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Funmi Iyanda
Lagos, Nigeria
Funmi Iyanda is a multi award-winning producer and broadcast journalist. She is the CEO of Ignite Media and Executive Director of Creation Television
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Monday, June 25, 2007

The strike? What was the point? On to less aggravating issues

I am not an Arsenal supporter and l confess part of it is just bloody mindedness and non-conformity because supporting arsenal in Nigeria is as pedestrian as weekend a Ankara sokoto and buba on open toed sandals combo to visit the mother-in-law. It's a new money, young family, little bit on the side, Pentecostal church going, middle class social wanna be thing to do. Arsenal fans in Nigeria can be so anal (yeah go on shoot me) so l support Chelsea because l find the drama of dubious Abramovich, arrogant Mourinho, scandalous player buying and take no prisoner winning strategy refreshingly anarchic and irreverent. I am rational enough to see the blatant intellectual laziness in the many generalizations contained in the sentences above but suck it, football supporting is not about reason. That said, l felt the pain of the gunners this weekend after Thierry Henry decided to end his 8-year run at Highbury and go on to the sun of Madrid. I admire and fancy (as hell) Thierry Henry not just because he is such a great player (got great abs and butt too) but because of his focus, discipline, devotion to the game, his family and his club and most of all his no nonsense approach to dealing with issues of fame, masculinity and racism. It is my belief that if Henry was wearing the slippers and Ankara combo to visit his mum in law at the weekend it will be because it felt comfortable on his skin not because he wants to conform or present an image that is far from the person he is. Who knows what his time in Barcelona will turn out to be like or how the rest of his career will go but to me Henry is the true golden balls, nay platinum balls baby! One of my fav Thierry interviews is in this month's edition of GQ but l cannot seem to find the link anywhere.


In all the talk about replacement for Thierry at Highbury, Nigeria's Obafemi Martins' name has featured prominently, of course it is no longer breaking news that he had a run in with armed robbers in Lagos last week and that the Nigerian police through the Lagos police PR officer Bode Ojajuni is contesting his claims. I find Ojajuni very interesting, in the numerous interviews l have had with him in the past l could never quite decide if the joke is on me and the viewers or if the man operates on his own unique planet.
Here is a sample.

20 comments:

Admin UD said...

True Blue fan you are. Don't mind them Arsenal a$$ lickers.Ooops! I'm glad Henry left Arsenal. It's long overdue. He's one of ma fav. anyways and him going to my European favourite is sooo welcome. I support ONLY TWO teams in this world:

Chelsea and Barca...all other ones are sinking sands...*sticking out ma tongue at the gunners fans*

PS: maybe Eto will come to Arsenal...in their dreams! hahahehehehe

Anonymous said...

Ha ha, so you are one of those that are GUNNER on the inside but in the bid to conform to the norm choose the opposition.
You remind of a christian sister who is ashamed to proclaim christ in front of her boyfriends` pals because she spends weekends in his flat doing the forbidden.
Funmi, come out of your closet, we will welcome you, say the truth and it shall set you free.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, I thought I had found a kindred spirit in you and you have burst my bubble already. Supporting CHELSEA because you imagine it's wild and daring...
As for Henry, with his pretty white wife and designer lifestyle, does he really need poverty stricken (or even middle class wanna be) Nigerian fans to cry over him?

Anonymous said...

That police dude is a joker. I dont know whether to laugh or cry.

Anonymous said...

ha, speaking of olajunji, he seems to always contradict crime reports. Once again he denied anyone was killed in yesterday's armed robber attack in ikeja!


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200706261303285

Mimi said...

GO MANCHESTER UNITED!!! lol i said that to irk you but i doubt it did.

that Ojajungi or whats his name...makes me laugh when he opens his mouth! he mentioned statistics but never did i once hear him give numbers...you should have pin-pointed that and said 'ehn what are your statistics?' hisssss

Iyaeto said...

It's rather sad that Henry left Arsenal but life goes on.
That Ojajuni is a joker! He didn't make any sense in that interview. He's meant to be the Lagos police PR man and he couldn't answer the questions you asked him (na wa o).May God continue to protect us.

Omolola said...

Sheezzzz funmi...i am soo beefing u right now.First of all,I am an arsenal fan and i ain't anal.Secondly,what is wrong with conforming with the "norm" especially when the "norm" is supporting a darn good team and loving and stickn by them even when they are not so good.Being a gunner is a way of life for some of us,it is the ankara buba and sokoto we rock to the inlaws because we feel good in it and anythingelse make us uncomfortable.Thirdly, about henry's move to Barcelona........God help him there!!!
@ugo.Sticking out my middle fingers to u,ooops!!!
@olla-Thank you jare beta person,i gbadun you gaaan.

Aziza Uko said...

Funmi, this is my first time on your blog. Good writing. I will visit more often.

Keep doing what you are doing. There is a reward for faithfulness.

Best wishes.

36 INCHES OF BROWN LEGS said...

My phone has been rining non stop since he left arsenal, i refuse to comment!! ive supported arsenal since i was 16.go figure. lol

ive met the Ojajungi guy and to say he's full of shit is me being modest really. but then again arent they all jokers the lot of them, plus d IG!!

Unknown said...

Aside; I close my eyes to sleep, and in a matter of seconds i feel my being burst into a dark-shadowy realm, a place which could only be sensed to be a mix of dream and mild hallucination. Yes, you were the subject matter of that unusual blend of mind-spirited-worlds. The setting had a religious theme, perhaps it was a catholic church and it seemed mass was in progress. You appeared drunk, drunk with nothingness and negativity, you approached me, confused and constrained by invisible elements which i couldnt see. I quickly recognised you, and your prevailing state of being, it all seemed too familiar to me, you were my pysche in human form, my conscience in flesh and blood. You were a reflection of what thrived within me in reality, this reality from which i type these words. Im not one to fuss over dreams, stars and zodiacs, but admist the blurry outlines of these compounded illussions, shone a clear and a concise message for me, a message i am yet to fully digest.

Anonymous said...

I AM TAKING THIS ASSAULT VERY VERY PERSONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE I BEG DONT START WORLD WAR 3 O. AND U 2 ugo. Kilode. u and arsenal dey fight b4? abeg o. nways dat aside. why should anybody be suprised about police officers and their views? Why are u suprised? the police is always right.

Anonymous said...

go funmi..i love u more.....i ama blues for life..CHELSEA BABY!

Anonymous said...

chelsea and barca baby!

Anonymous said...

just watched the interview you had with Bode Ojajuni..sorry to say this but that guy is a dick head!the nigerian police are frigging incompetent,a lot of them are thieves..i have been a victim of their exhortotion couple times,while in 9ja,one almost attacked me and my friend in ikoyi and he attempted to break the windscreen,he called us prostitutes..this was at 5pm on our way to see a movie o...he even ceased the car keys...nigerian police suck..they may be few good ones but surely the rotten ones are more...that Bode Ojajuni doesnt know what he is talking abt!period,he is so damn cocky!pple were praising the police over xmas..like duh!wen?xmas was wen they even really unleashed terror on lagosians...how many times have police killed innocent pple on to N20 bribe...that guy needs to shut up!

funmi said...

@ all, so sori l went awol, been stuck between airports flying is so not cool any more, so where were we?
36 AND JJC, just when l was thinking we were sisters lost at birth give or take a few years o well... plus jjc, dont be hating da playa luv, it'll give you wrinkles ;)

@deilah, l no know book o.

@omolola, sistren, cant take a joke? tut tut another 9ja asenine arsenality (btw break that word arsenal into 2, gerrit gerrit?) lol.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to burst ur bubble but you got ur profiling all wrong. Supporting Chelsea doesn't make u any different..most Nigerians support the top 4 of the top European leagues anyways and that makes y'all the same thing - anal?. How many Nigerian Hammers can u speak of for example?

@ugo daniels: So that means you lick 2 big @$$es uh?. Why not Fulham and Deportivo? and why is Henry one of your fav? Because he is a megastar?
Get over yourself already!

-Jibola

Anonymous said...

(can i call you) fums,
believe me, i have nuff respect for Henry and any black man who can survive in england not to talk of that racism mecca called france and come out on top. what i'm saying is he made his choice based on what's good for him and his family so why should we lose any sleep over it?

Anonymous said...

@ anonymous called Jibola...chill out now!

Funmi Iyanda said...

@jjc, l know, l know but all good for laughs et al abi?

@ poor anonymous jibola has a missing funny bone or is perhaps pmsing, if she be he then fasting and prayers are required. The whole article was written tongue in cheek.