The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Wikki Tourists people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
$33.0K was the most the club would pay and Enyimba were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“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 The request is on a desk at Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 18 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Ezema was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Haruna Aliyu has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Kano Pillars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Sadeeq Abubakar scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Kwara United, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The name of Mansur Barhama has come up in conversations Wikki Tourists were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad29 May 2028
Ifeanyi Ezema falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Michael Ogunjobi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutIfeanyi Ezema asks for a word with the manager
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Wikki Tourists rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Bayelsa United had no answer to any of it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.99 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A 3‑2 win over Bayelsa United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad22 May 2028
Ifeanyi Ezema falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ahmad Lamido has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Position 20, 13 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
16 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Aliyu Mamuda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Ezema was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Ezema was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 against Rangers International, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Ifeanyi Ezema falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Roh Sang-hyun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Apr 2028
6 new faces, and Wikki Tourists are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Position 20, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michael Ogunjobi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Aliyu Mamuda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Ezema was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Wikki Tourists told Kingsley Maduforo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Kingsley Maduforo had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Shooting Stars were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Wikki Tourists will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amiru Maidawa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Wikki Tourists told Isah Ndala something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Aliyu Abubakar’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Wikki Tourists needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Position 20 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sadeeq Abubakar and Wikki Tourists agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Ezema was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Lawal Shehu's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Wikki Tourists is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amiru Maidawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Josemar Sicuba is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Ezema was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad28 Feb 2028
10 new faces, and Wikki Tourists are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wikki Tourists lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Wikki Tourists had all but put away. Remo Stars will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matthew Etim and Wikki Tourists agree another 1 years.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Samuel Kalu is a Wikki Tourists player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Wikki Tourists asked and Remo Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Wikki Tourists lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Stephen Wisdom has just signed for Wikki Tourists, and for once the answer mattered.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Abdullahi Usman reports back to Wikki Tourists with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The deal with Kwara United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jimmy Ambrose is a Wikki Tourists player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kwara United have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Amiru Maidawa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Enyimba. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Chineme Chinonso is in the works
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Kano Pillars this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The deal with Remo Stars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Kano Pillars keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josemar Sicuba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Wikki Tourists asked and Remo Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Kwara United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josemar Sicuba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Michael Ogunjobi to a room that had heard them before.
Kano Pillars have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
In brief
Player ratingsAliyu Mamuda beats them one at a time
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Wikki Tourists people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ifeanyi Ezema and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.
Wikki Tourists asked and Remo Stars said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ezema is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Josemar Sicuba and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Wikki Tourists has been clear about where Isah Ndala stands, which is more than many ever get.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Josemar Sicuba has, at Wikki Tourists, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The shirt still fits. Josemar Sicuba is back at Wikki Tourists, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Wikki Tourists
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Josemar Sicuba and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michael Iwobi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ikechukwu Collins is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
BoardroomA promise the Wikki Tourists board did not keep
74Edition
The Wikki Tourists Herald
27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondentUneasy
The terraces27 Dec 2027
The mood at Wikki Tourists has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Wikki Tourists is running low.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sadeeq Abubakar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Wikki Tourists can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Roh Sang-hyun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sadeeq Abubakar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matthew Etim and Wikki Tourists agree another 1 years.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Matthew Etim is 38 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isah Ndala, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Ahmad Nafiu falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Haruna Aliyu is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Wikki Tourists, another week without a signature from Mansur Barhama.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ahmad Nafiu has written the date down.
Position 18 and 36 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alex Aghahowa and Wikki Tourists agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Wikki Tourists are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Wikki Tourists, another week without a signature from Aliyu Mamuda.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aliyu Abubakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sadeeq Abdulahi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aliyu Abubakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Haruna Aliyu is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Wikki Tourists will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Wikki Tourists says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aliyu Abubakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Roh Sang-hyun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Haruna Aliyu is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market8 Nov 2027
Aliyu Abubakar returns from a loan that gave him nothing
4 appearances and 1 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
In brief
The dugoutSimeon Habila has become a man the manager trusts
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Wikki Tourists is running low.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Aliyu Mamuda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Roh Sang-hyun and Wikki Tourists agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmad Nafiu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Haruna Aliyu was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sadeeq Abdulahi is on it.
In brief
MarketAliyu Abubakar returns from a loan that gave him nothing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sadeeq Abubakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Isah Ndala has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdullahi Usman trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Sadeeq Abdulahi plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sadeeq Abubakar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdullahi Usman's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Position 18 and 36 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hassan Musa and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmad Nafiu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmad Lamido trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wikki Tourists know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 36 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sadeeq Abubakar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Michael Ogunjobi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sadeeq Abubakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Shuaibu Ibrahim. 1‑0 against Katsina United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Chizoba Okoh and Wikki Tourists agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Simeon Habila falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Haruna Aliyu is on it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Bendel Insurance had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Michael Ogunjobi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Simeon Habila is on it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal that would have taken Abdullahi Usman to Kwara United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Wikki Tourists with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Wikki Tourists asked and Ikorodu City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sadeeq Abubakar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aliyu Mamuda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Wikki Tourists will try again when the window opens; Plateau United may not be selling by then.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Wikki Tourists are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Remo Stars is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
This is not rotation. Mahmood Aliyu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Wikki Tourists is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑1 to El-Kanemi Warriors, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Michael Ogunjobi left the room before anybody could ask which.
A loan enquiry to Rangers International: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to Bayelsa United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
In brief
The dugoutNaziru Auwalu asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kwara United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Wikki Tourists is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ahmad Lamido and Wikki Tourists agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A performance of 9.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Enyimba. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Michael Ogunjobi could afford to be generous.
Position 18 and 29 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Shuaibu Ibrahim provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
El-Kanemi Warriors wanted more than $37.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
A 3‑2 win over Shooting Stars, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Niger Tornadoes waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Wikki Tourists is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Sani Ibrahim and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Wikki Tourists asked and Ikorodu City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saifullahi Yusuf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Bayelsa United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Remo Stars. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Remo Stars, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to El-Kanemi Warriors this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Position 18 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Plateau United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Wikki Tourists offered $37.0K; El-Kanemi Warriors said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Katsina United have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Wikki Tourists people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Wikki Tourists and Warri Wolves have settled on $93.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Aliyu Mamuda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Michael Ogunjobi to a room that had heard them before.
A loan enquiry to Katsina United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Enyimba have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 2‑1 win over Barau, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Ahmad Lamido is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Wikki Tourists will try very hard not to make too much of it.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Ahmad Lamido
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Wikki Tourists they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The offer went to Abia Warriors this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo Stars have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saifullahi Yusuf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Ahmad Lamido, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Wikki Tourists offered $41.0K; Abia Warriors said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo Stars have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Nasarawa United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Michael Ogunjobi, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Wikki Tourists have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Position 19 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Rangers International kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Wikki Tourists will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmad Lamido did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer went to Abia Warriors this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rangers International have kept their man, and Wikki Tourists go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
10 combined actions and 6.77. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Isaac Chukwueze and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michael Ogunjobi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmad Lamido did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ahmad Lamido. 2‑1 against Kano Pillars, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ahmad Lamido has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Michael Ogunjobi could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutSani Ibrahim knocks on the manager's door
The dugoutSadeeq Abdulahi has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutAdamu Duguri is still being punished for one mistake
“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 Wikki Tourists, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Wikki Tourists may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Aliyu Mamuda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
7.68, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Wikki Tourists had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout24 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Michael Ogunjobi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Wikki Tourists can tell you which week it ends in.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saifullahi Yusuf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Katsina United left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Michael Ogunjobi left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
8 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sadeeq Abubakar commits to Wikki Tourists for another 4 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sani Ibrahim was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
Marked 4.74. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Position 18 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Ahmad Lamido, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.62
A mark of 7.62 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Wikki Tourists has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Michael Ogunjobi to a room that had heard them before.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Shooting Stars left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michael Ogunjobi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sadeeq Abdulahi is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 18 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abdullahi Usman is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 11. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Nasarawa United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Michael Ogunjobi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saifullahi Yusuf is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Michael Ogunjobi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Haruna Aliyu
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Haruna Aliyu has come out of that comparison in the side, and Wikki Tourists have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nasarawa United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
The dugoutBaggio has become a man the manager trusts
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wikki Tourists can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdullahi Usman has his answer from Wikki Tourists; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Wikki Tourists this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
In brief
The dugoutAhmad Lamido asks for a word with the manager
Sani Ibrahim was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abdullahi Usman is on it.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Remo Stars defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Rivers United next, and one man in the Wikki Tourists dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Shuaibu Ibrahim. 1‑0 against Barau, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Mahmood Aliyu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Michael Ogunjobi could afford to be generous.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Isaac Chukwueze is 15, and Wikki Tourists have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Michael Ogunjobi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Wikki Tourists close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Wikki Tourists had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at El-Kanemi Warriors, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Salisu Abdullahi and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michael Ogunjobi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Barau, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abdullahi Usman is on it.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Kwara United spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Chizoba Okoh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Rangers International. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Wikki Tourists have made the call to Ikorodu City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
0‑3 to Kano Pillars, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saifullahi Yusuf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ikorodu City have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wikki Tourists have done the hard part with Rivers United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Terem Madu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Abdullahi Balogun has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdullahi Ogunjobi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Ahmad Lamido was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdullahi Usman and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mansur Barhama is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Sani Ibrahim was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salisu Abdullahi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutAdamu Duguri asks for a word with the manager
17Edition
The Wikki Tourists Herald
23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondentSteady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saifullahi Yusuf and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
The dugoutAhmad Lamido knocks on the manager’s door
Ahmad Lamido and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Mansur Barhama’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
In brief
SquadMansur Barhama is training like a man with a point to make
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wikki Tourists have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ismaila Mayaki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abdullahi Usman is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chizoba Okoh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sani Ibrahim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutSadeeq Abdulahi has become a man the manager trusts
SquadSimeon Habila is training like a man with a point to make
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simeon Umeh and Wikki Tourists agree another 3 years.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Haruna Aliyu is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kabiru Abdullahi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 6.62 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Michael Ogunjobi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wikki Tourists, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Wikki Tourists will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wikki Tourists this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A mark of 7.70, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Michael Ogunjobi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aliyu Mamuda, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salisu Abdullahi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Aliyu Mamuda
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wikki Tourists will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sani Ibrahim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to Kun Khalifat, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Michael Ogunjobi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmad Lamido did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ahmad Lamido has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ismaila Mayaki was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Wikki Tourists have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wikki Tourists close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 7 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sani Ibrahim falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Shuaibu Ibrahim has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Saifullahi Yusuf and Wikki Tourists agree another 2 years.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abdullahi Usman is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wikki Tourists will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Baggio 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.
The deal with Barau is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
7 goals in one match, Simeon Umeh on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Wikki Tourists and El-Kanemi Warriors.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sadeeq Abdulahi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 2‑0 win over Rangers International, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Shuaibu Ibrahim will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Wikki Tourists escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Wikki Tourists scored in the 114th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simeon Habila did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Add another name to the list: El-Kanemi Warriors have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Baggio. The answer from Wikki Tourists has not changed — yet.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdullahi Usman did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Sani Ibrahim and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Wikki Tourists asked and Rivers United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdullahi Usman has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Shooting Stars left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Michael Ogunjobi to a room that had heard them before.
A loan enquiry to El-Kanemi Warriors: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Wikki Tourists scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Nasarawa United is saying, and nobody at Wikki Tourists is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alex Nwakali has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bright Babatunde has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Chukwueze Lawal has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Musa Sadiq has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Shuaibu Ibrahim was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Wikki Tourists training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sani Ibrahim is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Nasarawa United had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
A loan enquiry to Shooting Stars: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Nasarawa United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.