New Remo Stars head coach Olumide Ajibolade wants the club to keep its continental ambitions intact as they plot an immediate return to the top flight.
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Newly appointed Remo Stars head coach Olumide Ajibolade has declared that the club must continue to think and compete like one of Africa’s biggest football institutions as he begins life in charge ahead of the 2026/27 Nigeria National League season.
The former Beyond Limits FA coach has been entrusted with leading Remo Stars’ bid for an immediate return to the NPFL following the club’s relegation. Speaking after his appointment, Ajibolade described the opportunity as a huge honour and acknowledged the responsibility of leading one of Nigeria’s most ambitious football projects.
Keeping The Standards High Despite Relegation
“It’s an honour to be the coach of a great institution like Remo Stars in Nigeria,” he said. The new head coach admitted that expectations around the club may have shifted following relegation but insisted the achievements of the past should not be forgotten. “It might not be the best of expectations for the club now, but it doesn’t take away the excellence the club has recorded. It is a very big task to move the team into a prosperous future.”
Ajibolade emphasised that Remo Stars remain a club with continental ambitions and must maintain a highly competitive mentality both on and off the pitch. “The club is very ambitious. We want to position ourselves as a big club in Nigeria and Africa. On the pitch, we have to be super competitive and continue the level the team desires to be. We need to have an appetite for what the continent’s big teams are doing, and we have the facilities to reach that peak.” Fans following Remo Stars’ push for promotion can also check fixtures and offers via the Bet9ja promotions page. (Betting advertisement, 18+ only)
A Youth-Focused First Head Coach Role
The appointment marks Ajibolade’s first role as a head coach in the professional league after years of working extensively in youth football. “I have always been a youth coach, and for the first time I’m handling a team in the league. We need to continue to identify the best and most aggressive talents in the market and nurture the team with the best young players to suit the market,” he said, before appealing to the club’s supporters for unity and patience as the team embarks on a new chapter. “To the supporters, we need you and we will always need you. Keep supporting.”
Did You Know?
- Remo Stars are based in Ikenne, Ogun State, and are owned by Nigerian businessman Kunle Soname, the founder of Bet9ja.
- The club won their first-ever NPFL title in the 2024/25 season, becoming the first privately-owned club to top Nigeria’s summit since 1996.
- That triumph also made them the first South West-based club to win the Nigerian top flight since Julius Berger’s title win around two decades earlier.
- Winning the league earned Remo Stars a third consecutive appearance in the CAF Champions League, Africa’s premier club competition.
- Despite that success, Remo Stars were relegated from the NPFL at the end of the 2025/26 season, joining El Kanemi, Bayelsa United and Wikki Tourists in the drop to the second tier.
- The relegation was the third in the club’s history, following earlier drops from the top flight in 2017 and 2019.
- Owner Kunle Soname also owns Portuguese club CD Feirense, making him the first Nigerian to own a European football club when he acquired the side in 2015.
