• Jan. 9, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
• By

By Samuel Bamisebi The 2023 Nigeria Professional Football League season kicked off with a bang when Bendel Insurance returned to the top flight after three years and seven months to defeat Akwa United 2-0 on their own turf in Uyo, heralding a star in the making for the Benin Arsenals. Thirty-five minutes was all it took for Bendel Insurances Imade Osenhenkhoe to open the scoring with the first goal of the 2023 NPFL season when he latched on to a laid pass in the box and that set the tone for the league returnees to settle into their elements. Imade was a part of the team that helped the Benin team gain promotion last season from the NNL, though his little trial time with Wikki Tourist FC when the transfer window was open might have gone unnoticed but his exploits for the University of Benin (Uniben Royals) can not be ignored. Tall and seemingly lanky, after a 1-1 draw against the University of Lagos (Unilag Marines) in Lagos in the maiden edition of the Higher Institution Football League (HIFL), Imade scored what was the decider and only goal in the return fixture in Benin to hand the Uniben Royals a slot into the quarter finals of the first University football league competition in Nigeria, a feat that remains in the history books of the competition. Now on the payroll of Bendel Insurance, Imade has already put himself in the reckoning for the season scoring the first NPFL goal for Bendel Insurance on their return after three years and seven months, the first NPFL goal for an away side this season and the first goal overall of the season. Surely, hes one to watch out for.