Oke Kayode

Attacking Midfielder (C) - Bendel Insurance
27 Mar 2027
Saturday
Process
33 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Victor Torisheju is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bendel Insurance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

7 unbeaten for Bendel Insurance

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Bendel Insurance did not have in the autumn.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Julius Emiloju Junior

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

Back issues
29 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

5 matches without a win for Bendel Insurance

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Bendel Insurance are no longer polite ones.

Market

Victor Torisheju is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bendel Insurance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Onyia Henry gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

28 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Denis Chigozie hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bendel Insurance can pretend not to have heard.

Match

4 matches without a win for Bendel Insurance

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bendel Insurance are no longer polite ones.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Chisom Chikatara

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Niger Tornadoes are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Bendel Insurance will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Oke Kayode knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bendel Insurance, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Match

Bendel Insurance draw a blank against Kwara United

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Kwara United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

22 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Stanley Okorom out for 15 days

The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Stanley Okorom, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Boardroom

Wages eat 120% of everything Bendel Insurance earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Wisdom Udom

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

21 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Stanley Okorom says Bendel Insurance went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Israel Odedele

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Oke Kayode asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

17 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Anthony Cletus says Bendel Insurance went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Efa Enabulele gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Chidi Akuneto knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bendel Insurance, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

15 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Osas Okoro: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bendel Insurance have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Bendel Insurance lose Ebuka Okoro

112 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Emmanuel Ofori stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Emmanuel Ofori and Bendel Insurance agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

14 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Oke Kayode: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bendel Insurance have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Emmanuel Ofori signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Emmanuel Ofori commits to Bendel Insurance for another 4 years.

Boardroom

Wages eat 140% of everything Bendel Insurance earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

In brief

7 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

5 matches without a win for Bendel Insurance

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Bendel Insurance are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Oke Kayode gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

No goals between Bendel Insurance and El-Kanemi Warriors

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. El-Kanemi Warriors will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

2 Edition

The Bendel Insurance Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bendel Insurance lose Chidi Akuneto

34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

Promise Itoro is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bendel Insurance is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Ifeanyi Ezema signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ifeanyi Ezema commits to Bendel Insurance for another 3 years.

Squad

Oke Kayode gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

A bad afternoon for Bendel Insurance against Abia Warriors

0-1 to Abia Warriors, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

The clock runs on Oke Kayode's contract

48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.

In brief