Nigeria’s biggest goal threat in a generation isn’t the right man to wear the armband, according to a 1998 World Cup veteran who watched a sideline flare up at AFCON and didn’t like what he saw.
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Former Super Eagles midfielder Mutiu Adepoju has weighed in on the debate around Victor Osimhen’s suitability to captain Nigeria, arguing that the Galatasaray striker has not yet demonstrated the qualities required to lead the national team despite his standing as one of the country’s most influential modern players, as reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng.
The captaincy question emerged after long-serving leaders William Troost-Ekong and Ahmed Musa stepped away from international football ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, leaving head coach Eric Chelle to identify a new permanent armband holder for a squad still packed with experienced figures. Osimhen, as Nigeria’s most prominent attacking talent and a major presence in the dressing room, was widely viewed as one of the strongest candidates for the role.
Chelle’s Decision and Osimhen’s Limited Captaincy Spells
Ultimately, Chelle handed the captain’s armband to Wilfred Ndidi, with Osimhen and Moses Simon both named vice captains. Osimhen has still had opportunities to lead the team on the pitch, captaining Nigeria during AFCON matches against Uganda and Morocco whenever Ndidi was unavailable, giving him at least some taste of the responsibility even without holding the role permanently.
That arrangement has not stopped public debate over whether Osimhen should eventually inherit the armband on a more permanent basis, given his stature as Nigeria’s leading attacking force. Adepoju’s intervention adds a notable voice of caution to that conversation, coming from a player who represented Nigeria at the 1998 World Cup and understands the demands international captaincy places on a player beyond pure footballing ability.
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Adepoju’s Case: Leadership Is More Than Talent
Speaking on the matter, Adepoju argued that captaincy demands a fuller package than goalscoring instinct alone, pointing to playing quality, leadership ability, emotional control, and the capacity to unite a squad both on and off the pitch as the defining traits a captain needs. His central point was that a player who struggles to manage his own emotions or tolerate friction with teammates cannot effectively carry that kind of responsibility.
To illustrate his concerns, Adepoju referenced the reported on field disagreement between Osimhen and Ademola Lookman during the 2025 AFCON, suggesting Osimhen’s reaction in that moment fell short of what he expects from a leader. He noted that Lookman had actually set up two of Osimhen’s goals in that same match, making the friction between the pair all the more difficult to justify in his view. Adepoju’s broader argument was that such disagreements carry real risk, since both players could have faced disciplinary consequences on the pitch, and that any tension of that nature is better resolved away from the cameras inside the dressing room.
Despite his reservations, Adepoju was careful to acknowledge Osimhen’s genuine strengths as a player, describing him as a passionate and determined competitor who is always hungry to score. His broader message centred on discipline and composure being just as important as ability, particularly given the influence senior players have on younger generations watching from the sidelines.
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Osimhen’s Numbers Make the Debate Inevitable
Whatever the merits of Adepoju’s leadership concerns, Osimhen’s footballing case remains extraordinary. Since making his senior Super Eagles debut in June 2017, he has scored 35 goals in 46 appearances, making him Nigeria’s second-highest goalscorer in history and leaving him just two goals shy of Rashidi Yekini’s long-standing national record of 37. His international resume already includes an AFCON 2019 bronze medal, a runner up finish at AFCON 2023, and a productive AFCON 2025 campaign in which he contributed four goals and two assists.
Beyond the international stage, Osimhen was crowned African Footballer of the Year in 2023, finished eighth in that year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, and has been honoured domestically with Nigeria’s Member of the Federal Republic distinction. Numbers and accolades of that magnitude are precisely why the captaincy conversation keeps resurfacing, even with Ndidi currently holding the armband.
For now, Chelle’s structure of Ndidi as captain and Osimhen as one of two vice captains appears to be the federation’s preferred middle ground, giving the striker leadership exposure without placing the full weight of the armband on his shoulders just yet. Whether that changes before Nigeria’s next major tournament will likely depend on exactly the kind of composure and conduct Adepoju has called into question.
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📌 Did You Know?
- Mutiu Adepoju famously scored in Nigeria’s memorable 3-2 victory over Spain at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, a result that remains one of the most celebrated moments in Super Eagles World Cup history.
- Victor Osimhen’s 35 goals in 46 Super Eagles appearances give him one of the best goals per game ratios of any Nigerian international in the modern era, well above a goal every two matches.
- Rashidi Yekini’s national scoring record of 37 goals has stood since the 1990s, making Osimhen’s pursuit of the milestone one of the most closely watched individual stories in Super Eagles football.
- William Troost-Ekong, whose international retirement helped trigger the current captaincy debate, led Nigeria to the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations before stepping away from the national team setup.
- Osimhen’s eighth-place finish in the 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings made him the highest-placed Nigerian player in the prestigious individual award’s voting that year.
- Wilfred Ndidi, the current Super Eagles captain, has been a fixture in Nigeria’s midfield for nearly a decade, giving him significant seniority within the squad even before officially inheriting the armband.
- Ademola Lookman, whose on field exchange with Osimhen sparked the wider leadership discussion, was named African Footballer of the Year in 2024, meaning two of Nigeria’s most decorated recent individual award winners were involved in the incident Adepoju referenced.
