Why Wilfred Ndidi Is Not The Best Choice For Super Eagles Captainship Long-term

This is a development that will anger and perplex many fans who do not see Ndidi as the one to captain the Super Eagles into an era of revival.

Some fans, to my astonishment, advocate for Victor Osihmen to be the next captain for the Super Eagles. Victor Osihmen? That loose cannon. That tinder box waiting to explode at any time. Not for my money. I don’t have to be a fan of Osihmen, Osihmen does not need my fandom. He has enough fans to last him 5 lifetimes, so, I might as well keep my patronage to myself.

But, honestly, the captainship requires level-headedness. A cool, calm and collected article with latent, hidden explosiveness which, for me Ndidi brings.

My only concern is that Ndidi is at the twilight of his career. He peaked around 2018 to 2021 and has now plateaued towards a downward trajectory.

Nigeria is blessed with a truckload of centre or defensive midfielders, many yet to be discovered. My worry is that, will there not be pressure to play Ndidi as captain whereas players like Tom Dele-Bashiru, Tochukwu Nnadi of even Benjamin Frederick can do a far better job?

I stand by my view of Ndidi being a good choice for the here and now. But that should not make him an automatic starter. Far too many defensive midfielders are coming up the ranks that it will be suicidal to hang on to Ndidi well beyond his sell-by date.