Funny Nicknames Nigerians Give Footballers

image source: espnfc.com

Nigerians are known to have a way with words if there use of the English language is anything to go by. The catchy phrases they use in daily life such as "face front" to mean "mind your own business" just goes to show how creative they can be in their communication.

There creative use of words is also extended to football which is a popular sport in the country. To highlight this, the following is a list of funny nicknames that they have given famous football personalities.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - C. Wahala/C. Okada. | "Wahala" means "trouble" in pidgin English whereas "okada" is the Nigerian equivalent of "boda boda".

2. Frank Ribery - Born Crying. | Most definitely it is in reference to the scar on his faces.

3. Petr Cech - Alakoto/Okadaman. | Alakoto means "helmet" whereas "okadaman is a bodaboda rider.

4. Dimitar Berbatov - Berbaslow/Baba Nwayo. | "Nwayo" means "slowly".

5. John Terry and Nemanja Vidic - Minister of Defence.

6. Patrice Evra and Jose Bosingwa - Bus Stop.

7. Xabi Alonso - Commissioner of passes.

8. Cesc Fabregas - Fabre-pass/Nokia (connecting people).

9. Didier Drogba - Dr. Ogba.

10. Ruud van Nistelrooij and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez - Food is ready. | Most definitely that is in reference to their poaching instinct.

11. Arsene Wenger - Baba Ijebu. | He is nicknamed in reference to the Ijebu people who are known to be very stingy.

12. Emmanuel Adebayor - Ade Bendel. | Ade Bendel is also the nickname of an alleged Nigerian fraudster known as Alumile Adedeji who is also wanted by Interpol.

13. Roy Keane - Chief of Army Staff.

14. Gennaro Gattuso - Generator. | In reference to his tirelessness.

15. Abou Diaby and Owen Hargreaves - Sick note. | With his injury record, you can understand why they call them so.

16. Carlos Tevez - Vampire.

17. Lionel Messi - Merciless.

18. Salomon Kalou - Barman. | Because of his shots hit the post.

19. Fernando Torres - 50 Kobo/50 Cent. | In reference to his decline after a 50 million-pound move to Chelsea from Liverpool.

20. Michael Essien - Industrial Battery.