Which side are you on?
By K. Abdullai Kamara
While Liberia could not reach the finals of the African Cup of Nations, Liberians are nonetheless a major part of the continental football festivities, as can be seen by wide, open and empty streets during the mid afternoon, followed by widespread jubilation in favor of one country or another during the early evening, whenever the games are played. Passion is quite high, as you would see before, during and after the matches.
If one passes around certain communities, you see clear, passionate and festive signs of support activities. This colorful solidarity is reflected by loud, widespread, noisy and sometimes violent arguments about one side or cream of players being better than others, as well as the wanton display of colors, showing support for one side or another.
Aside from turning out in huge numbers to watch the games at nearby video clubs or in neighbors’ residences, hundreds of fans wear home-designed t-shirts and flaunt colors of their sides. You should not be surprised to see flags of opposing teams - Ghana and Guinea; Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire - floating from the same post or resting on the same roof. On a typical game day, a visit to Old Road, Logan Town, Red Light, Duala, West Point, or even down town Monrovia, will show you that the games are as live in Monrovia, as they are around Ghana. Passionate and aggressive fan activities are also replicated outside Monrovia, in towns as diverse as Gbarnga, Kakata, Ganta, Zwedru and elsewhere across the country.
If you would ask which teams are supported around Liberia, I would say all. But on a more analytic note, you would realize that the sides with the biggest supports are those with players from the leading European clubs. In this realm, you would see widespread support for Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, or Senegal. By this, you can imagine the fans are thinking of El Hadj Diouf, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Yaya & Kolo Toure, Michael Essien, Mikel Obi, Frederic Kanoute or El Hadj Diouf. Other greats like Emmanuel Adebayor of Togo are absent, though.
Supports are also shown by the communities present in Liberia. If you think of the Fula traders, Fanti Fishermen and Nigerian traders and soldiers, you should imagine that Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria have huge fan bases. Adding to these, Cote d’Ivoire, you would recall these as the countries which hosted the largest chunks of Liberian refugees during the years of war.
At the end of each 90-minutes of plays, then you know that these fans are really crazy about their sides. In some communities there are long parades extolling their victory as being the result of hardwork and talent, while downplaying the others as being "fee-see" and not worth being at the cup. After a recent match involving one of the neighboring countries, the victors sang, "you nah wan see us, you will feel it." On another occasion, the victors sang, "no more Fula bread, we want Fanti bread."
Though the bulk of these fans do not hail from these countries, they only exemplify what we all perceive as a united African continent. While thousands have paid hard earned fares to watch the games on site, millions of others are sharing the joy, thousand of miles away through the magic of technology. In effect, the love of football (sports in a general sense) is breaking down barriers and providing an opportunity for people of all age and diversities to come together.
Taking sides with other Africans brings forth a form of love that we envision would eventually bring all Africans together under a common body politic. Blyden, Nkrumah, Garvey, DuBois, Padmore and other pan-Africanists should have thought out football as the vehicle through which the dream of a common African body politic would be organized. Despite this optimism, I wonder what each of us are thinking on a personal and non-football level? As recent as last week the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) was protesting the manhandling of its staff by Beninoise immigration personnel, as they were traveling to Ouagadougou for an ECOWAS summit. All of these are happening despite an ECOWAS protocol that permits West African citizens to stay within other West African states for up to 90 days without notice. Even at that, immigration officers from Liberia to Cote d’Ivoire, or even Sierra Leone would easily ask you "how long are you staying?," when they should simply grant you the 90 days, until further notice.
Beyond that, richer North African states and South Africa are very terse about visa requirements for other Africans. If one imagine the headache faced in other African countries, relative to immigration, work permit and other regulations, you start you wonder if we are really serious about African integration. we tend to be too sensitize to the limits imposed upon us by colonial boundaries!
For now, we will watch the games, shout up and down about one team or another, and fold up after the trophy is snatched by one side or another. Thereafter, the Sudanese and Zambian will be asked to justify while he stayed one day beyond his "visa." Also, the Ivorian will detain the Sierra Leonean for traveling after hours, even though that very African had traveled to Ghana to cheer "les Elephants". In the same vein, the immigration chief at the Liberian border will lock up the Fula businessman for crossing over "illegally," from Guinea, though this very Immigration was a "Guinea man" during the tournament.
So far for the politics, and now the teams I support. My sides have been selected more because of proximity, and not necessarily because of exile status. To that effect, the nearest countries to Liberia in the contest are Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. The next consideration is how near are we to each other? From Cote d’Ivoire, Liberian language groups that are also across the border are – Krahn, Grebo and Gio, bordering Grand Gedeh, Nimba, River Gee and Maryland. From Guinea, the groups are Mandingo, Kpelle, Lorma, Kissi and Mano, crossing as much counties as Lofa, Bong and Nimba.
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K. Abdullai Kamara is a Media, ICT & Peace Building Specialist; a Human Rights, Democracy & Development Advocate; and an Expert on Liberian Affairs (socio-political, cultural, historical & geographic). He lives in Monrovia and works with the Liberia Media Project.
