At the Kenya-Nigeria football match. CC image courtesy of Lukas Bergstrom on flickr.
The rivalry between Kenyans and Nigerians that began in March following the mistreatment of the Harambee Stars in Nigeria has been reignited on Twitter, with the return match to be played in Nairobi today.
According to the top trends on Twitter, #SomeoneTellNigeria is the sixth most discussed issue by Kenyans, although not in a similar magnitude as to the days ahead of the match in Nigeria earlier this year.
According to data from research startup Opinion Yetu in March the war of words hit a peak of 6,021 mentions from Kenya on the eve of the match and continued days after the match until it was quelled by news of the death of Nigerian author Chinua Achebe.
The last exchange of words was picked up by major media around the world.
In the new war, currently being fuelled from the Kenyan side, the exchange of words is purely teasing, with Kenyans enjoying the Nigerian way of life and products.
Nigerians on twitter are not Nigerians because they are #NOT #SomeoneTellNigeria
— Abel kandie (@Abelito_kandy) June 5, 2013
#SomeoneTellNigeria that Eagles have NEVER reached where Stars are.
— Syombua Mwele (@SyombuaMwele) June 4, 2013
#someonetellkenya Nigerians don’t play their football in twitter sphere; we’ll see you on the pitch!!
— Paul Oga-Okwoche (@inntrooder) June 5, 2013
The match will be streamed live online, which is expected to boost mentions on Twitter further.
