Arsenal are Premier League champions again and for many Nigerian supporters, the title triumph feels like travelling back into a completely different era.
The Gunners officially ended their 22-year wait for the English league crown on Tuesday night after Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth, leaving Mikel Arteta’s side with an unassailable lead before the final weekend of the season.
Arsenal’s previous Premier League title came during the famous 2003/04 “Invincibles” season under Arsène Wenger, with the Gunners officially clinching the crown on April 25, 2004, after a 2-2 draw away to Tottenham Hotspur.
At the time, current Arsenal superstar Bukayo Saka had not yet turned three years old. The winger was born on September 5, 2001, meaning he was just two years and seven months old when Arsenal last celebrated a league title before this season’s triumph.
A younger Bukayo Saka (Ilustration)
Now, more than two decades later, Arsenal fans across Nigeria are celebrating another historic moment.
But Nigeria itself looks nothing like the country Arsenal supporters remember from 2004.
Back then, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was serving his second term as President, while Bola Ahmed Tinubu was Governor of Lagos State under the Alliance for Democracy.
The country was still adjusting to life after years of military rule, and democratic governance remained relatively young.
The retro Nokia 3310 (Illustration). Photocredit: Getty Images
Owning a Nokia 3310 or Nokia 2300 instantly elevated social status among young Nigerians, while GSM networks like MTN, Econet and NITEL were rapidly changing communication across the country.
SIM cards, which had once sold for nearly ₦50,000 shortly after GSM arrived in Nigeria, gradually became more affordable, dropping closer to ₦5,000 and ₦10,000.
Most Nigerians accessed the internet through cybercafés packed with noisy desktop computers, standing fans and generators humming outside buildings during constant power outages.
There was no WhatsApp, no TikTok, no Instagram and no X.
Yahoo Messenger was the social media king of the moment, while checking WAEC results online already felt revolutionary.
Fuel prices dominated national conversations even then.
Petrol reportedly sold for around ₦42 per liter earlier in 2004 before later increasing to roughly ₦65 amid heated deregulation debates.
Yet the naira remained relatively stable against the US dollar compared to today’s economy, trading around ₦130 to ₦135 per dollar.
University education was also dramatically cheaper.
At University of Lagos, returning students in Arts and Social Sciences reportedly paid around ₦3,500 in fees, while Science and Engineering students paid roughly ₦4,000.
On the football pitch, Nigeria was witnessing peak Jay-Jay Okocha.
The Super Eagles captain dazzled weekly in the Premier League with Bolton Wanderers while also inspiring Nigeria to a third-place finish at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
Jay Jay Okocha
Okocha finished the tournament as joint top scorer and was crowned the competition’s best player after another unforgettable campaign in national colours.
Nigerian entertainment was also entering one of its most iconic periods.
2Baba had just released the legendary album Face 2 Face, powered by the timeless hit “African Queen,” while groups like Plantation Boiz and Remedies dominated radio stations nationwide.
Families gathered around bulky CRT televisions to watch programms like Super Story, New Masquerade and the early rise of Africa Magic on DStv.
Nollywood films were sold mainly on VCDs, with stars such as Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Nkem Owoh dominating living room screens across the country.
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Transportation also painted a very different picture, Yellow danfo buses and molue vehicles ruled Lagos roads, while okadas freely operated on major highways before future restrictions.
There was no Uber, no Bolt and no BRT system yet. Interstate travel depended heavily on transport companies like ABC Transport; Young Shall Grow and Chisco.
Nigeria’s banking sector was also going through a revolution. Former Central Bank governor Charles Soludo announced a major banking recapitalization policy in 2004, forcing banks to raise their capital base from ₦2 billion to ₦25 billion.
The move triggered mergers across the country and reshaped Nigeria’s financial system permanently.
Still, banking remained completely physical. There were no banking apps or mobile transfers. Nigerians queued inside banking halls to fill withdrawal slips manually and cash cheques face to face.
Electricity shortages remained part of daily life under NEPA, which many Nigerians jokingly renamed “Never Expect Power Always.”
Yet despite the blackouts, long queues and economic uncertainty, 2004 carried a powerful sense of transition and optimism.
Now, 22 years later, Arsenal supporters are celebrating another league title in a Nigeria transformed by smartphones, online banking, streaming platforms, social media and digital culture.
Only one thing appears unchanged Arsenal fans still know how to wait painfully long for a title celebration.
