After producing some of the top stars in Nigerian women football, owner of FC Robo, Emmanuel Osahon, in an interview with Saturday Telegraph’s CHARLES OGUNDIYA said it is expensive running the club. Excerpts…

How does it feel to have produced so many players who have gone on to perform wonderfully well at the international level?

To God be the glory. All the glory goes to God and the coaches of the various national U-17 teams who believed in the players. Sometimes, nobody expects these girls to be selected, but the coaches identify and choose them based on their abilities. I give God the glory for making these girls perform so well and attract the attention of the national team coaches.

What is the secret behind FC Robo’s ability to consistently produce players for the national teams at different levels, from the U-17 to the senior team?

There is no secret. It is just God. With God, all things are possible. I work hard, just like every other coach, and I train my players diligently.

There is nothing extraordinary about what I do. It is simply God’s grace. However, there are certain things I make the players understand.

I always want to know their ambitions and what they hope to achieve through football. When a player tells me her plans, I assess them to see whether they align with my vision as a coach. From there, I know how to guide and develop her.

You seem to have a special eye for discovering young talents, particularly from grassroots communities. How do you identify these players?

I don’t have money to buy players, I am not government-funded, and I don’t have corporate sponsors or any financial backing.

So, I have to cut my coat according to my cloth. I search for players in schools and communities. Some of my coaches are teachers or game masters in different schools.

Whenever they organise sporting activities or competitions, they invite me, and I go there to identify talents. I also attend local competitions and community football events.

Mushin is a ghetto, but it is a ghetto with a difference. There are many undiscovered talents in these communities, and with proper guidance and development, they can become stars.

What gives you the greatest joy when you discover an unknown talent and watch that player become a star?

The joy starts when I introduce a young player into the team and she begins to perform exceptionally well. At that point, I am already fulfilled.

It is just a matter of time before the world recognises her. For me, the satisfaction comes from seeing a young player I discovered make an impact.

It is like introducing a young footballer into the Nigerian Women’s Football League and watching her become one of the outstanding players. That alone gives me tremendous joy.

How profitable has the business of developing and releasing players to other clubs in the Nigerian women’s league been for you?

I will say it is not profitable financially. When you groom players and they move to other clubs, you have to start developing another set of players.

For instance, some clubs are interested in signing my players, and sometimes they may take as many as eight or nine of them.

But the challenge is that I don’t have the facilities and infrastructure to support the programme the way I would like. I don’t even have a stadium in my constituency.

When we go out to train in most of the stadiums we use, we must pay. People may look at football and think there is a lot of money in it, but player development is a different thing.

When some of these clubs come for the players, they don’t pay much, telling you it is developmental and you can’t stop a player who is set to travel abroad.

And you cannot always guarantee that they will return to fulfil whatever obligations they have to the club. So, it is not as financially rewarding as people might think.

How easy has it been convincing parents to release their children to you at such young ages?

It was difficult in the past, but things have changed considerably. When you look at the stress we passed through with players such as Asisat Oshoala, Rasheedat Ajibade, Monday Gift, Chidima Okeke, Esther Sunday, Folashade Ijamilusi, and other players who have passed through the club, I will say it was difficult.

But now, parents are practically bringing their children to the club after seeing the achievement recorded by players mentioned above.

The success stories of these players have helped us tremendously. Every parent wants to see their child succeed, and when they see what some of our former players have achieved, they develop confidence in the club. Today, parents bring their children because they believe we can help them develop their football careers.

You are the club owner, but you also get involved in coaching and virtually everything required to keep the club running. What motivates you to continue making these sacrifices?

It is my calling. That is the first thing. I was a footballer before becoming a coach, and I represented Nigeria at the ECOWAS Games in 1991.

Unfortunately, because of my background and the circumstances surrounding my life in Mushin, I missed several opportunities.

When God gave me a second chance to groom young players, I decided not to waste it. That is one of the reasons I remain committed to this work.

However, I have more than 10 coaches working with me because FC Robo has different categories of boys’ and girls’ teams. We also have Oboza Football Academy under FC Robo. The boys won the NLO League while the girls also won.

So, I don’t do everything alone. I have coaches handling the different teams, but there is a standard and philosophy I want to maintain. I have a particular training pattern, and all the coaches working with me understand and follow that philosophy.

Have you ever considered becoming a national team coach, considering the number of players you have produced for Nigeria?

No. If Nigeria wants to engage me, they should provide the facilities and conducive environment for me to continue producing players for the national teams.

Let me produce players for the coaches handling the U-17, U-20 and senior national teams, including the Super Falcons and the boys’ teams.

That is where I believe my strength lies. One thing people must understand about coaching is that every coach should identify where he is best suited.

Not every good coach must become a national team coach. That is one of the mistakes we make in Nigeria. Many coaches believe that their ultimate ambition should be to handle a national team, but I know where I belong.

I am a grassroots specialist, not a national team coach. I also believe coaches need further training and exposure.

There should be opportunities for us to attend coaching courses and improve our knowledge, but these things require money. We need an environment that makes it possible for coaches to develop and work comfortably.

Asisat Oshoala recently presented you with a brand-new car. How did you feel about receiving such a gesture from one of the players you helped develop?

Asisat has been very supportive. She had given me a bus before and had also given me a car in the past. Some years back, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, gave the team a bus. It was a time in my life that I wanted to give up, but the governor came through for me.

The latest gesture from Oshoala was particularly surprising. We were talking on the phone while she was in Saudi Arabia, and she jokingly asked me if I would love to buy a new car and the colour I wanted.

I never imagined that she had such a surprise planned for me. I was somewhere attending to my coaching activities when they arrived with the car.

Nobody told me that it was meant for me. When they eventually handed over the keys, I was surprised and overwhelmed.

It is a beautiful thing when a player you have helped to develop remembers you and gives back. I appreciate her kindness and generosity.

Apart from coaching, running the club and developing young players, what other profession or business do you engage in?

I don’t have another profession. I am not a banker or a teacher. The only thing I do is coach. My educational qualification is A-level. Immediately after completing my A-level studies, I went into football.

I actually had an opportunity to further my education. In 1987, a man named Michael Akhigbe, a military personnel offered us an open scholarship to attend any university, but I did not take advantage of it. At the time, I thought it was a waste of time.

That experience is one of the reasons I insist that every player at FC Robo must go to school. If a player is not academically inclined, she must learn a trade.

Education and skills are important because football cannot be the only plan in life. Coaching is what gives me joy. All I need is a conducive environment to do my work.

Having missed some opportunities in your own playing days, what advice do you have for the young players coming through in Nigeria who want to make it as professional footballers?

My advice to them is to go to school. They must take their education seriously, whether they are boys or girls. Even from the way I speak, you can probably tell that I am reasonably fluent, but I wish I had taken advantage of every educational opportunity that came my way.

There are certain positions and opportunities I could have occupied today if I had made better use of those chances. I don’t want these young players to make the same mistakes I made.

Football is important, but education is equally important. They must go to school and prepare themselves for life beyond football.