“Everything is bad” – Brown Ideye calls for holistic restructuring in NPFL

By Wale Mustapha

Nigerian striker, Brown Ideye, has called for a major overhaul in the administration of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), citing several issues impacting the league’s overall quality.

The former Super Eagles forward, currently playing for Enyimba FC, expressed his dissatisfaction with the standard of the NPFL, particularly emphasizing the toll that the congested fixture schedule has had on the team’s recent performances.

“The system is getting worse, the league is not getting better, I feel like we have a long way to go in the league,” Ideye said.

“For me, I feel like my time at Enyimba has been wonderful, but there are a lot of things in the league that still need to improve.”

The striker, who joined the nine-time Nigerian champions in December 2024, pointed out several critical issues including inadequate travel arrangements, poor feeding, subpar hotel accommodations, and a lack of proper relaxation for players.

“In terms of traveling, feeding, hotels, and how the players relax—everything is bad,” Ideye remarked.

He also voiced concern about Nigeria’s readiness for continental football, suggesting that the country should focus on improving its domestic league before attempting to compete at the continental level.

“We Nigerians are not ready for continental football. We should put our house in order before we go play continental competitions, instead of going there to disgrace ourselves,” he added.

Since joining Enyimba, Ideye has scored two goals in five matches, but his frustrations with the state of the NPFL are clear. His comments reflect the urgent need for improvements within the league to ensure its growth and competitiveness on the continental stage.

Samuel Ahmadu

Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.

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