Ekene, at the Verge of Football Stardom

Ekene Edwin Jr.

Following our success with Super Eagles and Leicester City star, Ahmed Musa back in 2007, the city of Jos has continued to look up to us to bring the spotlight on to a player that finds form. The most recent is Ekene Edwin Jr. 

Ekene is with The Way Forward Academy, a team that trains at the Polo Field, in the city of Jos. The sixteen-year-old, who has been sensationally dubbed the new John Mikel, boasts of high speed, an enduring stamina, and a workable combination of both legs that enables him to play at both wings. He also has the ability to play as an attacking and central defense. 

Ekene says he is ready for any club that comes his way, at home or abroad.

We Have Many More David Abwos

Whether Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ahmed Musa or Mikel Obi, all football superstars come from grass root clubs. There are hundreds of thousands of grass root clubs around the world. Many of them, however, remain unheard of as long as they have not been able to produce a star.

Weyi (left) and Kwa (right). Picture source: Yiro Abari

In the mid-seventies, a club by the name of Volcano Babes emerged from the town of Miango in Plateau State, Nigeria. It was named after the volcanic hills that greet one arriving the town. Later, younger members of the club pulled out and formed another club by the name of Forest. The name, Forest, came from the forest just after the volcanic hills. Since the formation of Forest in the 1980s it was unable to produce a star beyond the boundaries of the town until David Solomon Abwo emerged from it in 1999. To become fully known, David went through JC Raiders of Jos, Niger Tornadoes of Minna, and Enyimba of Aba. Currently, he plays for Giresunspor of Turkey. While at Niger Tornadoes he was invited to the Nigerian Under-20 squad. The team went to as far as the runners-up in the FIFA Under-20 football tournament, Holland 2005.

It is the rise of Abwo that called the attention of Forest handlers to the reality that the club, as indistinct as it is, has the capacity to produce a star of Abwo’s caliber. Knowing this, the club started keeping an eye on its players with the hope of producing others like Abwo.  Right now, the coaches at Forest feel that they now have not just a player but two that can rise to the height to which Abwo has risen. John Weyi and Rozhi Kwa are two players the coaches strongly feel have the quality.

“Isn’t it possible that a good player would always find a club?” I asked coach Sunday Witeh, who also mentored Abwo.

“In a place like Nigeria, the prospect may not always there,” Witeh told me.

Witeh went on to tell me that even Abwo needed some kind of bridge to walk to where he now finds himself. This he found in the former member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Lumumba Dah Adeh. Adeh on becoming a member of the National Assembly founded JC Raiders with the primary aim of helping boys from Miango town where he also hails.  JC Raiders played at a lower rung of the Nigerian Football League but was able to bring Abwo to the noticed of Nigerian football administrators, finding his way to Niger Tornadoes. 

Right now, with JC Raiders defunct, Witeh strongly feels that all that his two boys need is another ladder on which to climb to the sky. At the moment, he says, he is looking up to Abwo himself. He has been trying to reach him but it is just that when one rises to that height there are always a lot of issues in his mind. For now, he is the only hope they have, and pray he would find time to look in their direction, while they also seek help from anywhere they can find.

Ahmed Musa Reunites with the Grassroots

Ahmed Musa was in town, the suburb of Bukuru in Jos, where he was born, raised and learnt football. He had trained at the muddy pitch of Aminci Football Club, his grassroots club, in the morning and was scheduled to come back for the evening session. We heard this and all gathered, waiting to see the guy that has made the town of Jos very proud with legs that unleash slug. The training was a special one meant to honor him. All players were unusually serious.

He was schedule to come later, when the training was already in progress, a mark of respect. So we waited... three local journalists, kids and unemployed youths who often spend their free time watching free football. I did not notice when a black Range Rover jeep arrived but noticed it when it was about to leave. It was clear that a personage had just arrived. I could see children crowding around an individual and looked critically to see that the star had arrived. He appeared so simple he makes you doubt if he is that guy that used to generate confusion in the goal mouth of opponents. He wore a black T-shirt and Super Eagles green shorts and prevented his aids from driving away children who crowded him.

After exchanging pleasantries, signing autographs and taking photos with fans, it was time for us the journalists. Musa talked about playing in the English Premiership League, saying that it is the dream of every Nigerian footballer to play in the Barclays Premiership League and his own position regarding that isn’t different. He said that he is aware that he is still young. The implication is that he has so many years of active football ahead of him and that playing in Russia is satisfactory but also provides an opportunity to be noticed by bigger clubs, a lot of which are in England. The star said that even though he is a fan of Arsenal, it does not mean that he must necessarily play for Arsenal alone as football these days is also about the money. He is going to wait and pray for the right time and the right club that destiny brings.

Musa referred to playing in the Champions League as a dream come true that also afforded him the chance to meet his favorite player, Christiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid with whom he had a photograph.

Football fans will recall that Ahmed Musa joined the Nigerian Senior National team, The Super Eagles under Coach Samson Siasia who was eventually sacked when we could not make it to the Nations Cup. Siaisa was replaced by former national team captain, Stephen Keshi. Musa told us that his fortunes had remained the same under the different coaches. Siaisa, according to Musa, kept encouraging him, telling him that he’s got what it takes and can play anywhere around the world. With Keshi, it is the same thing, he says. Keshi has continued to encourage him to help him bring out his best.

Musa expressed disappointment with the inability of the Super Eagles to qualify to play in the last Nations Cup. He said that one of his immediate dreams is to play in the Nations Cup and as such he was devastated when the national team failed to qualify for Africa’s premier football tournament. This time, he says, he believes they are going to qualify. Already, he says, they earned a point when they played a 2-2 draw with the Liberian National Team and sees no reason why they will not defeat the Liberians in the return leg in Calabar.

In the past, Nigerian footballers like Julius Aghahowa had frustrating times playing in Russia because of severe low temperatures. Ahmed Musa said that though the weather in Moscow is colder than in Jos where he comes from, it has not posed any treat or frustration to his career over there. As a matter of fact he is enjoying playing in Russia and looks forward to even better days there. 

Also waiting to be discovered.