Celebrating together in Abidjan's 'Nigerian Village'

There is no doubt in Sylvester Obinna's mind about who should lead Nigeria to victory at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

"My favorite player is Victor Osimhen," the 32-year-old said as he sits in the "Nigerian Village" in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city, watching the round-of-16 match between Morocco and South Africa.

The Nigerian Village, located on the university campus in Abidjan was set up by a group of Nigerian immigrants for the AFCON.

Sylvester is a die-hard supporter of the Super Eagles, the Nigerian national team – as are the majority of the 600 or so fans who have turned out this evening, when the air temperature still reaches 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) at 9 p.m. All of them and many more will be back when the Super Eagles face Angola in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Celebrating together with fans from home

"He (Osimhen) fights. He is a very rigid player. I believe many youths today are looking up to Osimhen." Sylvester said of Nigeria's top attacker, who was voted Africa's footballer of the year a few weeks ago.

"He is a role model for so many young people in Nigeria and even around the world."

Next to Sylvester stands his friend, Okafor Chinonso.

"What I love in the village is that football is a connecting factor," said the 34-year-old, who hails from southeast Nigeria and has lived in Abidjan since 2009.

Okafor wears an orange Ivory Coast jersey, which has a lot of meaning for him.

"I'm from Nigeria, but I feel African. My best friends are from Burkina Faso, Mali and a lot of them are from Ivory Coast," he said.

"The Nations Cup is like Christmas for us. So just like in Christmas or in other festive periods you don't stay at home. You want to go outside and see how the festivity of that period has got people happy."

The previous evening, Okafor and his friends were united in cheering on Ivory Coast in their match against Senegal. The Village was packed with 3,000 spectators who roared their support for the "Elephants" as the Ivorians pulled off an upset, eliminating the defending champions in a penalty shootout.

"We celebrated the victory together well into the night. That's why I still feel a bit tired today," Okafor said with a smile.

Promoting integration

The Nigerian Village has clearly been a success, as co-organizer Cynthia Chinwemdu confirmed.

"On some evenings, we could hardly keep up with the drinks deliveries. It's a lot of fun when this initiative is well received."

Cynthia, who has lived in Abidjan since 2018 and works as a teacher in a vocational school, came up with the idea for the Village.

"[The camp] is very important to us because this whole idea was to promote integration and diversity amongst the Nigerians living here," she said.

She also notes that there are around three million Nigerians living in Ivory Coast – accounting for around 10% of the country's population.

"It is very important for us to have this Village, where we can bring together Nigerians from far away that live in this country to come and enjoy the ambience," the 32-year-old explained.

Going it alone financially

Together with her team of around 15 organizers, she initially tried to get sponsors to help fund the project. Cell phone companies were contacted, as well as breweries and internationally networked banks, but none of them responded. This led the organizers to sink their own savings in the enterprise.

"This is a private initiative, we are not dependent on the government, but we are depending on the success of the Super Eagles to keep this place alive," added Cynthia, who says she is currently broke as a result of the project.

It hasn't been a simple endeavor in other ways either. In addition to the huge screen on which all the AFCON matches are broadcast, a series of tents has been erected around an oversized stage on which DJs and live artists perform before and after the matches.

Guests roll up their sleeves

To make it all work, many of the guests are only too willing to lend a hand. Okafor and Sylvester help by moving furniture – carrying chairs from the tent village to the area in front of the stage.

"We all want to help so that this four-week festival can continue," said Sylvester, who, like Cynthia, comes from Anambra State, one of Nigeria's most densely populated states in the southeast of the country.

Sylvester only watches football during major tournaments such as the AFCON and has no interest in domestic football back in Nigeria.

"I was only six years old when I moved to the Ivory Coast with my parents. To be honest, I don't know very much about Nigeria," he conceded.

Okafor though, does have a favorite club in his homeland – which he follows as best he can.

"I'm a fan of Enyimba FC, which is the biggest club in Nigeria," he said. "Unfortunately, I can't watch the games as they are never shown on TV (in Ivory Coast)."

This has led him to adopt a new club. "I've loved Manchester United for many years," he added.

"If Osimhen were to move to United, then I would be a happy man!"

This article was originally published in German.