NPFL U-17 finals and looming football resurgence in Nigeria

Not since the back-to-back success of Nigeria in 2013 and 2015 at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Chile respectively has the country achieved anything in the age cadre competition. Yet, this is one cadre that Nigeria not only won its maiden edition in 1985 but also won the 1993 edition, in addition to the aforementioned 2013 and 2015 editions.

Winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup has now become a tall order for Nigeria. Indeed, the situation has become so dire that qualification for the cadet tournament has proved utterly difficult, just as playing in it has given no hope.

The situation has not been assuring in the national U-20 cadre. In fact, assembling players for the team has proved a stumbling block. Little wonder, a competition where Nigeria had hitherto won bronze and silver at the FIFA level in 1985 and 1989 respectively has seemed a taboo for the country in recent years. A couple of times that Nigeria participated in it, a nightmarish experience endured for both the players and their coaches as well as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The national U-23 team has probably fared worse. Having won the Olympic gold medal at the Atlanta ’96 Games, qualification and performance became an uphill task thereafter and it took another 12 years for Nigeria to come close to winning the gold again at the Beijing edition in 2008. It would take another eight years at the Rio 2016 Games for the national U-23 team to clinch the bronze medal, followed by the lull that has followed with non-appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Games and the impending Paris 2024 Games.

Nor has even the Super Eagles fared better, although it can be said that the senior national team has recently come so close to winning the Africa Cup of Nations. But player recruitment to the team has over the years proved too chaotic for sustainable progress. After all, despite the latest AFCON silver-winning feat by the team, it nonetheless has shortly had a discomforting start in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, dropping four of the first six points and despite failing to appear at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, the team could still not be competitive to show improvement.

Importantly, the chaotic recruitment of players for Nigeria’s national teams – which causes the NFF to sometimes scamper to Europe looking for players that should readily be available in Nigeria – has made progress inconsistent and unsustainable in the national teams. Perhaps, through a unanimous agreement that something drastic has to be done, the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has launched the NPFL U-17 League to serve as a veritable factory for the production of players for all cadres of the national team. In practical and logical terms, this long-overdue initiative appears to be the biggest missing link in Nigeria’s football development that has now been found.

Taking the bull by its horns, as it were, the NPFL leadership of Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye is stopping at nothing to ensure that the cadet league serves its full purpose as a football factory for Nigeria. The zonal finals were held last month, whereupon Enugu Rangers, Remo Stars, Rivers United, Katsina United and Plateau United emerged to compete in the maiden national finals of the U-17 league starting on February 24 in Benin City.

Chairman of the NPFL’s Youth League, Chief Emeka Inyama, a proven administrator of over three decades, can be relied on to ensure a hitch-free maiden event; just as players from the five teams have expressed their desire to market their skills for the national team recruiters and other NPFL clubs that may require their services.

Two products of grassroots football in Nigeria and current Super Eagles’ stars, winger Samuel Chukwueze and goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, have also offered support and encouragement for the upcoming teenagers who are eager to launch themselves into stardom. In separate interviews, both players advised the rookies to stay focused to enable them to explore the world of possibilities that lie ahead of them.

It is certain that new talents will be unearthed during the week-long national finals in Benin City. But it is even more certain that the long-sought turnaround for football development in Nigeria is about to occur.