There is nothing Nigerian football fans love more than a shiny, new prodigy.
Show them a player in Europe, or anywhere else in the world, whose name sounds remotely Nigerian and an immediate battle cry goes up to have said player called up to the national team.
Whether that player is a foreign-born national with dual citizenship, or just another Nigerian who left the country unheralded and worked his way up to the top of a club, it matters little.
If that player happens to have had one or two good showings for his club, then the shrieks get even louder. And heaven help the coach if he so much as scores a goal. Welcome the next great saviour of the Super Eagles.
Nigeria have called up players from the diaspora from as far back as the days of Tunji Banjo in the 80s, through Efan Ekoku and Reuben Agboola in the 90s, then Abbey George in the early 2000s, and currently the likes of Victor Moses, Leon Balogun, Alex Iwobi, and William Troost-Ekong in the current squad.
Many of these players have excelled in the green and white strip, but the real legends of Nigerian football have been the homegrown variety: Segun Odegbami, Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi, Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Vincent Enyeama.
But in the last few years, and especially under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick, the NFF have developed an aggressive policy of scouting foreign-born talent and conscripting them into the Super Eagles.
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