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Nurudeen Aweroro arrives in Kigali to begin Al-Hilal reserve-team role
Nigerian coach Nurudeen Aweroro has arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, to take up his new position with Sudanese club Al-Hilal after leaving Nigeria Premier Football League side Shooting Stars.
Aweroro has been appointed head coach of Al-Hilal’s reserve team and will also work within the club’s youth development structure.
He arrived in the Rwandan capital on Friday evening and was received by Captain Samual Mergani, an administrative official attached to the reserve team.
The move comes shortly after Aweroro’s departure from Shooting Stars, whom he led to third place in the 2025/26 NPFL campaign. That finish secured the Ibadan club’s return to continental competition for the first time in 27 years, with Shooting Stars qualifying for the CAF Confederation Cup.
Shooting Stars announced on 9 August that it had reached a mutual agreement with Aweroro, team manager Tammy Tamuno and assistant coach Shakiru Lawal to terminate their contracts with immediate effect.
The club thanked the three coaches for their work and recognised their contribution to the team’s third-place finish and qualification for continental football.
Aweroro later said he had expected to leave, explaining that the club’s management had decided he would not be able to meet the demands of managing the team through the new NPFL season and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The 2025/26 season was Aweroro’s only campaign in charge of Shooting Stars. NPFL records show that he spent 280 days at the club, overseeing 38 league matches in which his side recorded 18 wins, six draws and 14 defeats.
His appointment at Shooting Stars followed a successful period with Ikorodu City. Aweroro became interim head coach of the Lagos-based club in October 2024 before guiding the newly promoted team to fourth place in its first NPFL season.
He took over as Shooting Stars head coach in July 2025, succeeding Gbenga Ogunbote. The club cited his previous work with Remo Stars, MFM FC and Ikorodu City when making the appointment, while also pointing to his tactical organisation and ability to develop players.
At Al-Hilal, Aweroro’s immediate responsibility will be to oversee the club’s reserve players and contribute to the development of its youth teams. His role will include helping promising players progress towards the senior squad.
The appointment provides the Nigerian coach with an opportunity to continue his focus on player development in a new technical environment and to gain experience outside the Nigerian domestic league.
Aweroro’s arrival in Kigali begins his first assignment with Al-Hilal and follows a period in which he helped two Nigerian clubs achieve strong league finishes. His work with Ikorodu City helped establish the newly promoted side among the leading teams in its first NPFL campaign, while his subsequent season with Shooting Stars ended with continental qualification.
He now moves into a reserve-team and youth-development role as Al-Hilal prepares to benefit from his experience in tactical organisation, coaching and the progression of emerging players.