As the 2024/25 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season came to an end, four clubs have officially qualified to represent the country at the continental level come the 2025/26 African Confederation football season.
At the end of NPFL week 36, Remo Stars and Rivers United qualified to represent Nigeria in the CAF Champions League. Abia Warriors and Ikorodu City, which placed third and fourth, respectively, on the log, have qualified to fly the country’s flag at the CAF Confederation League next season.
Remo Stars clinched the top position with 68 points after 36 matches, winning 21, drawing five, and losing 10, while Rivers United came second with 61 points, winning 17, drawing 10, and losing nine.
Kunle Soname founded Remo Stars in 2004 as FC Dender, and in 2010, the club, through hard work, got promoted to the second tier of Nigerian Football, the Nigeria National League (NNL), and was subsequently promoted to the enlisted into the Nigerian Premier League after promotion in 2016.
The club has top players such as Samuel Anakwe, Olamilekan Adedayo, Qudus Akanni, and Sodiq Ismail. Others include Ifeanyi Anaemena, Dela Akorli, and Stanley Joseph, among others, who can rule Africa next year.
Daniel Ogunmodede, a household name when it comes to coaching in Nigeria, has what it takes to rule Africa in the CAF Champions League with Remo Stars.
Rivers United was formed by the merger of Sharks F.C. and Dolphins F.C. in 2016. The club has remained in the top flight since its first season.
Some key players of Rivers United include Ibrahim Pius, Bamidele Adeniyi, John Akubueze and Emmanuel Ampiah. Others include Osagie Onisodumeya, Muyiwa Fehintola, and Taiwo Abdulrafiu.
With a veteran coach in the person of Finidi George, it is expected that the club will excel at the continental level.
Abia Warriors Football Club is based in the city of Umuahia, the capital of Abia State. It was founded in 1996 and has played in Nigeria’s top flight (NPFL) since 2013.
Some of the players making waves at Abia-based club include Emmanuel Uzoigwe, Emmanuel Ogbuagu, and Chinemerem Okike. Maxwell Kangeshima, Daniel Aghahowa, Ezekiel Ayodele, and Ijoma Desouza.
With Imama Amapakabo, the man who won the NPFL trophy for Rangers International, it is expected that Abia Warriors will do well at the continental competition.
Ikorodu City is a community club based in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State. The club plays in the first division of Nigeria’s football, the NPFL, where it finished fourth on the log.
Some key players for Ikorodu City F.C. include Uzochukwu Okekeaniokete, Tosin Oyedokun, David Nnachi, Samuel Ezekiel, Malik Afoke, Malik Anofi, Rivio Ayemwenre, and Kazeem Rahmon.
Nurudeen Aweroro’s experience in coaching is expected to see the team excel at the CAF Confederation Cup next season.
Friday Erhabor, a football enthusiast, is worried that Nigerian clubs have not been doing well on the continent, and expresses doubt over the ability of the four teams to make Nigeria proud in their various categories of competitions.
“Nigerian clubs have not been doing well in CAF competitions compared to back then in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the likes of Abiola Babes and Enyimba International used to rule the continent.
“Enyinmba won the CAF Champions League back to back. But now, I don’t expect so much, if any of them excel, I will be happy. But I don’t expect much from them,” he said.
Nigerian clubs in recent years have recorded dwindling performances at the continental level, with Enyimba’s semi-final finish at the CAF Confederation Cup 2018 being the height of success recorded since Sunshine Stars’ CAF Champions League semi-final finish in 2012.
Niger Tornadoes qualified to the continent as finalist of the Nigerian Aiteo cup but were sent packing from the confederation cup at the first round before they could even taste the competition, losing 4-5 on aggregate to Santoba FC of Guinea whereas Rangers International saw the end of their sojourn at the group stage.
Abdul Maikaba, head coach of Plateau United, attributed this to the inability of the clubs to retain their players after qualifications.
Maikaba, speaking in a Today 95.1 FM radio show, said, “After a club in Nigeria qualifies for a continental championship. That club will go for a total overhaul, thinking that the players who qualify the team for the continent cannot even do that job.
So they start thinking of bringing in players instead of identifying the grey areas they need to reinforce and do it as quickly as possible, and then go straight into preparation. I can remember in 2008. Kano Pillars were the champions of the league. Immediately after the league, they went on tour to South Africa to prepare the team, and they did not change most of the players. That took them up to the semi-final stage of the CAF Champions League.”
