For the first time in their history, Remo Stars have ascended to the pinnacle of Nigerian football, clinching the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) title.
On matchday 35, with Rivers United, their closest challengers, falling to Kano Pillars 48 hours earlier, all the Ikenne-based side needed was a win against Niger Tornadoes to seal their place in the history books.
It was far from straightforward. Niger Tornadoes stood tall, frustrating the would-be champions at every turn.
But with just six minutes left on the clock, Olamilekan Adedayo delivered a moment of magic, rifling a shot from outside the box. The ball kissed the crossbar, bounced over the line, and sent their fanbase into raptures.
That solitary goal, with three games still to spare, crowned Remo Stars as 2024/25 NPFL champions.
Wake up, stars! ✨ It’s not a dream, we are indeed NPFL Champions!
This awesome scenes 🥹🔥😍#RemoReigns | #WeAreRemoStars | #NPFL25 pic.twitter.com/5Y298WNOyi
— Remo Stars Sports Club (@RemoStarsSC) April 28, 2025
It has been a remarkable journey for a club that once called Sagamu home, before their visionary owner and CEO, Kunle Soname, moved them to the purpose-built Remo Stars Stadium.
After years slogging it out in the NNL, Nigeria’s second tier, they finally made it back to the top flight in 2021. Since then, under the steady hand of coach Daniel Ogunmodede, they have transformed into one of the most consistent forces in the NPFL.
They finished third in the 2021/22 season, runners-up in 2022/23 and again in 2023/24, each time knocking loudly on the door. Now, at last, they have kicked it down.
What next for Remo Stars after historic NPFL triumph?
The next mountain to climb is the continental stage with view to breaking down the barriers and erase the ghosts of years past.
Despite back-to-back qualifications for African competitions in recent years, Remo Stars have stumbled at the preliminary rounds—painful exits at the hands of Morocco’s AS FAR and Ghana’s Medeama come to memory and still sting.
Having finally conquered Nigeria, the ambition now is to make a mark in Africa, and reaching the group stages of either the CAF Champions League or Confederation Cup is the immediate target.
To achieve that, the club will need to invest wisely. They must strengthen their squad not just with homegrown talents, but also by casting a wider net across West Africa.
They already boast the services of Serge Obasa from Benin and Franck Mawuema from Togo.
But more reinforcements are needed to complement top Nigerian performers like Junior Nduka, Bello Babatunde and Sikiru Alimi if they are to go toe-to-toe with Africa’s finest.
They can also count on the fact that Ogunmodede is still in charge and with past painful experiences on the continent, he will know better how to navigate games as they come by.
Hopefully, they can harness all they have learned from the past and also improve their playing staff to cross another major hurdle: to get to the group stage in CAF's interclub competitions.
For Remo Stars, the NPFL curse is broken. Now, a new horizon beckons—the chance to carve their name among Africa’s elite.
