Two new books celebrate the extraordinary, hilarious and sometimes bewildering things people in Nigerian football have said over the years
If Nigerian football has taught its followers anything, it is that the entertainment does not always end when the referee blows the final whistle.
Sometimes, the most memorable action happens at the post-match press conference. At other times, it comes from a coach explaining a defeat, an administrator defending an unpopular decision or a player attempting to explain why a seemingly straightforward opportunity ended in disaster.
For sports journalist and author Victor Akhidenor, these moments are too entertaining and revealing to be forgotten.
Abuja-based Books & Journals Hub has published his two books, Journalists are like Mosquitoes: Nigeria Football’s Finest Quotes & Notes and If You Put 11 Herbalists on the Field…: Quotes and Notes from Nigerian Football, in Nigerian editions.
Released on Monday, November 2, 2026, the books explore the colourful language, memorable remarks and peculiar expressions that have become part of Nigerian football’s identity.
Their titles alone suggest that readers should not expect a conventional football history book.
The first draws on a remark by former Super Eagles coach Clemens Westerhof, who once declared, “Journalists are like mosquitoes, you must kill them in time.”
It is the sort of statement that can provoke laughter, disagreement and a lengthy argument about the relationship between football personalities and the media.
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The second title, If You Put 11 Herbalists on the Field…, taps into another familiar feature of Nigerian football: the extraordinary explanations and superstitions that sometimes accompany performances, victories and defeats.
For Akhidenor, the attraction lies in the fact that football people are often unintentionally entertaining.
“One of the things I love about Nigerian football is that there is never a shortage of characters or conversations. We can argue about formations, tactics and team selection, but we can also spend an entire afternoon discussing something a coach or administrator said. Some of these statements are too good to disappear,” he says.
The idea behind the books is not entirely new. In April 2014, TheCable published a selection of the material under the headline The Game in Quotes, introducing the proposed two-in-one publication to readers.
More than a decade later, the project has found a new publishing home.
Akhidenor hopes the books will appeal beyond the traditional sports readership.
Football supporters will recognise familiar personalities and expressions, while journalists, writers, students and lovers of Nigerian popular culture may discover an entertaining record of how people communicate under the pressure and scrutiny of the national game.
“Humour is a wonderful way of documenting history. You can laugh at a statement today and, years later, realise that it tells you something important about the person, the institution or the period in which it was made,” he says.
Akhidenor is an award-winning journalist who began his professional career in 2011. His experience includes reporting and editorial positions at Complete Communications Limited, TheCable, FC Naija and Sports Nigeria. He received the Diamond Award for Media Excellence in Sports Reporting in 2015.
He holds an MSc in Media and Communication from Pan-Atlantic University and a BSc in Economics.
Both books are available on Amazon for international readers. Nigerian buyers can obtain copies through the author’s website, www.unpopularpele.com.
Published by Books & Journals Hub, Abuja, the books promise football lovers an opportunity to revisit the beautiful game’s less predictable entertainment: its unforgettable words.
