Nigeria, Football, and the Return of Lord Lugard

<jats:p>This qualitative research investigated the meaning of the European football leagues’ domination of the Nigerian football market. It finds that the media use a frame of “Nigeria as colony” to report football. In essence, the media interpret Europe as center of modern football and Nigeria as periphery. The study uses 2 methods: (a) a frame analysis of 2 daily sports newspapers, 1 national daily newspaper, and a satellite television sports channel and (b) in-depth interviews of 10 Nigerian football fans. Each complementary method helps confirm results obtained by the other. The frame analysis discovers 4 themes and the interviews found 5 related themes. Each theme logically links to the archetype frame of Nigeria as colony. The results of the study confirm valence framing, demonstrating the impact of the frame on Nigerian sports fans.</jats:p>