Osaze Odemwingie Urges NFF to Stop Chasing Foreign-Born Players for Super Eagles

Former Super Eagles forward Osaze Odemwingie has advised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to rethink its approach to recruiting foreign-born players, insisting that representing the Super Eagles should be driven by genuine passion rather than persuasion.

Speaking in an interview with Brila.net, Odemwingie questioned the growing trend of convincing players of Nigerian descent born abroad to switch allegiance, especially when their connection to the country may not be as strong.

Odemwingie said, 'I have watched interviews of players who said, "I was born here, raised here; I feel British."' As for me, I had age one to seven in Nigeria, so I went to primary school in Nigeria.

“I went to my village with my dad and met my granddad; I had some connections with Nigeria from early childhood then we went to Russia and returned at 17 played five years in Nigeria before I went to Europe to play football.

“These days, it’s like they want the pampering. Me as you know, I don’t need no pampering. If Naija pampers me, it’s more than enough for me. We love everyone and there are some cases where the love wasn’t based on the decision for the love of a European country, unless maybe you have a mixed heritage,” Osaze stated.