Nneka Ede: From Being A Software Engineer To Writing Nigeria’s Name On The World Football Map

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‘The former research intern at Harvard Medical School has been able to demonstrate the macho potentials in her and showed another complete image of a natural African woman”

Little did anybody know about her until  few days ago when the news broke out that, Nneka Ede has bought the 100% shares to own Portuguese Divsion three side, Lusitano Ginásio Clube, Futebol, SAD.

Nneka is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University where she studied Computer Science and currently a Software Engineer at Chevron in the Information Technology Company.

Her Job in Chevron inculdes the development of Cloud and On- premises Automation Processes using Powershell, Microsoft Azure and all other high tech software which aimed at minimising human errors, reduced runtime, save money and time.

By this feat, Nneka has defeated skepticism and cynicism about women entrepreneurship ability to create a taste for an Enterprise where men trade most. If not wholly- Football is her special choice.

Quite unprecedented, the news struck most expecially the football fraternity in Nigeria where Ede name was never even mentioned before.

The statement from the team after the deal was consummated showed that Nneka was very passionate to see the deal work even as it took months of negotiation.

“After months of negotiations with different entities,” the club said, “an agreement has been reached with Mrs Nneka Ede, a sports enthusiast and entrepreneur from Nigeria, a country filled with people as passionate and fiery about football as us and which incidentally share the same green and white in their flags, towards the transfer of the ownership of the SAD to the latter that will help us in our mission to take Lusitano to the next level.

What she did appears similar to that of Honourable Kunle Soname, the proprietor and founder of Remo Star FC did few years ago when he also acquired 70 percent shares of a Portuguese club, Club Deportivo Feirense. Nneka achievement has created a new path that will bears direction for many who haven’t been able to link up with the right channel in doing the business.

In her remarks, she expressed optimism about the deal adding that it will help many young talented footballers in Nigeria to move to Europe.

“I am excited about this opportunity and I hope that this new chapter will deepen the already great sporting relations between Nigeria and Portugal, continue with the rich history of Lusitano club and provide a pathway for young talent to develop and shine through,” she noted

The former research intern at Harvard Medical School has been able to demonstrate the macho potentials in her and showed another complete image of a natural African woman.

She has definitely redirected the narratives around women involvement in sports and its investment; her is just a pace setting hit.

Until 2019 when she graduated ,Ede was the President of the PVAMU , Society of Women Engineers (SWE) , Association of Computing Machinery’s among many other capacities where she demonstrated leadership qualities that dwarf that of her peers.

Why investment in Sports?

Nneka graduated from
Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) in the United States of America last year and the citadel of learning has a distinct interest for sports which thus reflects in their fabrics.

Accounts shows that Prairie View A&M has 16 intercollegiate sports team, commonly known by their “Prairie View A&M Panthers” nickname.

The institution normally Participates in several competition like, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Prairie View A&M is the only charter member remaining in the conference, all these had greatly inspire Nneka to build up interest in sports. And here today, she is surely living one of our
dearest dream.

Message to Nigeria League Stakeholders.

There are many Nneka Ede and Kunle Soname who would love to invest in sports in our country, but the system is not friendly to private investors. A testament to this is a recent move by some private club owners to start their own league having been disappointed by the architecture and structure of the game.

Appropriate authority should make efforts to change the negative impressions about our football system so that people can invest in the league.

Most intriguing, Nneka is on a rescue mission to bring the club to a favourable stand as reports show that finance was one of their problems for years, which has affected their progress. This forced those in charge of the side to throw the shares open before Nigerian woman Nneka Ede bought the entire 100 percent shares.

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