By Obiako Chris Okechukwu on May 20, 2026

When the curtain for the 2025/26 football season fell in Germany on Saturday, May 16, Bayern Munich came tops with a whopping 89 points, +86 goal difference and 122 goals scored. 36 out of the 122 strikes came off the boots of England captain, Harry Kane, who also emerged as the European Golden Shoe winner. To crown it all, the number one prize in the 2025/2026 Bundesliga season (MVP) went to Nigerian-born wing sensation, Michael Akpovie Olise. Also part of the title-winning squad was another Nigerian-born star, Jamal Musiala. It's pertinent to note here that this same Bayern side went all the way to the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL), losing to defending champions, PSG, by a goal margin.

Realistically, both players will represent France and Germany respectively in this year's FIFA World Cup Finals. In a bigger picture, Arsenal have been crowned the English Premier League (EPL) kings. Not done yet, when hostilities for the final match of the epic club tournament in world football (UCL) will go down in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30, three players who have Nigerian blood flowing in their veins will fly the flag of all-conquering London side. Whatever pans out on that historic day, Bukayo Temidayo Ayoyinka Saka, Eberechi Oluchi Eze and Chukwunonso Azuka 'Noni' Madueke would have written the name 'Nigeria' in the sands of time. All things being equal, the trio will be part of the England Senior National Team in this year's World Cup Finals. Aside the Bayern and Arsenal stars, scores of other prominent Nigerian players are making waves across the world. Italian Serie A champions, Inter, have ace defender, Manuel Obafemi Akanji, who will represent Switzerland, alongside Leeds United forward, Noah Arinzechukwu Okafor, at the 2026 Mundial. Borussia Dortmund forward, Carney Chibueze Chukwuemeka, has been named in Austria's World Cup-bound side. Nmecha brothers: Lukas Okechukwu and Felix Kalu of Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund respectively, are waiting on the wings to know if they'll be part of the Germany squad to the Mundial. Without mincing words, a closer look at the quality of players I mentioned in the piece made me start dreaming of what would have been. Imagine Olise, Eze, Saka, Musiala, Madueke, Akanji, Ugochukwu and Okafor lining up for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Am I the only one hallucinating on those lines? If only Nigeria's football administrators had put their house in order before approaching these players to beg them to swap nationalities.

 If only Saka will not be owed a backlog of allowances. If only Eze's flight ticket refund will not end in the domiciliary account of one NFF big wig. If only Olise will not be embarrassed by hotel officials for non payment of lodging fees during camping for qualifiers. If only Musiala's German passport will not get missing after a qualifying match. Whether we believe it or not, the refusal of top quality Nigerian-born players to represent our country stems from the treacherous antecedents of our past and present NFF officials. Take it or leave it!

WHAT IS THE FATE OF KIDNAPPED TALENTED FOOTBALL STAR? 

Everyday, we come across several Nigerians who, one way or the other, have traumatic tales to tell for being born in this part of the globe. Some of them are slaughtered, some are beheaded, some are maimed, some are displaced, some are missing, some have had their vital organs harvested, some have been maligned, some have been rendered homeless, some have been permanently incapacitated...the list is endless. Few years ago, to imagine that the football world will be visited by such malaise was unthinkable. But here we are, saddled with the inexplicable circumstances that led to the abduction of a talented football star, Rebecca Ihotu. Ihotu, a member of Pacesetters Queens Football Club, a team that campaigns in the Nigeria Women's Professional League, was abducted by gunmen along the Lagos-Benin Expressway. When Nigerians recall stories of how 'Nigeria happened to them', we wave it off as empty rhetoric. But when an innocent, defenceless lady is kidnapped, tortured, molested, and raped, while struggling to make ends meet, it sends the alarm bells in a country where suffering is even more devastating than the catastrophe itself. For too long, the Sports Ministry and NFF have operated without an effective mechanism to track clubs', players' as well as coaches' data. A visit to the Glass House in search of information on a national team player, National Team Coach or Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) clubs will leave you breathless and hopeless. Then, imagine when the information you desire is that of an ordinary player - a girl who plays for a women's team in Nigeria. Ihotu, by and large, is a Nigerian. Her fate must not vanish into statistical abstraction. The unimaginable tragedy that befell her MUST provoke action. Ibrahim Gusau's NFF must surpass the issuance of condolence messages with a more concrete system of intervention. Now, it is not about structural development, it's about heart. We must begin to feel again. We must see the pain of our fellow citizens as a collective wound.

Source DailySports Nigeria

Posted May 20, 2026

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