Yes, folks at long last, we are now in 2013, having bade farewell to the year of a delicacy called ‘bonya’.
And I could not have started the New Year on a better note than what I experienced in Zingwangwa Township where I had gone to have my shoe mended. As I waited for the cobbler to work on the shoe, I decided to pass time by watching an English Premiership game between Manchester City and Stoke City on TV at one of the shacks patronised by EPL local faithful.
One of Stoke players is a French fella called Steven N’zonzi. And as the game progressed, he was shown taking a throw-in with his name ‘N’zonzi’ displayed at the back of his jersey.
Then I overheard a youngman called Wyson telling an old man who appeared to be his father saying: “Mwamuwona ameneyo ababa? Ndi mwana wapamudzi pompaja pa Sikisi Mayilosi, mdzukulu wa che Mataka, mwana wa Adzonzi koma wakulira ku Mangalande pano akutakata kwa azungu.”
I laughed my lungs out and it was a timely jazz to cheer my spirits on New Year’s Day. To Wyson, N’zonzi was actually ‘Dzonzi’. Maybe it was a mere wish that it is high time we started watching our own boys plying their trade in major leagues overseas.
So, what are my wishes for this year? Just like Wyson, I wish that Gabadinho or Gerald Phiri Jnr should make a big move and play for top clubs overseas and that will probably stop us from laying claim on the likes of N’zonzi (or is it ‘Dzonzi’?).
That my beloved Flames will revive their 2014 World Cup qualification campaign, which appears a tall order and that they will no longer struggle against minnows such as Eritrea.
I also pray that Flames coach Kinnah Phiri will not persuade wonderkid Gabadinho to skip JC examinations so that he should be available for national duty as was the case last year when he attempted to stop him from sitting for his terminal exams to play at the Cecafa Tusker Senior Challenge Cup by saying “simayeso yeni-yeni yameneyo.”
It is also my prayer that Kinnah will follow the national league with keen interest and at least know the leading scorer.
AOB: One of the reasons I like my Blues, Chelsea, is because they appreciate African talent. There was a time we had George Weah, who basks in the glory of being the only African to have won the Fifa World Footballer of the Year, then came the man himself Didier Drogba, who inspired them to their first Uefa Champions League glory and now we have Demba Baaaaa!!!
Be on the lookout guys. Chirombo cha m’mudzi chafika! And who knows? Next it could be mankhwala ophera nyerere ‘Gaba’ or indeed Gerald Jnr! Who said it cannot happen? To God be the glory! Uloliwe.. Uloliwe wayidudula hi..Nang’esiza! [The train is pushing!]
