Ahead of the second stanza of the 2024/2025 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season, Nasarawa United Football Club of Lafia has unveiled eight high profile players.
The unveiling ceremony took place at the Lafia City stadium on Wednesday in Lafia.
Addressing journalists, the club chairman, Solomon Babanjah, acknowledged the poor performance of the club, while apologising to the state government and the supporters of the club.
He explained that with the new players injected into the state team, the sky would be their limit.
“We are confident that these signings will help us achieve our goals in the second stanza of the 2024/25 Nigeria Premier Football League Campaign.
“These players are household names, and have written their names in gold as far as the top-flight league is concerned in Nigeria,” he said.
While welcoming the new players, he explained that these exceptional players that have been injected into to Nasarawa United FC would add value to the state team.
“Our situation in the league is somehow precarious, but with the acquisition of these top-class players, we are in the right position to turn things around and return the team to where we rightly belong to, which is the summit of the league.
“We plead for the support and prayers of all critical stakeholders in the football industry so as to enable us get out of this terrain,” he expressed worry.
“We thank His Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Sule; the Deputy Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, the State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development; the State Football Association, our ever-present supporters and fans, both home and abroad for always standing by us.
“God’s willing, we will make everyone happy this second and final half of the season,” he added.
On his part, the Technical Director of Nasarawa United, Coach Kabir Dogo, noted that the arrival of the new players would be a turning point for the club.
Coach Dogo, who was instrumental to the signing of the new high profile players said the management was confident that they would assist in competing at the highest level and bring success to the Club.
“We are so excited to see the impact these new signings will have on our squad this second segment of the league.
“We are very confident that they will help us to compete at the highest level and bring success to the Club.
“We thank our supporters and fans for all their patience with us, but we hope to reward their patience with positive results, God willing,” he said.
In an interview with The Voice, the chairman of the Nasarawa State Football Association (NSFA), Alhaji Salisu Galadima expressed happinesses with the signing of the eight players, nothing that it would go a long way in boosting the performance of the club.
He said that the action taken by the club’s administration would propel the team to the top of the standings, saying that the players would now fix their previous errors and directing them not to risk or jeopardize any opportunities during play.
The Voice reports that the new signed players are; central defender, Benson Abbey who joined Nasarawa United Football club of Lafia from Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan, left back, Peace Dewan formerly of Sunshine Stars of Akure, attacking midfielder, Abubakar Aliyu previously with Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan.
Others are central midfielder, Solomon Chigozie from Kwara United FC of Ilorin, winger, Peter Eneji, who rejoined from Busaiteen FC of Bahrain, centre forward, Ugochukwu Leonard who relinked up from Heartland FC of Owerri, winger, Benjamin Jack, from Golden Boot FC of Benin Republic, and winger, Onyema Emmanuel, who came from Ikorodu City FC of Lagos.
The club hope to unveil a few more players in the coming days before embarking on a close camping activities.
