Inter Lagos head coach Shakiru Giwa has heaped praise on 19-year-old forward Moses Ezekiel, whose goal in the 19th minute handed his side a first win of the 2026/27 Nigeria Professional Football League season — a result that ended a three-game losing streak and stunned record champions Enyimba on their own patch in Aba.

A breakthrough moment for a teenage striker

The goal was Ezekiel's first of the campaign, and Giwa believes the timing and significance of the strike could shape the youngster's trajectory for years to come.

"He's still a young player. He's so far played two or three games, and I think scoring a goal — an important goal like that against an African giant team like Enyimba — will give him confidence and boost his career going forward," Giwa said at the post-match press conference.

From winless to winners in Aba

Inter Lagos had lost all three of their opening fixtures — 2-1 to 3SC, 1-0 to Doma United, and 3-0 to Sporting Lagos — before making the trip to Aba. Giwa admitted that very few observers gave his side any realistic chance of taking points from the nine-time NPFL champions and two-time CAF Champions League winners.

"We've played three games before now and we lost all, which, going by those results, nobody gave us any chance coming into this game," he said. "But we put our acts together, knowing that in this NPFL, we're coming to play in it for the first time. The team is just three years old today."

A shower of blessing

Heavy rain fell over Aba roughly two hours before kick-off, and conditions remained difficult throughout the contest. Rather than bemoan the surface, Giwa turned the weather into a symbol of fortune for his travelling side.

"We call it 'shower of blessing'," he said with a laugh. "You can say it's in our favour because, for us to come here and win is a blessing to us after we lost three games back-to-back." He added that his general manager believed the attacking performance merited more than a single goal.

Inexperience and late preparation

Giwa was candid about the structural challenges behind Inter Lagos' difficult start. The club's squad is built largely on players from the Nigeria National League and the lower-tier Nigeria League One, with only one member having prior NPFL experience. The team had just six days between the conclusion of pre-season and their opening match.

"We started so late and we're dealing with NNL and NLO players, apart from one player who has played in the NPFL before," Giwa explained. "It's like we're dealing with too many young players and we need time to train for them to blend together properly."

A turning point, not a fluke

Despite the elation, Giwa was firm that defeating Enyimba must serve as a foundation rather than an outlier. He pointed to errors in the performance that require correction ahead of their next fixture against Kano Pillars on Wednesday.

"This is a sign of better days ahead, and we have to go back and consolidate on what happened here today so that it doesn't look like a fluke," he declared. "You cannot defeat a 'giant of Africa' and go back home and mess up. We can only go back home and consolidate on what we've done here today."