MTN takes 9 Nigerians to Emirates for Arsenal-City match

MTN excites football fans at viewing centres in Lagos and Ibadan

Nine Nigerians, courtesy of MTN Nigeria, will be in the stands when Arsenal FC host Manchester City in an English Premiership match at the Emirates on Thursday night.

The Nigerians, all of them Arsenal fans, were picked from the lot that participated in an MTN Trip to Emirates competition. The competition involved subscribing to any two Arsenal services, doing a picture or video collage of their best moments from Arsenal games and posting same on the Instagram.

Speaking to journalists at the MTN Headquarters in Ikoyi, Lagos, last week, one of the winners who simply gave his name as Olateju, said that watching his team play live is a dream come true.

“For me, considering the length of support, it’s actually a dream come true for me to watch their [Arsenal’s] match live. I have been supporting Arsenal since I was 13 or 14 and the closest I have come is watching them on DStv,” Olateju, a civil servant, said.

Speaking on the competition, another winner, Ademola Baba, inferred that he decided to give the competition all seriousness which eventually culminated in his emergence as a winner.

“Whatever post you see, don’t see it as a joke, try to take it seriously. Try your luck, you can be a winner,” the banker said.

While speaking to journalists later, Rahul De, Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria said it was not the first time time MTN would be sponsoring Arsenal fans to the Emirates, neither would this be the last.

“This is not the first time we are sending fans to the Emirates. We have done it before. Last year we took some people to watch Arsenal. This year again we are sending, we’ll keep sending. The whole idea is to engage the people because football is very near and dear to everybody,” De told journalists.

On the decision that informed their choice of Arsenal, the MTN Chief Marketing Officer said that they found out that the Gunners share the company’s dream. “We figured that Arsenal is closer to the mission and vision we want to drive. We want to do something good for the people and something to make life brighter,” De added.

The Arsenal-Manchester City Premiership fixture is coming four days after both sides met in the final of the Carabao Cup at the Wembley Stadium, where Pep Guardiola’s charges emerged winners following their 3-0 victory over Arsene Wenger’s side.