Sports

NPFL Youth League Players who enjoyed Breakout Season

Published

2 years ago

July 10, 2024

A major standout achievement in less than one year of the inauguration of the Board of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has been in organising of the NPFL Youth League.

Beyond successfully setting up the league in conjunction with the 20 member clubs, some products of the league have gone ahead to join the senior teams of their clubs while four were picked to represent Nigeria in the WAFU U-17 tournament held in Ghana The trio of Remo Stars U-17 team, Oreoluwa Agbenia, Muiz Oladimeji and Daniel Arierhi were invited alongside Rangers goalkeeper, Chinedu Chike by Coach Manu Garba to the team that failed to pick one of the zonal tickets for the 2024 AFCON U-17.

At the end of the NPFL U-17 Youth League which held from February 24 to March 3 this year in Benin City after the zonal qualifiers in Port Harcourt, Ado Ekiti, Enugu, Lafia and Kaduna, Rivers United Youth team emerged the champions. Some of the players who participated in the tournament went ahead to star for their senior teams in the 2023/24 NPFL season which ended on June 23. This report by the NPFL Media takes a look at some of those players.

In Akure, teenage sensation, Chinedu Nwosu, popularly called Nedu made waves with Sunshine Stars after Coach Kennedy Boboye gave him his first runout for the senior team on Matchday 35. The 17 year old pacey forward provided two assists in the defeat of Kano Pillars and Remo Stars would be holding him responsible for blunting their title push when on Matchday 37, he came in again as a substitute to net twice in Sunshine Stars triumph in the Southwest Derby. Nedu is a star on the rise.

The league’s runner-up, Remo Stars had three of their Youth League players moved up to the senior team. Centre back, Ahmed Akinyele made 28 appearances and netted five goals. Stanley Joseph, a right wing back played in 31 of Remo Stars games and had two goals to his name while Olisa Emmanuel sat out all the season as a senior team player.

There was little or no surprises when Rivers United Coach, Evans Ogenyi named the competitions lead scorer, Seiyefa Jackson in the senior team’s matchday squad against Sporting Lagos on May 26 and scoring seven minutes after his introduction as a substitute. Seiyefa would go on to play four more games for the former Nigerian champions.

Ogenyi demonstrated more faith in the youth players as four others who played alongside Seiyefa in the NPFL U-17 Youth League were also drafted into the senior squad.

In Rivers United match against Gombe United, U-17 Youth League Champions who made the cut included Kingdom Confidence, Ochobi Elias, Paul Junior, Oscar Ozornwanfor James and Seiyefa.
Nnamdi Igwillo, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the Enugu zonal qualifiers on Monday, July 1 put pen to paper for a professional contract with Rangers International, the NPFL champions. Before him, another graduate of the club’s youth team, Kenneth Igboke not only made it to the squad that clinched Rangers 8th NPFL title, he got called up for the Super Eagles World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic.

At Akwa United, two members of the Youth team, Nsikak Alloysius, a left back and offensive midfielder, Itoro Bassey were promoted to the senior team and made a number of appearances for the club in their successful fight to avoid relegation.

Taking stock of the accomplishment of the maiden edition of the Youth League, the NPFL Chairman, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye could not conceal his elation at how fast dividends accrued from what initially could have been considered an experiment.

“We have obviously met one of the cardinal objectives for initiating the Youth League for our Clubs in the NPFL, which is to assist the Football Federation and their Coaches scout for talents”, the NPFL Chairman told www.npfl.com.ng

This is verifiable as the national U-17 team selected four players from the league and there are a number of upgrades to senior club squads across the NPFL.

Still speaking on the idea behind the Youth League, Elegbeleye submitted, “the Youth League is a requirement of the NFF Club Licensing Regulations and the benefits are many, including providing the clubs a steady and ready replacement of ageing players and those who move away to ther clubs”.

Plans are afoot to organise camping for select members of the Youth League who would take part in some international youth tournaments in Africa and Europe.

Elegbeleye explained that the camping and tournament participation is to further improve the players for their clubs career development.

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

16 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.

Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.

In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.

The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.

At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.

According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.

“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.

Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.

He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.

The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.

He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.

“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.

Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.

The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.

According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.

The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.

It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.

The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.

He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.

“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.

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