NIGERIA: Moses Simon, a senior figure in the current Super Eagles squad who plays professional football for Paris FC in the French Ligue 1, is currently dominating the news. His recent explosive allegation of tribalism against Enugu Rangers – bluntly accusing them of denying him a professional contract early in his career simply because of his northern background – has ignited a fierce national conversation.
Speaking in an interview with the Urban Dwell Sport podcast, the diminutive winger recounted his experience. Though originally from the Idoma ethnic group in Benue State, Simon was born and raised in Kaduna. He claimed he spent three months on trial with Enugu Rangers, captaining the screening team and excelling on the pitch, only to be rejected because of his regional identity. According to Simon, the club chose instead to hand a professional contract to an Igbo player who had trained for only a single week.
Enugu Rangers’ management wasted no time in issuing a strong public statement denying the accusations. They insisted that Rangers is not a tribal club and that recruitment throughout its storied history has been based strictly on merit, character and on-field performance. While the club acknowledged the player’s right to share his career journey, they cautioned that such stories must be told with decorum.
While it is entirely within Simon’s rights to share his path to professional football, his comments touch on a deeply sensitive nerve. Religion and ethnicity already polarise Nigeria to a dangerous degree. It is the duty of every responsible and patriotic citizen to champion the few spaces that unite us rather than divide us.
Unfortunately, the Super Eagles star did not seem to weigh the collateral damage of his words on an already fragile national psyche. By claiming that Enugu Rangers rejected him for being a northerner, he has polarised public debate and projected systemic bias into the country’s most sacred, secular sanctuary: football.
Football has historically been the ultimate bridge across Nigeria’s deep religious and regional divides. Introducing ethnic accusations into this arena threatens the last remaining oasis of national cohesion.
This is precisely why Nigeria’s football fraternity must intervene. Simon’s comments have already weaponised standard North-South and ethnic-regional grievances, prompting defensive, toxic arguments across the social media.
If stakeholders fail to address this, the fallout will reinforce a damaging public narrative: that meritocracy is dead in Nigerian sports, and that opportunities are governed by nepotism rather than raw talents.
Such allegations do more than just paint regional clubs as biased gatekeepers. They breed a deeper systemic fear. Young, talented athletes following this saga may lose faith in national structures, believing their tribal or regional identity will inevitably cap their career growth, regardless of how hard they work.
It is already an open secret that many talented northern athletes prefer to remain in local leagues out of fear of discrimination elsewhere – a tragedy that often reduces immense potential to mere local stardom.
Yet, despite obvious managerial lapses in our local leagues, Nigerian clubs are generally remarkably liberal and non-discriminatory in their recruitment. Many Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) clubs in the North are heavily populated by southern players. Teams like Kano Pillars, Katsina United, El-Kanemi Warriors, Lobi Stars and Wikki Tourists regularly employ southern players, coaches and staff. Even Kano Pillars’ current head coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, is from the South.
While regional bias can never be entirely eradicated, talent and team need to remain the primary currency of the league. For instance, Flying Eagles head coach, Abdul Maikaba, a Kano native, previously served as the technical adviser of Enugu Rangers, while Rangers’ reigning top scorer, Godwin Obaje, hails from Kogi State.
While southern players moving North sometimes face initial cultural or religious adjustments, systematic exclusion from match-day squads based on ethnicity is virtually unheard of. If anything, non-indigenous players are occasionally given preferential treatment to ensure they feel welcome, sometimes even to the frustration of homegrown talents.
Even so, this trending controversy should serve as a wakeup call for sports federations and state institutions to institutionalise absolute transparency and accountability in talent scouting. If any clubs still harbour primordial sentiments in their operations, now is the time to dismantle them and ensure that Nigerian youths can build careers strictly on merit.
Yes, Moses Simon deserved a chance to recount the hardship of his early career; however, as a role model and mentor to thousands of aspiring young footballers, he should have been far more circumspect. Casual remarks from a player of his pedigree carry heavy national implications. Aspiring teenagers who look up to him may now fear venturing beyond their geopolitical zones, terrified of victimisation.
Super Eagles players are not just celebrities; they are powerful agents of national integration. At a time when Nigeria is searching for a common ground, we must collectively protect the beautiful game from being poisoned. Anything that threatens the unifying power of football must be firmly rejected. Successful athletes do well to remember that the unity of the green-and-white shirt must remain sacred, preserved at all costs for generations yet to come.
Ultimately, Simon and his peers must learn to look forward rather than dwell on the grievances of their formative years. It is a common irony that successful athletes often forget the mentors who lifted them up, choosing instead to focus their energy on the institutions and individuals who shut them out.
Having aired his struggles with the domestic game, Simon must now remember to celebrate and appreciate the many hands that supported him when he had nothing but his dreams.
Daily Trust
