Arsenal are officially the 2025/26 Premier League champions after ending a painful 22-year wait for the English title, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Gunners sealed the crown on Tuesday night after former champions Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth, leaving Mikel Arteta’s men with an unreachable four-point lead before the final round of matches.
It is Arsenal’s first league triumph since Arsène Wenger guided the famous “Invincibles” side to glory in 2004 without losing a single match. The new title is also Arsenal’s 14th top-flight crown and their fourth in the Premier League era.
After years of finishing behind Manchester City and Liverpool, Arsenal finally broke through this season by winning 25 of their 37 league games so far. The trophy presentation is expected during Sunday’s London derby against Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium, before the club travels to Budapest for a UEFA Champions League final showdown against Paris Saint-Germain on May 30.
The title has reopened memories for millions of Arsenal supporters in Nigeria of a completely different country from the one they know today.
What Nigeria looked like the last time Arsenal were champions
When Arsenal last finished top of English football in 2004, Nigeria was in the middle of a major transformation.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was serving his second term as President under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Bola Ahmed Tinubu was Governor of Lagos State and leading the opposition Alliance for Democracy (AD). That same year, Lagos and the Federal Government were locked in a major political battle over local government allocations.
Mobile phones were becoming symbols of status. Nigerians proudly carried Nokia 3310 and Nokia 2300 devices, while GSM networks such as MTN, Econet and NITEL were changing communication forever. SIM cards, which once cost nearly ₦50,000, had dropped closer to ₦5,000 and ₦10,000, finally making mobile phones more accessible to ordinary citizens.
There was no WhatsApp, no TikTok and no Instagram. To browse the internet or check WAEC results, people visited cybercafés filled with large desktop computers and noisy generators. Yahoo Messenger was the social platform of the moment.
Fuel prices also dominated national conversations. Petrol rose from about ₦42 per litre early in the year to around ₦65 by August during deregulation debates. Yet the naira remained relatively stable against the US dollar, trading around ₦130 to ₦135 per dollar.
At the University of Lagos, returning students in Arts and Social Sciences paid school fees of roughly ₦3,500, while Science and Engineering students paid around ₦4,000. Freshers paid between ₦22,500 and ₦24,000.
On the football pitch, Nigeria was being led by the magical Jay-Jay Okocha, who captained the Super Eagles and dazzled fans with Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League. Under coach Christian Chukwu, Nigeria finished third at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia, with Okocha winning the tournament’s MVP award and ending as joint-top scorer.
Away from football, Nigerian entertainment was entering a golden age.
2Baba had just released the album Face 2 Face, powered by the hit song “African Queen”, while groups like Remedies and Plantation Boiz dominated radio stations. DJ Jimmy Jatt ruled nightlife and street parties across Lagos.
Families gathered around heavy CRT televisions to watch Super Story, New Masquerade and the early days of Africa Magic on DStv. Nollywood films were sold mainly on VCDs, with stars like Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde and Nkem Owoh dominating screens across the country.
NEPA, Danfo buses and the banking revolution
Life in Nigeria in 2004 was also defined by long queues, unstable electricity and major economic reforms.
The banking sector was shaken in July when the Central Bank governor at the time Charles Soludo announced that all commercial banks had to raise their capital base from ₦2 billion to ₦25 billion.
The decision triggered panic mergers across the country. Nigeria moved from 89 mostly weak banks to 25 stronger mega-banks within months. There were no banking apps at the time. Nigerians still visited banking halls physically to cash cheques and fill withdrawal slips by hand.
Transportation was also very different. In Lagos, yellow Danfo buses and Molue buses controlled the roads, while okadas freely operated on major highways before later restrictions. There was no Uber, no Bolt and no BRT system yet. Nigerians travelling between states relied heavily on transport companies such as ABC Transport, Young Shall Grow and Chisco.
Nigeria Airways had already collapsed in 2003, leaving local airlines like Chanchangi and Albarka to dominate domestic travel while plans for Virgin Nigeria were beginning.
Healthcare reforms were slowly taking shape too. The National Health Insurance Scheme framework was introduced as Nigeria battled HIV/AIDS and malaria. At the same time, the country continued struggling with severe electricity shortages under NEPA, famously mocked by Nigerians as ‘Never Expect Power Always.'
Still, despite the blackouts and long queues, 2004 carried a strong feeling of hope and transition. Nigeria was leaving behind the military era and stepping into a fast-changing democratic and digital future.
Now, 22 years later, Arsenal supporters across Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt are celebrating another league title; this time in a Nigeria transformed by smartphones, streaming platforms, online banking and social media.
