The Technical Adviser of Sokoto United FC of Sokoto, Peter Ejugwu Ajeni in an interview with The VoiceSports’ Terfa Alaghga has said that it was an error for the government to own football clubs. He also said his dream was to be one of the best coaches in Nigeria in future.
Excerpts
VoiceSports: When did you start playing football?
Peter Ajeni: I started playing football at a very tender age in Abuja, but it was not with the intention of playing it up to the professional level but it was just for fun and to enjoy my childhood and youthfulness. That was why I did not play it for a very long time and went into coaching.
VoiceSports: But did you play up to the secondary school level?
Peter Ajeni: I played up to the secondary school level and even played in the All Secondary Schools Games but it might interest you to know that I took to local coaching while I was still in the junior secondary school at the Government Secondary School Jukwei in Abuja.
VoiceSports : How did this miracle happen?
Peter Ajeni: The miracle happened in April, 2009 in Abuja, when a group of young football players approached me for assistance and guidance in a tournament they were preparing for. They narrated a story to me on why they could not participate in a tournament they had registered for, because after contributing money and giving it to their coach, he diverted it for his personal use.
VoiceSports : Did you accept the offer to assist and guide them?
Peter Ajeni: Yes I did, I was still in secondary school by then but I took up the responsibility and to my greatest surprise, I led the U – 11 team to play in the semifinals of the tournament even when I had no prior knowledge in coaching. The following year in 2010 during the Easter break, I again took the team to play in the same Jukwei U – 11 tournament and we won. After emerging victorious in the tournament, I started developing the interest in coaching, believing that I could make an impact in the profession. I was still playing active football with the Calvary FC of Abuja under Coaches Clifford Iyang and Ezendu Okey Lawrence. These two great human beings encouraged me and I learned a lot from them in terms of leadership and when they heard that I won a tournament, they were really marvelled and it was the knowledge that I garnered from them that I employed in managing the little children. In 2011, the Calvary FC I was playing for also won a tournament. That was when I decided to call it quits with playing active football.
VoiceSports : Was it because you were playing football only for fun?
Peter Ajeni: Of course it was the reason, and because I also discovered that the kids I was tutoring, were more interested in what I was doing for them and interestingly too, every kid in the neighbourhood started coming to watch our training programmes and even those who were passing by, became more interested in how I was handling their age mates and they started indicating their interests in coming to join the team. That was when and how my coaching career was born, in 2009, although, not yet certificated.
VoiceSports : What would you say was really your motive for accepting to be their coach for the Jukwei Tournament?
Peter Ajeni: My main motive was to use it as an avenue where I would assemble and train the kids to achieve their academic pursuit. It was not really to train them to take football as their first priority. To achieve this purpose, I decided that setting up a football academy would be the best option where I would engage them meaningfully and also take them away from social vices.
VoiceSports: What quickly came to your mind when you decided that setting up a Football Academy was the best option?
Peter Ajeni: I quickly started carrying out research and reading books to know more about the setting up of a Football Academy and its rules of engagement online, in order to be sure if I was on the right path to what I started. By so doing, I came across a material that really broadened my knowledge on academic football and it made me to understand that grassroots football is all about development in all ramifications, one of which is academics where I discovered that in the grassroots, academics come first before the football itself. That was when I decided to set up an Academy and named it the Samba Soccer Academy. Immediately it became operational, parents started enrolling their children and they began seeing positive changes in the lives of the children who were in the academy. The children became well-disciplined such that when a child misbehaved at home the parents would bring him to me hoping that he would learn manners and be disciplined as others.
VoiceSports : Was the Academy moulding the kids as you intended?
Peter Ajeni: Very well. The Academy became a standard where characters were moulded, morals were taught and discipline was instilled in the kids. It was organised in a manner that before a child was enrolled, his parents must present his academic results to assess if the child was doing well in school or not, if football would not distract him from performing well in school and the parents must come with a letter of consent showing that they agreed to the kind of discipline that their children were receiving as well as to officially hand over their kids to me. I also gave the parents my condition for accepting their kids and which was, in the course of playing football and their child became distracted from performing well in school, he would be withdrawn from the Academy. They all accepted the condition. Activities in the Academy became very competitive for the children to balance their academic work with playing football and 95 percent of the students started doing well in school. As at that time, the Samba Academy was the only standard Academy in that axis of the Jukwei area where even some of my secondary school classmates were in the Academy. I had to draft a strategy to balance friendship with work and when we were in school, we operated as friends but at the Academy, I was in charge.
VoiceSports : Did you achieve the goal of academic excellence for the kids?
Peter Ajeni: Absolutely. I made sure that those who graduated from secondary school, registered for JAMB, to proceed to the higher institution because I was always advising them that they could be University graduates and still play football to greater heights. To the glory of God, I’ve been able to achieve this goal and as we speak, out of the students that started the Academy with me in 2009, 17 of them are now graduates from different universities in the country. Some of them continued playing football after graduating from the University, like Isa Mohammed who now plays for Enyimba International FC of Aba, Idris Pastor who graduated from the Bayero University Kano, is now playing professional football in Albania and a host of others. At least, the goal was achieved and that is why I am proud of myself today because they are doing well and helping their families.
VoiceSports : Did you further your education after graduating from secondary school?
Peter Ajeni: Yes I did. When I graduated from secondary school, I went to the Benue State University Makurdi, where I studied Educational Management. That was when I knew how tasking it was to be a student and at the same time, manage a Football Academy. Even in my absence, activities were going on smoothly as if I was still around with them.
VoiceSports: Were you receiving any financial assistance from the government or anywhere to keep the Academy moving?
Peter Ajeni: I wasn’t except from the parents who were sponsoring their children in the Academy. In fact, the parents were very wonderful people who supported their children tremendously.
VoiceSports : Did you participate in sports activities while at the University?
Peter Ajeni: There at the Benue State University Makurdi, I had the opportunity of coaching the University team for up to six months. I revived the school team which was already dead. This earned me two awards from the Faculty of Science, for promoting sports in the Faculty and also from the Faculty of Educational Management. It was after my graduation from the University that I started planning towards going into full time coaching.
VoiceSports : Did your plan see the light of day?
Peter Ajeni: It actually did and it was during my service year that I enrolled at the National Institute for Sports in Abuja and after graduation, I went to render voluntary services at the Federal Fire Service FC of Abuja, as an Assistant Coach and analyst. The team played in the National League One (NLO) in Lafia and ended up securing second position. That was in 2021. After my stint with the Federal Fire Service FC, I joined the AS Roma Football Academy also in Abuja and worked with them for just a year and eight months and then in 2023, I was called by Coach Mansur Abdullahi, who gave me the opportunity to come and work with him as the Assistant Coach and team analyst of the Sokoto United FC of Sokoto. It was a very good moment for me which I appreciated and do not take it for granted even as we speak. However, we had a sour ending due to misunderstanding and misconception which finally tore us apart and Coach Mansur Abdullahi left. It was not a good development at all and since then, I have been with the Sokoto United FC as the Technical Adviser?
VoiceSports: Would you briefly state what caused the misunderstanding and misconception?
Peter Ajeni: No. It is not what I would like to discuss but I pray to God to take charge, heal every heart and also reveal the truth to everybody that is involved.
VoiceSports: Were you able to upgrade your knowledge in coaching after the first coaching course that you attended at the NIS Abuja?
Peter Ajeni: Yes. In May, 2021 I obtained another Diploma certificate in Coaching at the Football Coaching of African Nations ( FCAN) in Akure with its headquarters in the USA, a Diploma in Coaching Psychology at the ENROI University (online programme), and a Talent Identification Course with the English FA, in 2023. I also enrolled for a Diploma programme with the Irish UEFA, and was given the offer, I made payments and did all the prerequisite online courses, got the prerequisite certificates in all the courses but couldn’t go for the practicals because I was denied the travel Visa to the Northern Ireland. In 2025, I reapplied for the Visa but I was still denied it but I am still hoping that one day, I will go for the practicals and obtain my UEFA Licence. Despite all of this, I did not relent and have kept encouraging myself by going ahead and enrolling at the Covenant University where I obtained a Certificate in Leadership and Management and currently, I am running a course in Sports Data Analysis at the Business of Sports Institute of Africa. I am currently also, doing an Advanced Performance Analysis Course at the Hurdle Sports Co. The journey of studying a lot has been an interesting one for me.
VoiceSports: With all these coaching certificates that you have acquired and with the experience, what do you intend to achieve?
Peter Ajeni: I am a kind of person who is very passionate about everything I want to do and that is why in 2013, when I realised that coaching was the career path that I wanted to tow, I had to set a target for myself in order to achieve my dreams of being one of the best coaches in Nigeria one day and also when they are listing the names of top five best coaches in Africa, in terms of successes and positive impact in players, I would be one of them. I know that it is not going to be an easy task but life is a journey that is step by step and I have taken the steps.
VoiceSports : Are there any coaches that you admire and would want to follow their footsteps?
Peter Ajeni: Very well. There are coaches that I admire and would want to be like them and even do more than what they have done. In Nigeria for Instance, Coach Abdul Maikaba and Imama Amapakabor are great coaches that I have always admired and looked up to, they have a very good philosophy and their playing styles are what I adopt. Going forward too, I have also seen great coaches in the African football scene that I admire and have been following them closely and they are the likes of Rhulani Mokwena and Pitso Mosimane. In Europe too I have the likes of Pep Guadiola and Jurgan Klops who I admire. These Coaches have really informed my coaching career.
VoiceSports : How well have you impacted the players that you have coached so far?
Peter Ajeni: I feel that the players would have been the ones to answer this question themselves. However, on my own part, I have done practically everything that I need to do and I am still doing it to ensure that players that have played under me have something to say about my coaching styles and about me as a person. I have always made them understand that before football, humanity comes first. I don’t want to be a good coach when I am not a good human being that would impact positively on them or to make them feel like humans because one day we may leave football and live as normal human beings. To push football forward we must preach humanity and blend it together with football.
VoiceSports: How is your relationship with the fans of Sokoto United FC?
Peter Ajeni: I am a reserved person so I may not know from afar how they feel about me but for those fans who are close to me, we have a very cordial relationship and to go further, both the management and the Ministry as well as the President of the club who happens to be the elder brother of the Governor, we are cool and not forgetting the players too.
VoiceSports: With your current position on the League table, how are the Sokoto United fans reacting to it?
Peter Ajeni: Nobody is happy with the position that we have found ourselves in today, and I am equally not, just as the players, fans and everybody. But in a situation like this, I wouldn’t want to put the players under pressure. Although, we have found ourselves there, we will surely find ourselves back to our winning ways because we did a great job with the club before and if we have found ourselves here today, we will come out of it.
VoiceSports: What is your dream for Sokoto United FC?
Peter Ajeni: My dream for the club just as it is with everybody in Sokoto, is to see Sokoto United FC play in the NPFL, if it is the will of God, even if I am no longer with the team. My dream is also to see that the people keep enjoying good football.
VoiceSports: How would you describe the kind of football that is played in the NNL?
Peter Ajeni: Sincerely, the NNL is a fantastic League. The NNL is a League that can test the technical know-how and tactical prowess of a coach. If you are a coach in Nigeria and have had the opportunity of playing in the NNL, you will know how tasking it is to play in it. It is so demanding and the competition there is very high, It is a League that has kept improving in every season.
VoiceSports : What are the challenges that you faced playing in the NNL?
Peter Ajeni: I have faced numerous challenges but the major one has been the officiating which sometimes has not been commendable. Although, human beings are bound to make mistakes but if the officiating was more professional, most of the matches that some teams lost wouldn’t have been lost after all. However, that should not be an excuse for losing matches anyway but if the officiating is worked on most teams would be winning their home and away matches. I saw the good work which was done by those at the helm of affairs of the NNL in the last AGM, which I can recall when the NNL Chairman and the other bodies were hammering on the errors committed by referees in the first stanza of the League. That shows they were also aware of it and are also working towards curtailing it because it is a League that is watched worldwide. They are doing a very good job of working towards improving and developing it which when done would go a long way. And again, we know that losing a game is painful but home teams must also understand that football is not a must win at all cost. That is one of the main causes of hooliganism in our stadiums which is caused by the home teams because they want to win at all cost and this pushes fans to go beyond their borders to cause problems. Without this, the NNL would have been better than the way it is today. We are glad that the League body is working towards addressing it but they can’t do it alone, it is a combined effort which the players, coaches, management must be involved by learning to take defeats with dignity and when this is done, it will reduce the rate at which we record hooliganism in football.
VoiceSports : Which kind of players would you prefer more in the national team, foreign or home based players?
Peter Ajeni: Football is practical and it is evolving everyday. The level of facilities that the Home based players are exposed to can’t be compared to that which the Foreign based players are exposed to. I am not saying they should not be given an opportunity if they are good but the fact still remains that I can’t give a higher percentage to the local players over the Foreign based players because that would be a mirage. However, I will ensure that they are injected into the national team and that would help them blend with the Foreign based players who are highly experienced and are playing in the top Leagues in the world.
VoiceSports : Indigenous and Foreign Coaches, who would you prefer as a national team coach?
Peter Ajeni: We have a number of great indigenous coaches who can handle the national team job effectively and deliver it very well. The likes of Abdul Maikaba, Imama Amapakabor and others are too numerous to mention. One thing that remains very clear is the trust which if the decision makers have on them by giving them the job and also giving them the necessary backing that they need, support and take care of their welfare. I am not really a fan of the Foreign Coach but I am just for the national team to do well.
VoiceSports : Do you support the idea of the government owning football clubs?
Peter Ajeni: That is a very big error and it is one of the challenges that is bedevilling our Leagues today. This is because the competition is not really there. The government can only support a team but it should not be a hundred percent sponsor of a team. Clubs should be allowed to source for its funds. Nigeria is one of the top technologies in Africa right now and with social media, teams can attract sponsorship that can be worth millions of Naira. If the NNL which is a League body can attract sponsorship for itself and is doing well by ensuring that clubs too enjoy the dividends, then why can’t a football club as an entity do even more. When you have such sponsorship, it eases dependence on the government and it improves the healthiness of the football Leagues in general and as well reduces the brain drain that we are experiencing in our football Leagues. When you have private individuals or companies sponsoring teams you have a more healthy competition as you can see with Remo Stars FC, Beyond Limits and Ikorodu City FC of Lagos for instance, they are actually doing a very good job worthy of emulation.
VoiceSports : What is your philosophy?
Peter Ajeni: I am a fan of beautiful football, I am a possession based coach who likes building up his game from the back with an aggressive attacking mindset.
