Naija Premier League Awards To Make Debut

The first edition of an independent award for the Premier League in Nigeria would make its debut at the end of the ongoing season.

The event tagged ‘Naija Premier League Awards’ is an initiative aimed at celebrating the performances of players, coaches and clubs of the Nigerian elite division.

Chief Executive of Naija Premier League Awards, Ojeikere Aikhoje, disclosed this in Lagos over the weekend.

Aikhoje stated that the success of the Naija Premier League Player and Manager of the Month Awards has boosted the newly-introduced end of season awards.

“Coaches and players in the league have commended our team for the monthly award that has been on since January 2010. We have been able to celebrate the players and coaches because they are the real stars in the league,” he said.

Aikhoje added that the success of the Nigerian team at the recent WAFU Nations Cup is an indication of the ability of the home-based players to rise to the occasion.

He reiterated the fact that the players in the domestic league are the future of the National Teams, adding that the only way to challenge their creativity is to reward them.

Players who have won the monthly award include Kano Pillars’ Ahmad Musa (January), Kwara United’s Ukeyima Akombo (February) and Kaduna United’s Savior Stephen (March), while the coaches are Salisu Yusuf of Kano Pillars (January & March) as well as Justin Tenger of Kwara United (February).

The Naija Premier League Awards is the property of two online publications on the Nigerian League: naijaligue.blogspot.com and naijapremierleague.com.