By Awaal Gata
Despite the fact that the police and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) issued several warnings that the residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) should shun public football viewing centres during the ongoing World Cup, because such centres are among soft targets for terrorists, the residents are obviously not heeding.
Though no bomb blast had been reported from any viewing centre in the territory since the World Cup, which is still in the preliminary stage, started, the warnings have been corroborated by the blast that took off at a viewing centre in Yobe which killed 21 people, such centres in the FCT, especially the ones in the satellite towns are often brimmed with viewers whenever matches are being played, especially when there is a power outage.
When the Nigerian Super Eagles were playing the Dragons of Bosnia and Herzegovina between 11pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday, despite the fact that the match was timed in odd hours, the viewing centres were brimmed with people in Gwagwalada, Zuba, Kubwa Dei-Dei, and obviously, other parts of the territory would record the same feat.
Minutes before the match, heavy rain fell across the territory; the rain was followed by power outage in most of the areas.
“You know before the match, there was rain which made them take light; my generator is faulty, and I cannot afford to miss this match, so I took the risk to come and watch the match here,” a viewer, who pleaded for anonymity, told our correspondent at a viewing centre in Zuba after the end of the First Half.
Another viewer at the centre, Sani Mohammed, boastfully said: “I don’t mind, my brother. I have generator and TV at home but I prefer watching it in the public. In my house, I would be alone and there would be no debate; here, see people and we will debate, educating each other. Football is a stress killer for me, so I don’t mind”.
Unlike Mohammed, another viewer, who gave his name simply as Obinna, said the frequent black outs that have currently characterised most areas in the territory, as well as the unpredictability of the national television stations which ought to air the matches, cause the mad rush to the public view centres.
According to him, “almost everybody has TV sets in his house, despite the fact that it is not everybody that has satellite TVs. If light is always available and you can predict NTA, AIT, Channels and others who suppose to air the matches, nobody would go to the public to watch match, but unfortunately, the opposite is the case.”
Obinna added: “with your N50, you watch a match, instead of fueling gen and recharging Pay Tv for thousands of Naira for no gain.”
However, in his opinion, the manager of the centre, who doesn’t want his name in print for security reasons, tasked the police as well as the FCTA to rather provide security for the centres.
He said, “watching football in the viewing centres is one of the things Nigerians now enjoy a lot, considering that, the centres should be provided with security. If it were in other countries, they would have done so but here, they will just relax until it happens.”
He added: “Since you know the centres are a target, what security have you provided? Viewers supposed to see security agents as they watch matches”.
