Marked for Nmecha Johnson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Abia Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Osahon Osoboh and Abia Warriors agree another 3 years.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Saturday Erimuya 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Abia Warriors can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
169% of the income goes out in wages at Abia Warriors
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Fatai Abdullahi
“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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Abia Warriors will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Match5 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Bayelsa United defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Abia Warriors will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Sunday Megwo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market10 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Abia Warriors, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nmecha Johnson and Abia Warriors agree another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.