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A
fortnight ago, Ekigho Ehiosun was a relatively unknown player plying
his trade in the Nigerian Premier League with Warri Wolves.

But over the space
of two weeks, the 21 year-old has gone from being just another
unheralded player from the Nigerian domestic scene to arguably the
biggest name in the league.

First came his
marvellous hat-trick in last weekend’s league victory over Sharks, the
first to be recorded by a player in the ongoing season, then followed a
spate of injury-induced withdrawals by some of the country’s Europe
based players which saw Siasia turn his gaze in the direction of the
league’s leading scorer.

Then came
Wednesday’s game against Sierra Leone which saw Ehiosun grabbing a
place on the substitutes’ bench as the only fit striker after Obinna
Nsofor also got ruled out of the game with an ankle injury.

Probably, that is
where the graduate of petrochemical engineering would have remained, at
least for the greater part of the game had Emmanuel Emenike not picked
up a knock during the game.

As a result of
that, Ehiosun was thrown into the fray on the orders of Siasia in the
40th minute. Four minutes later, he had evaded his marker and slotted
the ball into the net on his debut.

Dream start

“Up until this
moment I still can’t fully comprehend what has happened,” Ehiosun told
NEXT on Thursday night. “It feels like I’m dreaming but to God be the
glory.

“I made my debut
for the national team and I got to score. There is a wonderful feeling
to it all and everyone’s happy for me; my friends, my teammates and my
family, especially my mum. She is so happy for me.” But how was he able
to overcome the nerves that accompany such moments considering his
relative inexperience.

“Actually, when I
joined the team, coach Samson Siasia made everything easy for me. And
thank God for the league match I got to play before Wednesday’s match,”
he continued.

“Whenever he saw
me, even when talking to the older players, he would stop whatever it
is that he was doing and chant ‘my highest goalscorer, my highest
goalscorer’. They will then ask coach what he meant by his remarks at
which point he would tell them that ‘this is the highest goalscorer in
the league, the guy that scored a hat-trick last week.” “As a result,
they were all friendly to me and encouraged me. On match day, even the
guys on the bench like (John Obi) Mikel and (Vincent) Enyeama were
doing their best to encourage me which was quite helpful because so
many things were going on in my head at the same time.

“I was nervous but
the players were all friendly and would tell me that I could do it;
that they had seen what I was capable of and have faith in me. That I
should just take my time.

“Those words gave
me the courage to go out there and thank God, it went well for me
because after I scored Osaze (Odemwingie) came to me and told me that
it was a great goal.

“When you get such
words of encouragement from players that you look up to, you want to
keep doing your best to live up to their expectations.

Ehiosun is however
not prepared to rest on his modest accomplishment as he believes
there’s still room for improvement, even as he hopes to get another
Super Eagles call-up.

“There is still
room for improvement. I don’t believe I have arrived yet,” he
emphasised. “I got a chance to fulfil my dream because some of the
established players were not around. But I believe I will still get
another opportunity to play for my country, if not now, then it will be
in the not too distant future.” Regarding his immediate plans though,
Ehiosun intends to keep tormenting defenders in the Nigerian league and
has set his sights on Ahmed Musa’s 18 goals league record,

even though Musa,
who now plays in the Dutch league, has practically pleaded with him to
leave his record intact, at least for the foreseeable future.

“When we were going
for lunch before the match, he came up to me and jokingly pleaded with
me not to break his record; that was the only thing that accords him
recognition in Nigeria,” recalled Ehiosun.

“Of course, I told
him that I won’t break his record but if I keep scoring on a regular
basis, I might just equal it or even get to surpass it.” And if that
happens, it won’t be long before Ehiosun says goodbye to the Nigerian
league.

But Ehiosun, a fan
of his local Warri Wolves, isn’t in a rush to move to one of the more
established European leagues, not even if Manchester United, the other
club he supports, comes calling.

“It is my dream to
take my game to one of the top championships but I don’t need to
overshoot my dream, as I believe there is time for everything.

“So starting out in one of the Scandinavian countries won’t be a bad
idea, at least that way, I can gather experience and know if I’m ripe
for the big stage,” he added.