This fight for equality does matter

Most mornings, I wake up early and sit up reading newspapers on my computer. My19-year-old roommate recently told me that depending on the sounds I make during that time – a sigh, a click, a grunt – she knows what kind of mood I’ll be in that day.

This Tuesday morning, I kept shaking my head yet I wasn’t even reading newspapers. I was scrolling through a resourceful group dubbed “Women’s Football Africa”  that incorporates seasoned journalists, activists, retired players and senior football officials from across the continent.

I felt both worried and disappointed by the fact that so much is happening with regards to women’s football in Africa, and nothing seems to be happening back home. You may not believe it, but Ghana’s female Under-20 team, the Black Princesses, hosted Morocco in an international friendly match on Thursday in Accra, and the game was streamed live!

Last Sunday, Bayelsa Queens of Nigeria were crowned 2020 champions of an eight-team tournament dubbed Flying Officer’s Cup held in Abuja. The next day, the South Sudan Football Association began the search for a new national senior women’s team coach as they move into a new phase of development in the women’s game.

That same day, the Zambia women’s national team coach Bruce Mwape named his final squad that will represent the country in two international friendly matches against Chile in Santiago this weekend.

A day later, Nigeria’s Women Football League (NWFL) chairperson Aisha Falode announced that there had been 100 per cent increase in the registration of clubs for the NWFL Championship, which is the Division One cadre of the women’s league, from four to eight. That’s when I started writing today’s column.

Like every sensible person, I appreciate the severe impact the pandemic has had especially on the economic front. Still, I will say this. It is unfair and immoral of us to continue neglecting the thousands of talented, passionate women footballers. I know of many gifted players who abandoned the game due to frustrations, and I know that many others are falling through the cracks right now.

I worry about how our federation’s nonchalance will disadvantage so many, and I am worried that the person who was elected to represent women’s issues is emerging to be a lame duck. I worry about the message that is being sent out, that women’s football is not just secondary. It is in fact a postscript.

But here’s what I’m not worried about. I am not worried about our commitment to fight for equality. I am not worried that our will to fight has been diminished. We engage in the fight against inequality not because it is easy or because we are confident of victory. We do it because it is right.

It might not be a consolation, but may everyone involved in this fight know one thing: Your efforts do matter.

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