financial losses from not going to a World Cup or an African Cup of Nations in a particular year are, but a conservative estimate to the Nigerian economy is between N4 to N5 billion. For an industry that is still in its infancy! It is simply mindboggling.


That’s why for Nigerians the two next matches within the space of one week, against Cameroon, between August 31 and September 4, are a matter of do-or-die, putting at risk the survival of an entire industry that sustains millions amongst the largest number and concentration of Black people on earth across the spectra of hospitality, travels, media, endorsements, marketing, advertising, television, sponsorships and more.