Last Sunday was a painful one for Nigerian football. The Super Falcons were eliminated from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations by Cameroon in the quarterfinals, missing out on automatic qualification for the 2027 Women’s World Cup and leaving themselves with the playoff route to Brazil. We all remember how qualification playoffs treated the Super Eagles, so perhaps it is better to simply cross our fingers and hope history does not repeat itself.
As if that was not enough, the Flying Eagles were also handed a 4-1 defeat by Burkina Faso in the WAFU B U20 final, another result that did little to improve the mood of Nigerian football supporters. Yet, somewhere between all the disappointment, one piece of NPFL transfer news managed to drag my attention back to Aba. Former Enyimba captain Kalu Nweke had joined Shooting Stars.
The Oluyole Warriors have been extremely busy in the transfer market over the past few weeks. At this point, it almost feels as though they announce a new player every morning before breakfast. Their media team has also become quite creative with the announcements, regularly incorporating Ibadan’s history and culture into their presentations. There have naturally been departures as well, because with the number of players arriving, you begin to wonder whether Lekan Salami Stadium has suddenly developed additional dressing rooms.
But can you really blame them? Shooting Stars are preparing for Continental football after more than two decades away, and they appear to understand that getting to the top is difficult, but staying there is even harder. That is why the signing of Kalu Nweke makes plenty of sense.
Continental football demands more than talent. It requires experience, composure and players who understand how to remain calm when everything around them is falling apart. When a dressing room contains several new signings and younger players who may be experiencing African club football for the first time, someone has to provide stability when things become difficult. Shooting Stars looked at their squad, understood that requirement and decided that Enyimba’s former captain could provide exactly that.
Nweke has already travelled this road. He played for Rangers before joining Enyimba, wore the captain’s armband in Aba and experienced both the good and ugly sides of representing one of Nigeria’s biggest clubs. Whatever anyone thinks about how his time at Enyimba ended, nobody can pretend that he does not understand the pressures that come with playing for a club where expectations are permanently high.
And this is where that old saying becomes useful again: one man’s food is another man’s poison.
Nweke left Enyimba after a terrible season for the club, with his departure overshadowed by a very public disagreement over unpaid salaries. He spoke openly about what he believed he was owed, the club responded with its own version of events, WhatsApp conversations and payment claims became part of the discussion, and what should have remained an internal matter eventually played itself out before the public.
From the outside, it increasingly appeared that speaking up had made Nweke an uncomfortable figure around the club. Whether that was actually the reason behind the breakdown in the relationship is something only those involved can properly explain, but what we do know is that his career did not end because things went badly in Aba.
Shooting Stars looked at the same player and apparently saw something useful. They saw experience. They saw leadership. They saw someone who had been through difficult dressing rooms, title pressure and continental football, and believed that such a figure could help a team preparing for a demanding season.
And perhaps that is the part that hurts the most. Enyimba keep losing some of their best legs season after season, only to watch them become useful elsewhere. Players who should be forming the spine of the club disappear, replacements arrive, another rebuild begins, and we repeat the same cycle. What a sham we have become. A club that once attracted the best players in the country should not constantly be watching its most valuable assets strengthen its rivals.
That contrast should make Enyimba supporters think.
After completing his move to 3SC, Nweke said, “It is not the armband that makes the leader, it’s the standard and example we set.” That statement may have been directed at his new chapter, but it also perfectly describes one of the problems Enyimba must address if the club truly intends to rebuild.
Leadership is not about being the person who collects the captain’s armband before kickoff. It is not about standing in front during team photographs or being the first person to shake the referee’s hand. A captain must be someone his teammates can trust when the dressing room is uncomfortable, when salaries are delayed, when results are poor and when pressure begins to arrive from every direction.
A captain who cannot speak for his teammates is merely wearing an armband.
That does not mean every disagreement must become a public battle, and it certainly does not mean a captain should constantly be at war with management. But leadership requires judgement, courage and the willingness to represent the people inside the dressing room even when doing so may not be convenient.
Enyimba cannot demand strong leadership on the pitch while expecting complete silence everywhere else. The qualities that allow a captain to organise defenders, confront teammates, demand higher standards and refuse to accept mediocrity are usually the same qualities that make such a person willing to speak when something is wrong.
Perhaps that is exactly what Shooting Stars believe they have signed.
They are heading into a season that includes domestic football and continental competition, and there will inevitably be difficult moments. New players will need guidance, younger ones will need reassurance, and when results go badly, someone will need to remind the dressing room what is expected of them. Nweke may no longer be wearing Enyimba blue, but the qualities that once made him captain did not disappear simply because his relationship with the club ended badly.
For us, the lesson should go beyond one former player.
If the People’s Elephant truly intends to return to where it belongs, the club must understand that leadership cannot simply be appointed; it must be recognised and allowed to function. The armband should go to someone capable of maintaining standards, commanding respect and standing up for the badge and his teammates when circumstances demand it.
As we wait to discover who will captain us in the coming season, hopefully the responsibility goes to someone prepared to fight for the badge, the dressing room and the standards of the club, rather than simply someone considered convenient by those upstairs.
The armband does not create the leader. It only tells us who the club has chosen. What happens afterwards tells us whether we chose correctly.
EnyimbaEnyi
