I didn’t write a blog last week because I couldn’t. Kenya was in mourning following a terror attack and I had lost a colleague – a presenter on our East FM Radio station – so it wasn’t possible. It was a tough week for all Kenyans and it was touching to see that Africa was one with us. It was evident that many football fans put aside the football chatter and sent messages of support. Messages came through from people in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and many other African countries; mostly from people I didn’t even know. I thank you. Supersport online editor, Emeka Enyadike, and a fellow blogger here, Calvin Emeka, kept checking on the Kenyan crew and it was great to know that we weren’t alone. Thank you. I love football and I find a lot of solace in football. It’s often my escape when things get too tough but it still wasn’t easy celebrating the many great results – for me as an Arsenal fan – over the past 10 days or so. Arsenal has been glued to the top of the English Barclays Premier League with five out of six wins, while Manchester United have lost two league matches in a row. Manchester City were beaten by Aston Villa and the Spurs v Chelsea London derby ended in a draw. Uncharacteristically of Arsenal, they gained three points on a weekend when most results were in their favour. Liverpool, of course, spoiled the party for Arsenal fans by beating Sunderland but the Gunners are still at the top of the table. It was, however, tough to celebrate all the great results. Judging by the banter on social media, many of us were able to sneak away for 90 minutes at a time to find some solace in a game of football. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t feeling pain deep in my heart. I was feeling a lot of pain but I needed that football game for the sake of my sanity. Football has been used in many different ways to bring unity and joy to the world. We all read about the 1969 incident where a ceasefire was called in Nigeria for three days to allow Pele and his Santos club to play exhibition matches in Nigeria. Such is the power of football and I think we need to use it even more in times of conflict to bring peace. It’s interesting how Kenyans can vehemently and publicly disagree on a political issues, and over the last week there have been a lot of blame game antics going on among our leaders, but the minute a game of football comes onto the TV screens we forget our differences, if only for a moment. Whether you support Man United, Arsenal, Gor Mahia or AFC Leopards, the banter lightens and attention diverts to which manager is getting it wrong and which defenders are too old to still be playing in the BPL. I don’t ever want to forget what happened in Nairobi on Saturday, 21 September, but I’m grateful that, if only for two hours or so, I can find temporary solace in football.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 09:21:22 +0000
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