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Adarabioyo leads the list of Nigeria-eligible players who changed clubs on deadline day

AkinfeAyo — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 12:18:23 +0000

SEVERAL Nigeria-eligible players completed moves to new clubs on the last day of the transfer window yesterday in a development which Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle will no doubt be closely monitoring.

At 11pm last night, the Rnglish summer transfer window closed, with Tosin Adarabioyo, Jayden Meghoma, Honest Ahanor, Daniel Oyegoke, Kevin Zeroli, Ayodele Thomas, Oluwaseun Ogbemudia, Tim Iroegbunam and David Ozoh all completing moves to new clubs. Adarabioyo made the short journey from Chelsea to Tottenham Hotspur, signing a permanent deal with the north London club after making 70 appearances for the Blues in all competitions.

Brentford left-back Meghoma has joined Championship side Portsmouth on a season-long loan deal, his third loan stint away from the Bees, after previous spells at Preston North End and Rangers. Another player with a Brentford connection, Oyegoke completed a permanent transfer to Lincoln City from Serie B side Hellas Verona, where he spent 18 months.

Nigeria Football Federation target Ahanor will be spending the entirety of the season on loan at Crystal Palace. Super Eagles hopeful Ozoh has ended his 13-year association with Crystal Palace after signing a five-year deal with Derby County, marking his third spell with the club.

Semi Ajayi has a new Nigerian teammate at ambitious Premier League newcomers Hull City, following the club's capture of Tim Iroegbunam from Everton. Iroegbunam, 23, has signed a five-year contract with the Tigers, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2031.

Elsewhere, Ayodele Thomas has left Leipzig to join NEC Nijmegen on a permanent deal, while Oluwaseun Ogbemudia has joined third-tier club SV Waldhof Mannheim 07 on loan from Union Berlin. Italian giants AC Milan have loaned out Kevin Zeroli to Südtirol, with an option to acquire him permanently included in the agreement.

Were I a candidate in Nigeria’s forthcoming presidential election, this Arewa Economic Rejuvenation Programme would be one of my key manifesto pledges

AkinfeAyo — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:56:08 +0000

Ayo Akinfe

[1] By 2030, every one of the 19 states across northern Nigeria must generate enough revenue to at least meet their running costs

[2] Every state in northern Nigeria must be twinned with a state in the south as part of our education policy. By 2030, every northern state must match its southern twin in terms of literacy, secondary school leavers, graduates and post-graduates

[3] Every local government across northern Nigeria must have at least one technical college. We must aim for a 100% vocational skills target by 2030

[4] The Arewa Consultative Forum will support the construction of five mega cattle ranches in Borno, Kano, Adamawa, Niger and Zamfara States. The aim is to make Nigeria the world’s leading leather goods producer

[5] By 2030, every state in northern Nigeria must dismantle its sharia laws. These religious restrictions are very off-putting to foreign investors and only serve to perpetuate the economic gulf between the north and south of the country. No foreign investor is keen on going to a state where its male and female staff cannot associate freely

[6] An automatic and statutory fatwah will be placed on any state governor, commissioner, or public servant across northern Nigeria who appropriates a sum of N10m or more while in office

[7] Every northern state governor must attract a minimum of $1bn in Islamic finance investment annually. To facilitate this, an Arewa Sukuk Bank will be opened with its headquarters in Abuja

[8] Taraba State will be designated as Nigeria’s wildlife state. The aim is to make the state the world’s largest wildlife sanctuary that attracts as many tourist as say the Taj Mahal, the Giza Pyramid, Eiffel Tower or Niagara Falls

[9] Nigeria will commit to developing the economies of 19 states of the northern half of the country. At the moment, our politicians appear distracted by the lure of Abuja but all evidence shows that the more this happens, the more impoverished northern Nigeria becomes. Ideally we would advice placing a moratorium on northern Nigerians running for president until we bridge the economic gulf with the south

[10] Every state across northern Nigeria must specialise in one area of economic activity, be it tourism, power generation, manufacturing, food processing, etc. The aim is to ensure northern Nigeria matches the south in terms of generated revenue by 2035

ayoakinfe@gmail.com

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Super Eagles winger Azeez joins Brighton from Milwall in deadline day £15m deal

AkinfeAyo — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:53:58 +0000

SUPER Eagles winger Femi Azeez has joined English Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on transfer deadline day in a dramatic £15m move that will see him team up with compatriot Zadok Yohana who also joined the Seagulls this summer.

Azeez, 25, who had been plying his trade with English Championship side Milwall, enjoyed an impressive 2025/26 campaign, coming close to helping Millwall return to the Premier League. He scored 11 goals and provided seven assists across all competitions as Millwall reached the Championship playoff semi-finals before their journey was ended by Hull City.

Over recent weeks, there has been a lot of speculation about Azeez's future with clubs like Hull and Aston Villa all mentioned as possible destinations for him. Azeez, whose impressive performances got him a place in the PFA Championship Team of the Season, will join Brighton on an initial four-year contract, with the option of an additional season, in a deal that could potentially keep him at the club until the summer of 2031.

Apparently the £15m fee is made up of an initial £12.5m, with a further £2.5m in add-ons, representing a club record sale for Millwall, surpassing the fee Crystal Palace paid for young winger Romain Esse in the summer of 2024. Millwall have made a massive profit from the transfer, having signed Azeez from Reading for just £1m in 2024.

Azeez becomes Brighton's 11th signing of the summer, joining Nigerian youngster Yohanna, who arrived earlier in the transfer window from Swedish side AIK. Brighton have been strengthening their squad ahead of their return to European football and as they also look to compete for a high finish in the Premier League.

Details of Azeez's salary have not been officially disclosed. He is currently undergoing his medical at Brighton, with the whole transfer expected to be completed before the 11pm deadline tonight.

Internationally, Azeez also made his debut for the Super Eagles in London in May this year, scoring two goals for Nigeria in a victory over Zimbabwe in the Unity Cup. He now expects to play a major part in the plans of Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle as Nigeria gets set to prosecute the African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Whoever wins Nigeria’s next presidential election has got to make the naming of a manufacturing czar his immediate priority

AkinfeAyo — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:29:24 +0000

Ayo Akinfe

[1] I must confess that I for one have very little faith in these forthcoming elections. Nobody is debating policies, manifestos and ideas, so it is looking like the polls are not going to be about issues

[2] Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “A newborn government must dazzle and astonish.” If the new administration that assumes office next year wants to do this, it needs to tackle the urgent problems of insecurity, power supply and above all our limited manufacturing capacity

[3] We basically need three of our brightest sparks and most energetic beings in charge of these ministries. A day after the president-elect is announced, I would expect him to immediately appoint ministers for security, power supply and manufacturing

[4] I hate this Nazi but Albert Speer became Germany’s minister of armaments and munitions in 1942 and assumed significant responsibility for the war economy. He sped up the production of tanks, aircraft, submarines, assault rifles, anti-tank guns, etc in an unprecedented manner

[5] Speer placed a cap of 45 years on the managers of all armament factories. He then sought to step up mass-production in the German economy to enable it compete with the allies

[6] Among the positions Speer held were inspector-general of German roadways and the inspector-general for water and energy. He proved to be ambitious, unrelenting and ruthless. Speer set out to gain control not just of armaments production in the army but in the whole armed forces

[7] Speer was fêted at the time and in the post-war era, for performing an armaments miracle in which German war production dramatically increased. Nigeria needs someone who can perform such a manufacturing miracle in sectors like automobiles, TV sets, motorcycles, mobile phones, electric meters, transformers, etc

[8] In August 1943, Speer took control of most of Germany’s ministry of economics, to become, in Admiral Dönitz's words - Europe's economic dictator. Nigeria desperately needs such a person today as we need to grow our economy from around $400bn to say $1trn in about two years

[9] Just take security alone. One big problem our armed forces have is they have to wait for imported equipment. Most of this second hand equipment is getting obsolete anyway and we do not get the quantities we want at the time we want. Every serious nation must be able to manufacture its own defence equipment

[10] Albert Speer had some very unpalatable excesses which we should not copy but he knew how to increase production. It was befitting that he was jailed for 20 years in 1946 as punishment for his role as a leading Nazi but that does not negate his industrial development blueprints. I look forward to seeing Nigeria’s industrial blueprint

ayoakinfe@gmail.com
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Super Falcons fullback joins English WSL side Aston Villa from London City Lionesses

AkinfeAyo — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:01:56 +0000

ENGLISH Women's Super League (WSL) side Aston Villa have signed Nigerian fullback Rofiat Imuran from local rivals London City Lionesses on a three year contract ahead of the forthcoming 2026/27 season due to start next weekend.

Last season, Aston Villa Ladies finished the campaign in ninth position and as they start the new campaign away to Chelsea on Saturday, the team has decided to strengthen its side as it aspires to finish higher in the table. Imuran, 22, joined London City in 2024 after impressing with Nigeria at the 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup where the Falconets reached the quarter-finals.

Traditionally a leftback, Imuran was also part of the Super Falcons squad that made history by reaching the Round of 16 at the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. Nigeria were eventually knocked out by England in a 4-2 penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw in normal and extra time.

Before moving to England, Imuran began her professional career in France with Reims, where she spent two years with the French club between 2022 and 2024, making more than 30 appearances across all competitions. Aston Villa have officially confirmed Imuran’s arrival on a three-year contract, which will keep her at the club until 2029.

Imuran said: "I’m very excited to be here and I want to achieve a lot of things. It’s a big club with a lot of history and it has big ambitions and I want to be part of it.”

A modern attack-minded defender, Imuran becomes Villa's ninth arrival of the summer as coach Natalia Arroyo continues to strengthen her squad ahead of the new campaign. Imuran, whose contract is still subject to Home Office approval, will wear the number 22 shirt during the 2026/27 season.

I hope that President Tinubu’s visit to London involves a mini summit at Downing Street with new prime minister Andy Burnham where they agree something like this

AkinfeAyo — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:34:21 +0000

Ayo Akinfe

[1] At the moment, Nigeria is the UK’s fastest growing export market. We want to see this grow dramatically with an annual foreign direct investment (FDI) target of $1bn for British investors in Nigeria?

[2] According to Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) UK-Nigeria trade was worth £3.4bn as far back as 2016. President Tinubu should have a wish list demanding that this be boosted to around £50bn over the next five years. There are sectors like power, automobiles, railways, healthcare, etc where Britain has a lot of expertise that is badly needed in Nigeria

[3] Britain has one of the world’s largest wind farms in the North Sea. Why is the British government not pushing its investors to establish a similar project along Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline? President Tinubu should be asking for tax holidays and breaks to any British company that invests in the sector. We want to see an endless wall of wind turbines stretching for 800km from Badagry to Calabar

[4] Britain once used to have a thriving car manufacturing industry. Nigeria on the other hand desperately needs to start manufacturing automobiles at home to meet growing demand. President Tinubu and Prime Minister Burnham need to agree the locating of British car plants in Nigeria? Just imagine if we had Vauxhall and Leyland manufacturing facilities in Lagos and Abuja employing say 10,000 people each and churning out vehicles for the local market

[5] One of the reasons why the British automobile industry collapsed is because she did not expand it into her former colonies. In contrast, the likes of Volkswagen, Peugeot, Toyota, Nissan, etc moved into markets like Nigeria big time. Can Prime Minister Burnham turn this around, making Nigeria his major overseas market?

[6] Britain also owes Nigeria one big time when it comes to railways. They committed a crime against humanity when they built a narrow gauge track in Nigeria. Narrow gauge tracks are for intra-city trams or factory supply freight trains. Building a narrow gauge track from Lagos to Kano that runs at about 40km an hour is economic madness. They should be asked to compensate us for this with massive investment in the Nigerian railway sector

[7] Given the large number of Nigerians in the UK, it is increasingly becoming an important market for our food. As we speak, yam, egusi, gari, etc are widely available in UK supermarkets. President Tinubu should get Prime Minister Burnham to sign a trade deal guaranteeing Nigerian produce shelf space in every British retail outlet

[8] We have been talking about a national carrier for ages but alas, very little has been done about it. President Tinubu should be asking our former colonial masters to pledge that BA will take a 30% stake in Air Peace. They owe us one big time here as Britain left Nigeria with no airline. Also, Lagos to London is one of the most lucrative routes in the world and British airlines like Virgin and BA have made a fortune from it

[9] We have seen Britain recently unveil its ultra-modern Elizabeth Line. Can they please invest in a similar Lagos Underground Network to relieve the city of its congestion

[10] Can Britain invest in a Eurostar type of Lagos to Abuja high speed rail link?

ayoakinfe@gmail.com

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President Tinubu lands in London today as part of three-week European working holiday

AkinfeAyo — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 14:06:01 +0000

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has embarked upon a three-week holiday abroad in a surprise move that will see him arrive in London later on today as part of a tour expected to involve him to several European countries.

With Nigeria due to go to the polls next year, President Tinubu has spent the last two weeks putting his campaign team in place. It had been expected that this process will continue over the next few weeks as the president seeks to consolidate his position as the leading candidate, having been selected by his party the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stand in the election.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, issued a statement revealing that President Tinubu will depart from Abuja today for Europe and his first stop will be London, United Kingdom. According to the statement, President Tinubu is expected to return home after the working vacation to join the hectic campaigns for the January 2027 elections

Mr Onanuga described the trip as a working vacation, adding that the president is expected to return to Nigeria after the break. It is not yet clear how many countries the president will visit during the holiday but it is expected that he will pass through France at the very least as he has a good working relationship with President Emmanuel Macron.

As part of next year’s presidential election campaign, I would like to see our candidates come up with foreign policy pronouncements that offer the following

AkinfeAyo — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:55:57 +0000

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Our insecurity crisis has spiralled out of control. We need a whole mechanised division of the Nigerian Army trained into a commando unit of special forces up to the standards of say the US Navy Seals or British SAS. They must become the world’s leading force at hostage rescue. We have seen the rest of the world offer this to Ukraine, so there is no excuse for OECD industrialised nations not to do the same in Nigeria

[2] We need at least $10bn invested in cattle ranches, dairy plants, animal feed compounders and leather factories to address our chronic Fulani herdsman crisis. Again, we all see how the rest of the world is throwing money at Ukraine without an qualms

[3] Nigeria currently only generates 7,000MW of power compared with say Egypt’s 24,700MW and South Africa’s 58,000MW. We desperately need investment in this sector. We need the industrialised world to pledge an annual investment sum of at least $5bn in the sector

[4] Any supplier of finished goods who recieves a contract to supply any Nigerian government with finished goods in excess of $1m must commit to opening a manufacturing facility in the country. Failure to do so should be classified as money laundering

[5] All the pharmaceutical giants that have developed a Covid-19 vaccine must commit to opening a manufacturing plant in Nigeria to supply the African continent

[6] Governments of industrialised nations must offer automobile manufacturers generous tax rebates to encourage them to site their new generation of electric car factories in Nigeria

[7] Nigeria is the world’s major producer of at least 10 agricultural crops and is among the top 10 producers of about 50 other tropical products. Industrialised nations must offer their food processors export credits to come and open processing plants in Nigeria

[8] To industrialise, a nation needs power, crude oil, steel and manpower. Of all these areas, the one place where Nigeria is totally lacking is steel as we do not produce one tonne. As a matter of utter urgency, steel manufacturers must be offered tax rebates of up to 80% to locate to Nigeria as without it, we will remain perpetually under-developed

[9] All Nigeria’s foreign debts must be converted into investment grants. We have an annual infrastructural deficit of $100bn and a paltry budget of about $33bn, so simply cannot afford to be servicing loans. Basic arithmetic shows that our economy cannot accommodate paying all these foreign loans

[10] All G-7 nations must pledge to ensure that 10% of all investment by their industrialists comes to Africa as from 2030. To facilitate this, they must offer them a combination of tax rebates, export credits, green credits, relocation allowances, etc

ayoakinfe@gmail.com

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Kelechi leaves Barnsley for Cypriot side Pac Omonia where he will team up with Uzoho

AkinfeAyo — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 16:15:37 +0000

FORMER Golden Eaglets captain Kelechi Nwakali has left English League One side Barnsley and joined Cypriot First Division club Omonia 29is Maiou popularly known as Pac Omonia where he will team up with compatriot Francis Uzoho.

Nwakali, 28, joined Barnsley in August 2024 on a four year deal after stints in Spain that saw him unable to fulfil the potential he initially showed when he burst on to the scene as a teenager. Back in 2015, Nwakali took the world by storm when he helped Nigeria win the U17 Fifa World Cup, picking up the golden ball award in the process.

He was immediately signed by English Premier League side Arsenal and sent out on loan to several European clubs including MVV Maastricht and VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands and a Porto B in Portugal. On 2 September 2019, Nwakali joined Spanish Segunda División side SD Huesca on a three-year deal there too he failed to make the expected breakthrough as was the case with fellow Spanish second division side SD Ponferradina, who he joined on July 21 2022, and Primeira Liga side Chaves who he signed for on July 20 2023.

On August 12 2024, Nwakali returned to England, joining Barnsley in the third tier of English football for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal. This was seen as the big career revival move but things appear to have gone pear shaped again as he has agreed to terminate his contract with Barnsley with a year still left on his contract.

His transfer is subject to a routine medical, which is expected to take place in the coming days and if it is successful, Nwakali will sign a one-year contract keeping him at the club until the end of the 2026/27 season. He will be joined by Nigerian goalkeeper Uzoho, who joins the club from across town rivals Omonia Nicosia.

With the 2027 elections looming, I am surprised that the South East Governors Forum have not put together an ambitious retail-to-manufacturing conversation programme like this

AkinfeAyo — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 15:39:55 +0000

Ayo Akinfe

[1] It is no secret that the governors of Nigeria’s five states in the southeast geo-political zone are presiding over the plight of Nigeria’s most industrious group of people. However, this energy and ingenuity is being wasted in the highly-limited retail sector, when if unleashed into manufacturing could fetch Nigeria five or six manufacturing conglomerates

[2] A visit to Onitsha or Aba is all it will take to convince anyone that the raw energy and creativity to create dozens of Siemens’, Mitsubishi’s, Daewoo’s, Tata Industries, etc is there but this potential is not being properly harnessed. If we had the 25m people of the southeast geo-political zone engaged more in manufacturing than retailing, Nigeria’s economy would quadruple in size within 10 years

[3] Look at the gross domestic product (GDP) of the southeast- Anambra ($8bn), Enugu ($7bn), Abia ($6bn), Imo ($5.8bn) and Ebonyi ($3.4bn). They have a combined GDP of just $30.2bn which is peanuts compared with Lagos State’s $150bn. I ask how can Lagos State have a GDP that is five times the combined total of that of the entire southeast geo-political zone?

[4] For me, the answer is very straightforward. In Lagos, there is an enabling environment and conducive terrain for industrial growth to thrive and if we want to be honest with ourselves, such conditions do not exist in any of the other 35 states of Nigeria. In the southeast, the problem is that the emphasis is on becoming rich rather than manufacturing. Basically, we need to reset the thinking of the southeast businessman

[5] To address the matter, I want the South East Governors Forum to open a university of industry and commerce where retailers will be trained to think and act differently. The emphasis will be on getting them to manufacture all the products they sell

[6] Your Nnewi man imports automobile spare parts from China, your Orlu man buys malaria drugs from India and your Ohafia man buys clothing from Italy. They all retail them in large markets across Nigeria. What stops 500 of these retailers forming a cooperative that will open a factory to start manufacturing all their goods? They should also acquire patents, buy equity stakes in global giants and woo investors to open plants in Nigeria

[7] I would call this new institution the Louis Ojukwu University of Commerce and Industry. I would bring leading manufacturers from all over the world there to train our people on how to manufacture goods. Its slogan would be: “Anything we can sell, we can make.”

[8] This university would also train all these petty artisans on customer service. It will cut out all the current petulance where an automobile spare parts trader will threaten to slap his customers’ face for daring to haggle with him. Also, gone will be phrases like: “Nna, oga but you no talk say na original you wan buy di time wey you first come.”

[9] Apart from cooperatives being formed in each sector to create massive industrial manufacturing conglomerates, these retailers and artisans will also be trained to form smaller supply companies that manufacture component parts for the industrial giant. For instance, in the automobile sector, if we have a manufacturing giant called Ogbunigwe Motors, smaller businesses would be encouraged to manufacture windscreens, wipers, headlamps, leather seats, etc to supply it with

[10] I would expect the South East Governors to then float a Michael Okpara Industrial Development Bank to fund this project. It should have a role similar to the African Development Bank. If you recall, Eco Bank was set up by Ecowas to perform a similar function across West Africa.

ayoakinfe@gmail.com

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