Ndidi leads the top-flight tables for tackles and interceptions, with 59 and 36 respectively, and is key to a team who are second in the division after 12 matches, with one more point than champions Manchester City.
When his team-mates disperse at the end of a session, he makes the two-mile journey from the club’s Belvoir Drive base to De Montfort University, where he is studying for a degree in business and tourism.
He his determined to further his education as part of a plan to improve that of many others in his home country.
‘I have spare time, so instead of sitting and playing FIFA, it’s good to understand the four walls of schooling,’ Ndidi explained. ‘When I was 12 or 13 I left home to further my football career and, while I kept up my studies, I always wanted to continue my education later in life’.
‘I go for one-on-one sessions with a lecturer and I’ve recently done an exam, involving a project and a presentation. I got 63 per cent in the presentation and 65 per cent in the project. I’m really happy that De Montfort have been able to help.
‘I want to understand the outside world of business and I have a plan to build a school, similar to Aspire in Qatar (a sports academy that also provides secondary education). I’ve been there with the Nigeria national team and you see that young players are also receiving an education.
‘In Nigeria some players want to play football and then they forget about school. But if you do both you can continue with whichever one works out, instead of just hoping for football, football — and then you don’t make it.
‘All my life I wanted to play football and this is my career now but there was pressure from my dad not to go that way because he wanted me to stay at school. He was not convinced I was doing the right thing until he first saw me on television, playing for the Under 17 national team. The population of Nigeria is massive and it is so hard to make the grade as a footballer, so I have a clear vision of a place where you can play football and study, either in Lagos or Abuja’.
‘I have spoken to my godfather about making it happen. If kids don’t make it in football, I want them to think they can get a degree and work, instead of roaming the streets’ Ndidi concluded.
