In June 2024, I was part of a football scouting trip to Kaduna, in northern Nigeria, where several football academies turned up with players who all had a dream of playing professional football in Europe.
There was no shortage of talent among the hundreds of players who played the tournament at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium. They had passion and energy. And they all had hope of being picked.
But there was something missing. The game is changing and European teams want players who understand tactical systems, not just those who can dribble or run fast.
One player met the criteria out of more than 150. This is the problem that Nigerian football faces.
One player met the criteria out of more than 150. This is the problem that Nigerian football faces.
An untapped goldmine
Nigeria has never had a talent problem. From the street pitches of Akure to the dusty fields of Kano, young boys and girls play football with a mix of joy, skill, and improvisation that has produced global icons like Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, John Obi Mikel, and, most recently, Victor Osimhen.
Yet, for every Osimhen who makes it to Europe, hundreds of equally gifted players fall through the cracks. The reason? A developmental gap that separates Nigerian football academies from the systems European clubs rely on to groom, evaluate, and export talent.
As the game becomes more global, Nigerian academies stand at a crossroads: either evolve into structured, data-driven talent incubators developing poorly-formed players.
Across the country, hundreds of football academies have sprung up in every major city. Many of these academies are driven by passion rather than profit, providing crucial access to training and competition for young players.
Training sessions often lack modern facilities, recovery programs, and tactical drills. Match footage and data, key tools for global scouts, are rarely available. Worse still, the absence of a well-organized youth league system means many players develop without consistent, competitive football.
The world of football is the worse for it
Victor Osimhen’s recent Champions League performances for Galatasaray have been the best advertisement for Nigerian footballers. His raw, tireless energy and eye for goal were all formed in Nigeria.
But he has been refined by the structures in place when he first moved to Europe at Wolfburg when he turned 18. He had further stints at Lille and Napoli, where I watched a few of his matches on the way to winning the Scudetto after three decades.
Osimhen’s rise shows us that there is more to the Nigerian football space that needs a deliberate structure in order to get the best. Nigeria can start with a competitive national youth league that combines data with talent scouting, better trained youth coaches, physical therapists and player welfare.
And I must add, proper playing facilities. A dearth of good playing places makes it difficult for talent to to shine when they arrive on proper pitches.
There is a lot of talent that falls through a poorly organised system. Unless Nigeria improves, the football world will continue to be denied an opportunity to see more Osimhens.
Unless Nigeria improves, the football world will continue to be denied an opportunity to see more Osimhens.
