A 70th-minute strike from Nwankwo Chigozie secured a 1-0 win over Akwa United that has lifted Abakaliki FC out of the NNL Conference B relegation zone with one round of fixtures to spare.
Abakaliki FC head coach Starplus Izuikem Anistar can breathe again. The Rice Boys’ 1-0 victory over Akwa United at the weekend has moved the Ebonyi State club to 25 points in Conference B of the Nigeria National League, enough to guarantee their NNL status for the 2026/27 season regardless of what happens in the final round. Man of the match Nwankwo Chigozie settled the tie with a composed finish 20 minutes from time, as reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng.
It was the kind of result that clubs at the bottom of the table spend weeks waiting for, and Anistar was candid about the weight it lifts. “It would have been bad if we had lost that game,” he told FootballInNigeria.com.ng. “We would have been battling relegation until the final match. We needed a win against Akwa United to be certain of remaining in a safe position going into the last game of the season away to Calabar Rovers.” NNL fans who want to follow the final round of fixtures and the title race in Nigeria’s second tier can use the Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code to get started on Nigeria’s leading sports betting platform.
Calabar Rovers Still Hold Fate in Their Hands
While Abakaliki FC are safe, the final fixture still carries significance in the battle above the dotted line. Calabar Rovers face two away games against Ekiti United and Sporting Lagos before hosting the Rice Boys in the season finale, meaning they need to pick up at least three points from those two fixtures before the curtain comes down.
Coach Anistar knows his side will head to Calabar under no pressure, but he also understands what a win there would mean for confidence heading into the off-season. “It will be a crucial game for Calabar Rovers against us, but it will depend on the outcome of their two away games before the match,” he said. The final round of NNL Conference B fixtures is scheduled for April 15, following a league body decision to push back the season-ending date.
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Anistar Eyes Stronger Squad for Next Season
Survival secured, Anistar is already thinking about building rather than simply surviving. He took over the Rice Boys after former head coach Ifeanyi Onyedika left the club just two games into the season, and the circumstances of his appointment did not leave him with much time to implement his own ideas. A full pre-season is now the priority.
“We will conduct a thorough screening and pre-season camping, bringing in young players and helping them understand our philosophy before the new season kicks off,” Anistar said. The focus on youth development aligns with the broader trend across Nigeria’s second division, where clubs that invest in scouting and structured academies are increasingly the ones who convert NNL survival into NPFL promotion challenges within two or three seasons.
📌 Did You Know?
- Abakaliki FC are known as the Rice Boys, a nickname drawn from Ebonyi State’s status as Nigeria’s leading rice-producing state.
- The Nigeria National League feeds directly into the NPFL through promotion play-offs at the end of each season, with the top teams from each conference competing for the available promotion spots.
- Akwa United, who lost to Abakaliki FC in this fixture, are one of the most decorated clubs in Nigerian league history, having won the NPFL title multiple times, though they have spent recent seasons in the NNL.
- The NNL’s Conference B system divides clubs by geopolitical zone, meaning clubs from the South-East and South-South compete in a separate pool from those in the North and South-West.
- Ifeanyi Onyedika, who was replaced by Anistar after just two games as coach, is a different individual from Raphael Onyedika, the Club Brugge midfielder who plays for the Super Eagles.
- Calabar Rovers are based in Cross River State and have historically been one of the strongest clubs from the South-South region in Nigeria’s lower league structure.
- The NNL 2025/26 season has seen record attendance at several grounds in the South-East, reflecting growing local interest in second-tier Nigerian club football.
