By Jacob Ajom

Exodus of whatever form didn’t start today. It actually started from Egypt in a central story in the Bible that tells of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery and their journey to the Promised Land.

Let’s bring it back closer home as it concerns Nigerian professional players who are nearing their retirement abroad.

Theirs is not a liberation from slavery but a decision to retire in their home league after their sojourns abroad.

This Exodus actually began with Super Eagles’ all-time top scorer, Rashidi Yekini who returned home to pitch tent with the Abiola Babes Football Club of Abeokuta.

At the time, the fan base of most Nigerian clubs had dwindled and teams played at almost empty stadia.
All roads led to Asero stadium in Abeokuta which served as home of Abiola Babes because Yekini returned home to play.

Many Youths who were too young when Yekini made waves with the Super Eagles as well as the other regular fans trooped in to catch a glimpse of the goal king.

This opened the doors for other players who had lost favour with their foreign clubs because of drop in form.

Feeling that their forms were still good for Nigerian clubs, they started coming home, not only to give back to the society that made them but help bring back the glory days of the league and add value to it.
Another big Super Eagles player who returned home to add value to the NPFL is the current non-playing captain of the national team, Ahmed Musa.

Though Kano fans are known to be crazy about football, the return of Musa has attracted some more fans to the Sani Abacha stadium.

Brown Ideye returns

And just recently, another player, Brown Ideye added to the list with his return to join Enyimba of Aba. He capped his return with a goal in Enyimba’s 4-1 Confederation Cup defeat of Black Bulls of Mozambique in Uyo a couple of days ago and also scored against Nasarawa Utd in the NPFL.

The return of Ideye and others could inspire more players abroad to follow suit, potentially boosting the league’s profile and competitive level.

The list of players who have returned to the NPFL is long and still counting.

One plea from most of the returnees and those who are still eyeing a return however, is that the playing surfaces in Nigeria should be improved upon to allow for good football that could be good on television.

That is the only way, they think, that sponsors could be attracted to the league. With huge funds from television rights, clubs would earn big money with which they could attract these Nigerian professional players willing to retire at home as well as other African players into the NPFL.

Before now, the Nigerian football league was treated like a leprous patient. Many footballers distanced themselves from it not minding that they used it to climb to other bigger clubs in their careers. It was an aversion to see players who have made it big in money and name turn back to play for the Nigerian football league. To them, it was lowering their esteem.

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is going through a resurgent phase of recent with the return of more former foreign-based footballers to the local league.

And as explained by the Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, Gbenga Elegbeleye; “the improvement in the league is enough to attract any professional player to play in the NPFL. First, we’ve provided security at all the stadia for the players, officials, referees and the fans. The referees exhibit highest standards in professionalism and it attests to clubs winning matches at away games. The Nigerian league is as attractive as any other league and we’re still work in progress with many innovations that make the NPFL top notch.”

Chief Alloy Chukwuemeka, former Executive Secretary, NPFL Club Owners Association of Nigeria and Director of Football, ABS FC, Ilorin said, “It is a welcome development and would definitely have a very big, positive impact on the league generally.”

In the same vein, former Real Madrid midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju said, “It’s a good development. It is good to see our players return from Europe and play in our league. It is a big plus for the domestic league. For instance it will rub off on the quality and standard of the league and it will present the home-based players a different experience playing alongside these returnee professionals.”

Former Super Eagles assistant coach and a fore-runner in the exodus of Nigerian players to Europe, Sylvanus Okpala concurred, “It is good for the league and will improve the league a lot and make it more competitive. It is a sign of progress. For both the coaches and the players, they have taken very good steps in the right direction, It is a good thing that they have decided to return home and trade their talents back home. I expect more of them to return.”

Mutiu Adepoju observed that the return of Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi has had a tremendous impact on the fortunes of Kano Pillars. Said he, “They have been big additions and big improvement to the team as Ahmed Musa, in particular, has been scoring freely and the players they are playing with will gain from their experience. Today Pillars are dreaded in the league.”

Mutiu added, “Kano Pillars have the biggest fan base in the league and hearing of Ahmed Musa’s return to the team will bring out more of the fans. Even fans of their away opponents, will troop out to the stadium because they want to see Ahmed Musa play.”

Chief Alloy Chukwuemeka agreed, “It brings confidence and enthusiasm to the entire system and helps in fan base development.

“The likes of Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi in Kano Pillars and Brown Ideye at Enyimba have been impactful even on the psych of team players.”

Mutiu added that the returnee players will strengthen the teams. “For instance, when they roll back their experiences after playing all over Europe, it will change the narrative for our league, especially fans turnout at match venues.”

In as much as the ex-internationals will like to return to the domestic league, is the system ready to embrace this positive development in terms of organisation, players welfare, timely payment of emoluments, officiating, etc? Will all this change as well?

“Again,” echoed Chief Chukwuemeka, “the presence of these ex-internationals will further help in ensuring best of organization and officiating because the league will want to aspire to meet the high standards comparable to where the players are coming from.”

Mutiu said, “Ready or not, I believe they(league organisers) have to change their mentality. They should be ready to embrace the positive change by way of organisation, officiating and administrative procedures. I believe the NPFL management and the clubs should be able to change their ways like payment of emoluments as at when due. The clubs must make provision for what will make these professionals comfortable and the NPFL on their part must play according to the rules.”

Sylvanus Okpala observed that the standard of officiating has improved remarkably. “What is going on now is much better than what we have had in the previous years.. Apart from during the years of late Obaseki, when we had good officiating, this is the second spell that I am witnessing good officiating after so many years.

“You know officiating affects the standard of play – where players, and even the coaches will not do their own job and will begin to look forward to help from referees. The situation is much better now. The many away wins we see now counts for good officiating. It was near impossible in the recent past to go away and win. This shows that there has been improvement in officiating.”

On the readiness of the league to embrace returnee ex-internationals, Okpala harped on facilities and up-to-date training equipment. Said he, “training is not all about coaching. The facilities or equipment must be relevant to training. The coaches too should know what they need.”

Okpala recalled that when he was with Rangers as their coach, he introduced many equipment that helped him, and the players achieve their target. “There was no gym where players develop their muscles, their thighs, the ankles, etc. There must be specific areas, you don’t just go and develop muscles like a weightlifter. No. You must have firm muscles both up and down- I mean the elbows, the upper arms, you must be trim and firm, like going shoulder-to-shoulder with an opponent, you must stand firm – like Osimhen, he looks trim and slim but firm; that is a creation of the gym.“

He said his successor who had not seen some of the equipment before discarded them, claiming that they were used by physiotherapists. “ He was not familiar with the equipment. They were only used to cones.”

The former Super Eagles assistant coach insisted that the standard of coaching must also be raised to match what the foreign-based pros have experienced abroad. “Yes, they have to match them as those of us who played abroad know most of these things. Every coach must have a coaching philosophy or concept. When you have a philosophy you also watch others and see what you can borrow from them to fit your own philosophy. In any system you are applying strategy is very important. You may go to coaching courses, continue to improve yourself but you must have a philosophy.”

Poor pitches

He also identified the poor quality of pitches as a major drawback in the domestic league. “That is the biggest problem at the moment. The best football is played on grass not on synthetic pitches.

“Unfortunately, all we have in Nigeria are artificial surfaces. You see even our clubs in continental competitions go to Uyo to play. Synthetic pitches are not good. Go to these pitches in the dry season the pitches are hot, the players’ boots are hot too. It is unfortunate. We must revert to grass pitches,” he said.

Another problem that may constitute a hindrance in the progressive march of the domestic league is the absence of television coverage. Mutiu Adepoju wondered, “I don’t know why we are not on TV but I believe if there is improvement suitors will come. I don’t know the issues surrounding why our league is not on television. I feel the NPFL should do everything possible to see that the league is on TV.” he said..
Okpala echoed, “The moment there is an improvement in our standard, improvement in tactical play and our teams begin to win in the continent television stations will come to you and ask that they want to show your matches.”

Okpala was asked why he could not play for any Nigerian team after retiring from Europe. “It was my dream to return and play for one or two seasons before hanging my boots. But I returned with a broken tibia. At the tail end of my career, I got an injury. I remember Y. Y. Kure was sent to Portugal with the late Yinka Craig who was his special Assistant. They came to see me just before the 1992 AFCON. They came in like today, I got injured the following day. If not for the injury, I would have been part of the 1992 Eagles.

“The team I would have liked to return to was Rangers, of course. I never played for any other club in Nigeria as an adult, except Rangers.”

Stanley Eguma is one of the most revered coaches in Nigeria. He’s a veteran coach who has handled many big clubs in Nigeria and won many trophies. Recently, he crossed over to Enyimba FC after tinkering Rivers United. His coming to the Aba Elephants has brought back sparkles of the Enyimba of old. Eguma also applauded the coming back of ex-internationals in joining hands to raise the standard of the League.

“To me, it’s a good omen. First, their presence will be a booster to the domestic league players here in Nigeria. Again, it’s also going to improve the quality and standard of the domestic league because, they’re seen as role models. They’re also going to inspire the other players in the team. Like now, in Enyimba, Brown Ideye’s presence is a plus to the team, their presence will no doubt, bring back fans to the stadium, it’s also a source of making profits for the teams, a kind of financial boost to the teams.

“Somebody like Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi playing for Kano Pillars always attract fans wherever they go to play with the team in the league, they (fans) come out to watch them live. Musa has captained the National team, Super Eagles and coming back to play in the domestic league helps to bring back that glamour and that enthusiasm in the fans associated with our league.

“Most importantly, it’s not good for them to end their career there in Europe, it’s good they come back here to end it, identify with their home teams before finally hanging their boots. It’s a big thing that you’re playing for your home team as a professional, getting identified with their home clubs before finally retiring from the game of football.

Ahmed Musa, Godfrey Oboabona

“Their presence will not deter the domestic league players from traveling abroad to play rather their presence will guide the younger players and help them in their career, enabling them to make good and informed choices of clubs to switch over to abroad. It will also help to guide them in their professional career and know how to manage themselves. In fact, it’s a plus to our local league players.

“Ahmed Musa, Godfrey Oboabona, Shehu Abdullahi, Brown Ideye, Emmanuel Daniel, Godwin Obaje, Sikiru Alimi, Ifeanyi Anaemena, and Junior Lokosa who made returns to the NPFL after years of playing abroad have become models while the local league was bleeding for lack of quality players.

“With the return of many ex-foreign-based footballers to the NPFL, the quality of the local league will certainly be improved; because ex-foreign-based footballers who have played in top international leagues bring a wealth of experience and technical skills that can raise the overall standard of the league.

“Besides, their presence will improve the level of competition, making matches more exciting for fans and more attractive to sponsors. In addition, these experienced players can also serve as mentors for younger Nigerian talents, helping them improve their game and professionalism.

“Moreover, there will be increase in the fan interest as a result of the return of notable foreign players, especially those who were once prominent in the global football scene, such as Ideye and Musa will naturally attract fans back to the stadiums.

“Davidson Owumi, the Chief Executive Officer of NPFL did not mince words when he said that it is expected that this new trend of foreign-based players’ return to the NPFL will strengthen football development in Nigeria. The return of ex-foreign footballers to the NPFL is certainly a game-changer. Not only will it elevate the quality of the league and attract more fans, but it will also boost Nigeria’s economy by generating increased commercial activity, job creation, and international visibility.

“I think by any standard, it’s a good development. It’s also a confirmation that we are doing something different and the way the league is going is kind of encouraging those outside to come back and have another spell or try before they’re set to go out again. Honestly, I think it’s a good development if we have all our players who are stranded abroad coming back to play in the league, it will make the local league more interesting and more competitive. I think, it will also earn us knowledge for the younger ones that will be playing alongside them.

“Apart from the knowledge, their presence will increase the spectatorship and fan base of the clubs. You can see what the presence of Ahmed Musa and Co is doing in the league, any centre they go to play, you will see a lot of fans coming to watch them. I think it’s very good for our league. People are beginning to identify with some of the stars. If you watch out, anywhere Kano Pillars are playing now a lot of people come out, they come out because of Musa and Shehu Abdullahi, now Brown Ideye is back to Enyimba, and this mid season, about four to five players are coming back to the league. I think it will encourage more fans to come out to watch and the fan base will be improved.

“Now, because they’re coming back, football is an entertainment event and the more attractions people get, the more money the clubs get and if companies see that Kano Pillars are playing, and the arena is jam-packed because of Musa and Co, they will want to put their money there. And that will enhance the players’ packages, and once you have more people coming into the league, players’ welfare will go up. Their wages too, will go up and technology will come into the game to administer it and immediately, our local league will rise in rating.”

Coaches, too

The coming back of ex-internationals to the NPFL is not limited to the players alone.

Established coaches who were outstanding during their playing days before taking coaching courses have joined in the new trend by picking up Nigerian clubs to coach.

Finidi George stands out as a shining example of success among former players turned coaches in the NPFL.

George was appointed as the head coach of Enyimba in 2021, and under his leadership, the team experienced a remarkable turnaround. In June 2023, George led Enyimba to win the NPFL title, marking a significant achievement in his managerial career. His triumph with Enyimba silenced critics who doubted his ability to transit from being a top player to a capable coach. Although his brief time as Nigeria’s national team coach did not yield the desired results, he has since established his technical prowess with Rivers United in the NPFL.

Another super star who has also joined ranks with a Nigerian club is coach Emmanuel Amuneke who has promised to help Heartland return to the top echelon of Nigeria football after the Naze millionaires were relegated to the lower rungs of the Nigeria National League. Amuneke who shone brightly for Barcelona FC in his playing days has also turned around the fortunes of Heartland FC with unknown players in his fold.

Together with Finidi, the duo have proved officials of Nigeria Football Federation wrong for overlooking them and instead pitching tent with Malian coach, Eric Sekou Chelle who neither had a distinguished playing career, now shown any outstanding coaching ability.

The stature of the Nigeria Premier League has also soared with such big names like Nwankwo Kanu as the Chairman of nine-time League champions, Enyimba FC and Daniel Amokachi known as “The Bull” for his strength and bullish playing style during his time with the Super Eagles, as Technical Adviser of Nasarawa United FC. Amokachi is presently with Lobi Stars of Makurdi.

Ike Shorumu, former Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer noted that; “it’s something good. We have been talking about this years back especially for the younger ones coming behind us that it will be nice for them if they want to retire, they should come back home and have another spell with our domestic clubs and translate the experience they have acquired into our domestic clubs and league. So this is what some of them are doing now. I have seen Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi with Kano Pillars and the new one now, Brown Ideye in Enyimba which is very good. The younger ones can learn from them, gain some things – experience from them too that will help them in their future.

There are lots of things their presence will benefit our domestic league in terms of the fans coming back to the stadium because they’ll like to see more of them in our domestic league. The media too will have more content to write about them and the league’s popularity will rise too. This, in return, can impress and attract some of the investors to come into the league and do something and it will be better for us too to enjoy our own league.

This hero’s homecoming to the place it all started for big players remain a common thing

for South American players. It’s always been a hero’s homecoming to the place it all started for them before they entered their twilight years.

After the 1974 season, Pelé retired from Brazilian club football although he continued to occasionally play for his childhood club Santos. Not only did Juan Sebastian Veron return to his boyhood club Estudiantes, he actually did it on three separate occasions.

Luis Suarez had an incredible career, scoring a bucket load of goals for the likes of Liverpool and Barcelona, he however rejoined his boyhood club Nacional in 2022. In typical Suarez fashion, though, it wasn’t quite the fairytale ending many expected it would be, and he made just 16 appearances for the side, scoring eight goals, before he left once again, this time joining Gremio in Brazil.

Carlos Tevez started and ended his career with Boca Juniors. The Argentine was a monster in front of goal.
Iconic Rivaldo joined Mogi Mirim, signing a deal that ran until 2015. His son Rivaldinho played for the club. Rivaldo had only made one league appearance for the club when he retired in July 2015.