By Johnson Opeisa
If you didn’t know better, you might think Nduka Junior was winding down his career. The way he strikes every ball with intent, charges into duels with reckless abandon, and rallies his teammates paints a footballer who seems to be connecting the final dots in his time in the trenches of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
The Remo Stars’ indefatigable centre-back has, for the past eight years, been a mainstay in the Sky Blue Stars’ colours, rising through the ranks at the Remo Stars Academy (now Beyond Limits) and earning a well-deserved promotion to the senior team. His climb has been as gritty as it is inspiring: he served as assistant captain during the club’s Nigeria National League (NNL) campaign in the 2018/2019 season and played a pivotal role in their promotion to the NPFL in 2021. He has since then become one of the club’s pillars of reverence as they went on a run of a third-place finish, consecutive second-place finishes, and now, a long-awaited league title.
All at just 21 years old. He’s already walked chapters worth telling, yet with so much more still to write.
Talent has never been enough of a driving force in any era. And like many millennials and Gen Zs who are in tune with their natural gifts and knee-deep in turning them into a livelihood, Nduka’s motivation is fueled by the dream of economic freedom, a desire for a lasting legacy, and above all, what he describes as “the drive to create a better life for my family.”
“My family is my biggest inspiration,” he repeated, this time with a clarity that left no doubt he plays to make them proud and improve their quality of life.
Born in Surulere and raised in Alagbado, both in Lagos State, Nduka Junior owes the depth of his already seasoned, yet still very young career, to an early discovery and swift rise in the game.
To watch Nduka now is to see a player who’s fully locked into his game. Whether he’s on the ball or chasing it down, his intent is unmistakable. A composed ball-playing defender, a threat from set-pieces, a defender who reads the game quicker than most, a sum of which form a unique asset that’s evident: in how he shows up, steps up, and inspires.
“Just like Sergio Ramos does,” he says, naming one of the players he models his game on. “Ramos plays every game the same way. The same way Ramos would play against Cristiano Ronaldo is the same way he’d play against any other upcoming player. No difference. He plays every game like it’s the World Cup or the Champions League final. Same as Giorgio Chiellini, they tackle and defend with everything in every game they play,” the 21-year-old defender adds.
That kind of mindset has been at the core of his development, with each season at Remo Stars bringing clear signs of growth and maturity.
Upon the club’s return to the NPFL in the 2021/22 season, Nduka succeeded Saheed Lasisi as the club’s captain following the latter’s exit from the club. That season, he featured in 37 out of Remo Stars’ 38 matches, contributing to 19 clean sheets and scoring three goals as the Sky Blue Stars sealed a third-place finish to secure their first-ever continental ticket to the CAF Confederation Cup.
When the NPFL adopted an abridged format in the 2022/23 season, with clubs split into two groups of ten teams, a Nduka-led Remo Stars further levelled up their league form. With the top three teams from each group advancing to the Super Six to determine the overall champion, the Ikenne-based side improved on their previous campaign by finishing second in their group behind Bendel Insurance. They maintained that same position in the Super Six, falling just short of the title due to an inferior goal difference to Enyimba, but sealed a CAF Champions League (CAFCL) spot this time around.
Throughout that unusually structured season, there was a usual and more improved Nduka, who started every game (23) for the club and registered three goals and one assist, the third highest for a CB in the season. His leadership in defence, combined with the reliability of goalkeeper Kayode Bankole, helped Remo Stars keep 11 clean sheets, the highest in the league that year. Their efforts were recognised as Nduka and Bankole were named Defender and Goalkeeper of the Season respectively at the League Bloggers Awards, while their head coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, was honoured as Coach of the Season.
Nduka’s form carried into the 2023/24 season where his remarkable run extended to a 52-match consecutive starting streak before a suspension interrupted it. He would, however, still go on to finish the season as Remo Stars’ most featured player with 35 appearances and four goal contributions.
He characteristically shrugs this off as “Just a matter of being consistent and putting in the effort,’’ he notes, “the growth I’ve seen comes from playing continuously at the highest levels in the league and on the continent.’’
But the subtleties of Nduka’s evolution are as much a result of the defender’s efforts as they are of the structure around him. At the heart of this system is Remo’s coaching department, led by Ogunmodede. The relationship between Ogunmodede and Nduka is an enduring one that goes way back before the NPFL stage. This match made in Ikenne has come full circle, from the club’s youth setup where Ogunmodede coached Nduka, to their progression into the senior team. The natural question to ask is how deeply the gaffer’s constant presence and philosophy have rubbed off on him.
“He’s more than a coach,” Nduka Junior responded. “Sometimes when my clips make it to social media, I see comments saying I’m not the typical Nigerian football type, that my pattern and style aren’t common in the league. I owe all this to Coach and how relentlessly he improves my game.
“He’s been immense. He’s a father and a brother, not just to me, but to most of my teammates. Behind the scenes, he’s always available to help, even with off-pitch matters. Personally, the impact he’s had on my life and growth is something I can’t quantify. There’s so much I can’t even share.”
This sort of coaching structure has been instrumental in the Lagos-born defender’s development, nowhere more so than in the 2024/25 campaign, where both have thrived together for club and country as coach and captain.
Remo’s CAF Confederation Cup group stage decider against AS FAR in August 2024 was partly defined by Nduka and Ismail Sadiq who both took turns to score and assist each other to seal a crucial 2-1 home win against FAR in Ikenne. Though the conclusion of the return leg in Rabat would only end in a third consecutive continental heartbreak for Remo as they were ousted 3-2 on aggregate, Nduka’s (and Remo’s) continental profile would later get a boost, this time in Nigeria’s colours.
In December 2024, Nduka and four other Blue Stars — Kayode Bankole, Jide Fatokun, Sikiru Alimi, and Sadiq — joined 13 other NPFL players in the Super Eagles B squad for the two-legged 2025 CHAN qualifiers against Ghana. Nigeria had failed to qualify for the last two editions, culminating in a six-year absence that a new generation of NPFL players hoped to end. Coached by Ogunmodede, with Rangers International’s Fidelis Ilechukwu as assistant, the Super Eagles B team had a point to prove against Ghana, and it seemed set for disappointment after failing to grab an away goal advantage in the goalless first-leg draw in Accra.
But the return leg at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo saw an-Nduka inspired Nigeria cruise to a 3-1 victory with the 21-year-old grabbing a goal and an assist that blew away Ghana’s Black Galaxies.
Reacting to the victory, the 21-year-old said, “Being the captain of the Super Eagles Team B is a great privilege. Leading the team to the 2025 CHAN qualification is the result of everyone giving their all, from the players to the coaches and NFF officials. And I believe it’s only going to get better when we get to the tournament proper later this year.”
Slated for August across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, the 2025 CHAN AFCON presents another opportunity for Nigeria to lay a claim, after a third-place finish in 2014 and a runner-up medal in 2018. The quality of this current crop of NPFL stars isn’t in doubt, but even more significant is the influence of Captain Nduka: a leader who knows what it takes and understands how to turn opportunities into results.
“Being a leader isn’t easy,” he admitted. “It’s not easy to lead over 30 players every season. But I take the responsibility seriously. I work with a great set of guys, and I always tell them: we miss 100% of the shots we don’t take — in games, in training, in everything. This is football. Chances don’t come often. So, when it’s time for work, we give it everything.”
That mindset surely played a role in how Remo Stars finally broke the duck, turning three years of near-misses into glory and becoming the first Southwest and privately-owned club in over two decades to win the NPFL since the now-defunct Julius Berger FC did. But Captain Nduka Junior insists there’s more to the triumph, which he describes as “the result of our consistency and intention paying off.”
“Remo Stars is a unique team inside and out. That’s why we’re one of the most technical sides in the league. Our strength lies in the cohesiveness of our ideas, goals, and intentions. We’re all guided by the same vision. There’s no disunity, and that’s been our core for years.”
Speaking on the structural and personnel improvements that were also key, he added, “I think the new additions helped us a lot. Signings like Alex Onyowah and Ifeanyi Anaemena gave us that extra push to go the extra mile.”
Earlier in October, Nduka Junior marked his 100th appearance for Remo Stars, a milestone that quietly nudges him toward the hall of NPFL legends like Rabiu Ali, Daniel Itodo, and Godwin Obaje, all of whom have made over 200 appearances for just one club in the league. Even at his age, the prospect of Nduka charting a similar one-club legacy doesn’t seem far-fetched.
“I’m not concerned about the idea of being a one-club legend,’’ the 21-year-old reacted to the possibility. “Francesco Totti played for Roma throughout his career. Paolo Maldini did the same for AC Milan, and Steven Gerrard was an all-through player at Liverpool. Being a legend of Remo Stars in the NPFL is an honour. Though no one can predict the future, the idea of being a one-club man doesn’t bother me.”
Instead, the 21-year-old maintained that a career of continued relevance is what matters most to him. “My focus is to keep playing at the highest level until the end of my career. To always be in contention at the top,” he said.
That ambition to stay at the top received a timely boost. On Wednesday, May 21, Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle named Nduka Junior in his 19-man squad for Nigeria’s Unity Cup fixtures in London. Although the Remo Stars captain didn’t get to make his debut for the three-time African champions during the two-legged encounter, another opportunity to further break into national consciousness lies ahead as the Super Eagles B side begin their 2025 CHAN campaign against Senegal on August 7.
