Nigeria keeps telling us that football is an industry.
But there is one question that continues to make that claim difficult to believe:
Where is the money?
In Nigerian football, the salaries of players and coaches, sign-on fees and transfer fees are often treated like state secrets.
Ask what a player signed for and the answer is usually: “It is confidential.”
Ask what a coach earns: “It is confidential.”
Ask how much a club paid another Nigerian club for a player: “It is confidential.”
The usual explanation is security.
Yes, security is a legitimate concern. But if security is the reason, then why does the same secrecy disappear when Nigerian players leave the country?
Take Victor Osimhen.
When Galatasaray signed the Nigerian striker permanently from Napoli, the Turkish club publicly announced a €75 million transfer fee and disclosed the financial terms of his contract, including a €15 million net annual guaranteed salary, alongside other payments.
The same Nigerian footballer. The same sport. The same talent.
But once he crosses the border, the football business suddenly becomes transparent.
Ademola Lookman is another Nigerian international whose transfer negotiations and reported earnings have become public knowledge in the European football market.
So the question becomes unavoidable:
Why does transparency suddenly become possible when Nigerian players leave Nigeria?
Are Nigerian players only at security risk when they play at home?
Or is the bigger problem that our domestic football industry has not developed the financial structures and transparency expected of a professional business?
Nobody is saying every Nigerian player’s exact salary should be posted on social media.
Privacy matters.
