As we enter the final two rounds of the 2025/26 NPFL season, the possible outcomes are beginning to take shape, and some could even be confirmed this weekend. That is why the league has directed simultaneous kickoffs across all venues, to preserve sporting fairness at a stage when every result carries extra weight. This is the point in the season when pressure rises, margins tighten, and every team begins to feel the full weight of what is at stake.
For Enyimba, last weekend’s 2-1 comeback win over Remo Stars in Aba brought huge relief. More than the three points, it restored some belief that this team can keep moving upward and avoid being dragged into the chaos that usually defines the final day of a relegation battle, where positions shift in real time with every goal scored across the country.
The next assignment, against Kwara United at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Onikan, is both strategic and symbolic for the People’s Elephant. It is the same city where Enyimba won their ninth and most recent league title in 2023 through the Super Six playoff finals. For Kwara United, though, Lagos is only an adopted home after their banishment from Ilorin because of crowd trouble. So whether the venue feels nostalgic for us or punitive for them, it offers no obvious advantage to either side. It is neutral ground. But if there is one thing history suggests, it is that Enyimba have often looked comfortable on Lagos turf when nobody truly owns it.
And Lagos has given Enyimba plenty of reasons to feel at home.
Over the last 25 years, four of our record nine league titles have been won in Nigeria’s commercial capital through playoff finals. The first came in 2001 at the old National Stadium in Surulere under Godwin Uwua. Six years later, Maurice Cooreman led Enyimba to a fifth title at Teslim Balogun Stadium. In 2019, Agege Stadium was the setting for an eighth crown under Usman Abdallah. Then in 2023, Finidi George’s side made it four out of four in Lagos, sealing a ninth league title. It is no exaggeration to say Lagos has been kind to Enyimba over the years.
There is also an interesting historical echo here, even if it comes in reverse. In the 2014/15 season, Enyimba faced Sunshine Stars in Lagos on the final day after the Akure side were also forced away from home. Back then, Enyimba had already wrapped up the title in the penultimate round and only needed to avoid spoiling the celebration. A goalless draw was enough to round off a title-winning campaign. This time, the circumstances are very different. Instead of fighting for the crown, Enyimba are fighting to secure survival. Instead of arriving in Lagos for a coronation, they arrive seeking safety. The similarity is there, but turned upside down.
That is why this game must be treated with the seriousness of a cup final.
It may not carry a trophy, but it carries enormous consequence. And the ingredients for success are not so different from those of a final on neutral ground: early and smooth arrival, a clear tactical plan, and visible support from the stands. These are areas Enyimba have used well in past big occasions. Fittingly, three of the club’s four Federation Cup triumphs also came in Lagos, against Sharks in 2009, Warri Wolves in 2013, and Dolphins in 2014, all at Teslim Balogun Stadium. If Lagos has so often served as a city of silverware and satisfaction for Enyimba, then securing topflight status there would add another meaningful line to that history.
The players, coaches, and everyone around the team must understand the weight of this moment. This is not a match to approach casually. It is an opportunity, and it should be attacked with the urgency, discipline, and mentality of a final.
And for Enyimba supporters in Lagos, this is your call too.
Show up for your boys. Let us do it again.
Enyimba Enyi!
