By Arinze CHIJIOKE
IN 2015, at the age of 12, Amobi Victor was selected with other players from his Junior Secondary School (JSS 1) in Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria, to represent Starplus Academy – a grassroots team in an under-13 football competition.
“My parents disagreed because they thought it would affect my academics. But after pressure from my coach, they allowed me. I made sure I maintained my grades while I played,” he said.
Juggling football and academics was not an easy task for him, but Victor was passionate. He went to school with his boots and jerseys and left after school to train. He did that for six years.
Upon graduation in 2021, he thought he needed a bigger challenge, so he went in search of football academies. In the same year, he travelled to Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, for trials at Family Worship Centre (FWC), a football academy.
After two months, he was not selected and returned to Enugu. There, his cousin, who was playing for Rangers International – the state’s football club at the time – told him about Angus Sports International Academy in Lagos.
“I went for another trial and passed and was enrolled into the academy, which had a connection with a Swedish club,” he said. “It was tough because I could not call my father to send money. I depended on friends for survival.”
After six months in the academy, the team folded up and Victor and his colleagues were sent home.
On his return to Enugu, he resumed training with a local team for a month, after which his cousin invited him for trials at the Rangers youth team.
“I had the opportunity to play and I was integrated into the junior team and played for six months. But I had an injury that affected my performance.”
Victor earned N10,000 monthly – about $6 – as a stipend.
Road to Success
In May 2023, a teammate from Rangers introduced him to Noble Academy, a local football academy located in the backwoods of Enugu State.
Noble Academy prides itself on offering opportunities to young and passionate footballers to achieve their dreams.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the academy, Chinedu Otugeme, had access to some clubs in Qatar that were looking for players at the time.
“He (Otugeme) told us that he could connect us and so I enrolled and started training with his boys,” Victor recalled, adding, “We played matches and he made videos of us which he usually sent to prospective clubs.”
Victor has played under different coaches, but he says Otugeme is more friendly, communicates well with his players and always wants the best for them. He says the coach allows everyone to be creative, albeit with some instructions.
The Qatar dream eventually failed, but Otugeme assured Victor and the other boys of more opportunities.
Six months later, another opportunity came up in Sierra Leone. Victor and seven other players went for trials. Before they left, the coach made calls and gave them numbers of whom to connect with on arrival. He took time to explain what they should expect.
Otugeme shared them among four clubs. After the trials, Victor and a goalkeeper were picked by Bhantal Football Club, where he currently plays.
Since he arrived in the West African country, Victor says Otugeme has not stopped checking up on him.
“Otugeme always listens whenever I face challenges and offers help, including financial,” Victor said. “His guidance, vision and transparency have taken me and others to where we are and it is the same story for other young players scattered across the continent pursuing their dreams.”
The Academy has different levels of registration for interested budding footballers. According to Otugeme, this depends on the level of services that a player requires.
While some of them register as student-players (that is, those within primary and secondary school ages), others register as intermediate players (that is, those who have finished secondary school and are willing to give the career a trial).
“We are also engaged in learning a skill while training. Some are registered as conventional players; they are players who come from their various houses and keep training with the team,” he says.
Regardless of the level, Otugeme says the academy is always committed to drilling the players into professionals who have gone to play in different countries.
Product of passion
Formally known as Noble Kids Football, Noble Academy began with street football back in 2005.
Otugeme wanted to use it as a platform to save kids on the Oraukwu Street in Abakpa Nike from negative social vices. He also wanted to foster unity among neighbours while also discovering and developing talents.
“We were training just there on the street before we moved to Housing Estate Primary School, Abakpa, as our training ground. As more people joined the team and we had more grownups, I brought in another individual to assist in coaching,” Otugeme said.
The team blossomed and became a force to reckon with in the locality, playing in several tournaments and friendly games until 2008, when Otugeme was admitted to study medical laboratory science at Ebonyi State university.
By early 2009, the academy stopped functioning due to a lack of organisation. All players left.
Otugeme revived the academy on his return to Enugu in 2015, starting by grooming a new set of boys. By 2017, it was registered with the Enugu State Grassroot Managers Association and became a recognised football academy in Enugu State.
The academy has used several training centres, including the National Grammar School Nike, Police Children School, and Abakpa Junction.
Otugeme later rented a training ground at Amokpo Nike, where he gives the players seasoned training and prepares them for the market.
Challenging venture
Otugeme says running the academy has been challenging, especially with no form of support, sponsorship or partnership either from government or private individuals. This is a common challenge for such academies in Nigeria.
“The country does not encourage individual efforts because an academy is like an industry that manufactures products which in turn will benefit the nation.
“A lot of the football stars you see today playing for the national team started from somewhere; someone gave time to coach, mentor, encourage and guide the players from childhood,” he says.
Also, there is the challenge of limited football fields, particularly in Enugu, says Otugeme. He explains that the only standard fields in the state are the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium (used by the state’s football club, Rangers), their training pitch at Liberty Estate and the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus temporary stadium.
“In an area like Abakpa, with over 10 football clubs and academies, there is no single standard pitch,” he says. “For optimum training for the players, an academy needs training equipment like balls, cones and bibs and all these things cost a lot of money.”
With no support from government or private individuals, he says the owner of an academy is left handicapped in providing adequate training and sometimes may be forced to depend on the players to raise money.
This reporter reached out to the commissioner for youth and sports in Enugu State, Lloyd Ekweremadu, who said that the government was committed to supporting football academies like Noble in the state. He said there would be the launch of a sports development fund law which will help to mobilise funding from the private sector for the provision of sports facilities and infrastructure in the state.
“In the interim, we have approved the remodelling, rehabilitation and modernisation of five parks across the state where pitches will be provided for football and academies can always come to train,” he said.
Noble Academy is not where it wants to be. But Otugeme says the academy has done well in different competitions, coming second in several of them across different categories (U10, U13, U15, U17 and free age) within Enugu and beyond.
“My major driving force is the realisation that I have a destiny to fulfil in paddling the lives of youths,” he says.
“I am also passionate to see young people succeed in a way that gives them joy.”