My Cameroon Experience (AFCON 2021)
One of our founding members, Ogaji Ejeh shared his experience on his trip to Cameroon for AFCON 2021. Read on....
**Question:** What moved you to travelling to Cameroon for the AFCON2021 competition?
**Answer:** I have been a football fan since I was 6 and a huge Super Eagles fan as well. I have been watching them play and following them for a while now. With regards to travelling to Cameroon, I did not entertain any doubts about my being there. I was not afraid of insecurity on anything. I knew nothing would happen and we would have a pleasant experience.
**Question:** Was this your first visit to Cameroon? And how was your travel experience?
**Answer:** Yes, it was my first time traveling to Cameroon and I had a very peculiar travel Experience. I travelled from Abuja to Douala Cameroon Sunday the 9th of January. On arriving Douala, I was expecting to catch a connecting flight to Garoua as that was where all the Super Eagles games were going to be played, but I was told there were no connecting flights until Tuesday 11th January. This was the day the Nigerian Super Eagles were playing their first game. Someone at the airport whispered to me that I did not have to wait I could take a night bus and be in Garoua by daybreak. So, I decided to brave it. I ended up spending nearly 2 days on the road. I left Douala 11pm on the 9th and only arrived Garoua by 4am on Tuesday the 11th There was a security checkpoint going into every town and each check took about an hour. It was an interesting experience. Ordinarily I heard it was a 17-hour experience but with the checks and the drivers stopping to pray, changing drivers and all, the journey took longer. I met some nice people on the bus though, that helped me when I arrived Garoua, so it was an okay experience.
**Question:** Was this your first time seeing a football game in person? If not, compare this experience with previous ones.
**Answer:** No this was not my first time seeing a game live. That was a very long time ago. Probably in my teen years, somewhere in Nigeria
Each game is different in some way. Maybe because this Cameroon game is recent and still very fresh in my memory, this experience was high up there for me. There was unbelievable support for the Nigerian Super Eagles side in Garoua. It was unbelievable. The home fans in Garoua were fully in support of the Super eagles. This is the first tournament I have been to where the support was overwhelming, and it felt nice and homely. It was even so bad that on the fourth game when we lost to Tunisia, the Nigerian supporters had to console some of the Garoua natives before leaving the stadium. They felt even worse than we the Nigerian fans did.
**Question:** What are your thoughts on the quality of stadiums used in this year’s competition?
**Answer:** I only attended matches in 1 stadium. I had hoped that upon Nigeria’s qualification I would have gone to the Japoma Stadium, located in Douala and then on to Yaunde for the final game. However, all four of the Nigerian games I saw were in the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua and it was well built. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the stadium. Everything worked. The spaces were big enough. The reception areas and the restrooms were also up to par. It is arguably better than most Nigerian stadiums. The quality of the stadium was quite high.
**Question:** The Nigerian team, the Super Eagles performed admirably in the group stages. How was it like watching those games live?
**Answer:** In hindsight I wish we did not play so well and somehow overcame Tunisia to get into the final games. The games were unbelievable. Especially considering that they had come together over a short period of time under Coach Eguavoen and the new coaching crew. The game against Egypt was good to watch. Nigerians had come into the match hoping to overcome the Egyptian Pharaohs so that we would somehow come top in the group. Mo Salah was only given a half chance and the boys made us really proud. It was a complete anticlimax loosing to Tunisia but that’s football. I hope they are ready to beat Ghana to qualify for the Qatar World Cup, so we can all go and have a nice time.
**Question:** Was travelling with Naija Supporters Travelers club beneficial? And What do you have to say to aspiring members of the club?
**Answer:** It was beneficial even though most of the members didn’t travel together. However as soon as I arrived Garoua and met other club members it was a nice brotherhood. We helped each other and it was a great experience. There was synergy and togetherness. It was also a great feeling knowing that there were people who had your back. And to the other question. I will advise everybody and anybody who wants to travel to watch the Super Eagles to join this club. It helps when you arrive wherever you’re travelling to, to always have people who you can rely on to show you the ropes. It’s always a good idea.
*Thank you Mr. Ogazi, we look forward to seeing you at the World Cup Qualifiers game later in March and subsequently in Qatar.*