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08-02-2024
Bureau Report + Agencies
ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST: As Nigeria and South Africa head into their semifinal at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Wednesday, there is much more at stake for both countries than a chance to play for the continent’s biggest football prize.
The final will undoubtedly be on the minds of players and fans alike, but the relationship between these two nations has long transcended football into a full-blown, multifaceted rivalry spanning economics, music and migration.
That rivalry was on full display on Monday after South African popstar Tyla was announced inaugural winner of the best African music performance at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles over four Nigerian acts.
There were taunts from South Africans on social media and clap backs from Nigerians, setting the stage for yet another chapter in the rivalry.
These two nations have long been intertwined on and off the pitch.
During South Africa’s struggles with apartheid, Nigeria’s pan-African stance was an important source of support for the African National Congress in its fight against minority white rule. Military aid, financial support and high-level diplomacy were employed by the Nigerian government to help the liberation efforts that culminated in Nelson Mandela’s election as the first Black president of South Africa in 1994.
Ironically, it was Mandela’s opposition to the Nigerian government over the killing of nine human rights activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, under then-military head of state Sani Abacha that sparked their football rivalry. Fresh from winning the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria were favourites to defend their crown in the 1996 edition, hosted in South Africa. However, Abacha announced a boycott of the tournament, citing concerns over the welfare of Nigeria’s players after Mandela’s criticism.
In the absence of the Super Eagles, the host nation won their first and to date only AFCON title on their debut. While it was a triumphal moment for South Africa, many were and still are of the view that had Nigeria competed, they would have retained their title, a view buttressed by Nigeria going on to win Olympic gold in football later that year.
When the two sides finally met in an AFCON setting in 2000, the 1994 champions made good on their pedigree. With a place in the final on the line, the Super Eagles coolly dispatched a Bafana Bafana side that had impressed to that point in the tournament. That was South Africa’s last appearance in the semifinals of the competition, until now.
Since 2014, Nigeria has mostly been Africa’s largest economy, displacing South Africa, which remains the continent’s most industrialized one. With both economies currently faltering, one commentator has called the match the “underperforming economies derby”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
