A friend brought a young boy and his parents to meet with me earlier this week at the Eagle7 Bamboo Garden in Wasimi.

Such a meeting has become a regular feature in my routine as proprietor of a sports secondary school with the mission to empower young boys and girls with the combination of sports and academics.

The problem is usually that the children want the sport without the educational part, whilst their parents prefer the security of education with or without sports.

With the obstinacy of some of the children that completely refuse to go to school, parents look for a compromise option. Many of them come to me.

Twenty years of an experiment that has produced over 90 per cent success rate cannot be discountenanced. Parents, through word-of-mouth testimonies, have become the biggest marketers of my specialist institution – SOCA.

So, earlier this week, I met with Hope and his parents. He will turn 17 years of age in January 2027. He is freshly out of secondary school. He scored good grades in his WAEC exams (all Bs and Cs), and is primed for a solid career that will take him through the rest of his life.

His parents are well to do. They have grand plans for their brilliant son. In fact, their plan is that with the good grades in his JAMB exams, he will soon become a student of Babcock University in Ogun State. Hope had visited the university with them and had done some research about the institution that threatens to turn their dream into a nightmare.

The university does not offer him what is his greatest passion and ambition. He has now told his parents, finally, that he would rather not go to school than abandon his ambition to be a professional footballer in Europe!

I am not surprised at all about Hope’s defiance. He wants to become a professional football player, period. Except that is on the cards for him, he tells his parents, he is not interested in doing anything or going anywhere.

The parents are completely flabbergasted. They do not know what to do, or where to go to get advise on how to deal with this very serious and disturbing situation.

They are not alone in this dilemma. Their story is replicated in many homes all over the country. Many parents are confronted with a similar situation – Young boys (and girls these days) dreaming of a life as professional footballers in Europe (or anywhere for that matter), living like Kings and Princes along the fast lane of life, rich, famous, and sometimes powerful!

They see many youngsters chase that dream. They see very few that succeed in the limelight and under spotlights. What they do not see are the vast majority that fall short and do not succeed, that disappear into the abyss.

Yet, this never deters them. They still choose to chase the dream too.

My son recently shocked the hell out of me when I asked him what he would like to be in future. He told me, matter-of-factly, and without the least hesitation – A footballer! I passed out!

My Grandson in the UK is also far gone on that lane, chasing the football dream.

The question is: Who will not fall under the spell of what football offers?

We all watched unprecedented sights of the power of football on television when Arsenal FC became Champions of England and the earth shook; how Spain won the World Cup and the earth shook again; and how Lionel Messi recently retired from football and the earth quaked in celebration. The global crowds were unprecedented.

Football is a phenomenon that has the world in its grip, driving young boys and girls crazy.

So, Hope and his parents come to me seeking a way out!

Their situation is becoming a major problem in Nigeria.

A few years ago, Godwin Dudu-Orumen and his friends, conducted a research that yielded a shocking result. There are more football academies in Nigeria than there are Churches and Mosques added together.

Mushroom academies, weekend academies, institutionalised academies, all are found in every local government, in every nook and cranny, organised teams playing on every available open space, all day long, all year round, all over Nigeria.

Every academy has a coach (trained or not) with local scouts and Kangaroo agents, all looking for the gifted player to take abroad, even to countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, Lebanon, and so on. Nigerian players are heading everywhere in droves in chase of the ultimate dream.

True, football has grown tremendously as a global enterprise. A successful life in professional footballer now offers a young person great opportunities in an authentic global ecosystem.

That’s why Hope’s parents come to me in the hope that I will have an answer for their dilemma.

We spend an hour in conversation. When they leave after our little talk, everyone appears to be happy.

Hope agrees that he is at an age that may be too young for him to head out straight to Europe’s big clubs considering the level of his football and the depth of his football now. He accepts to spend the next four years till he is 20/21 getting grounded in education whilst still enjoying maximum opportunity locally or abroad to hone his skills, work on his technics and get grounded in an educational pursuit. My responsibility will be to provide him with the platform to do these things simultaneously.

Meanwhile, his parents shall let him be, and support him maximally to continue to chase his dream.

As we are about to round off, a call comes through for me. Another one of my students, not one of the best in football during the past year, but one who knows and accepts that he may never become a ‘Lionel Messi’ but is ready to give his best whilst he completes an academic/professional program at the Hindustani Institute of Science and Technology. He will continue to enjoy his football and at the same time qualify within four years on scholarship to become the best medical-support for footballers in the industry!

Emmanuel Danladi, former head boy of SOCA, an average footballer at best, heads to India soon and into the vast football terrain still pursuing a dream in the football ecosystem.

If he does not get to the stars, he will, at least, land on the moon.