By Segun Odegbami BBC Sport, Nigeria

Governor Kalu watches Enyimba in the Champions League beside former coach Kadiri Ikhana (right)

As the new football season in Nigeria kicks off this weekend, there is a buzz of great excitement and anticipation in the air.

All eyes are pointed east of the River Niger to Aba, the once unknown Igbo city of traders which is now a Mecca for football following the victories of Enyimba FC in the African Champions League and Super Cup.

The Aba team set out this weekend to tread the same path as they did in breaking Nigeria's 39-year jinx of failing to win Africa's premier club competition - a victory that has revitalised football in my homeland.

Not only have Enyimba's successes given Nigerian football a new boost of energy, they have also delivered fresh incentives to kick-start an authentic reformation of Nigeria's domestic football.

So instead of wasting time lingering on history, the country is now looking to the immediate future instead - confident in the knowledge that Enyimba's victories were no accident.

Enyimba have given fresh incentives to kick-start an authentic reformation of Nigeria's domestic football Former Nigeria star Segun Odegbami

In fact, they were well-conceived, well-financed, visible and consistently progressive.

Every other club now wants to follow the Enyimba example, especially the precedent set by Governor Orji Kalu.

Kalu, who governs Enyimba's home state of Abia, has invested considerable funds into the club and has seen his efforts well-rewarded.

Since the end of the Champions League, at least seven other State Governors have now voted large sums of State funds into their own clubs.

It is clear that they see the obvious political mileage accruable.

And so popular has Governor Kalu become that some are already calling on him, as reported in various newspapers here, to run for the Presidency of Nigeria!

Enyimba win Super Cup

Aside from that, the city of Aba is enjoying an economic boom, international attention and an influx of visitors.

The prize money that the team won, the highest ever by a Nigerian club, has revealed new realities to other clubs around the country.

Another knock-on effect is that good footballers, many coming from across the borders, are now flocking to Aba.

With better player incentives, the once-intractable problem of mass exodus of players to foreign leagues has also been reduced.

Enyimba's standing has been boosted by the one-year sponsorship deal worth 100 million naira (US $800,000) handed to the club by Globacom, a local telecommunications company.

This massive sum is more than the annual budgets of most of the Premier league clubs.

So the prospects for a great new football season are high - taking into account the better funding for clubs, better incentives for players, retention of good players in the country and fresh challenges for the Nigerian Football Association to organise a better league.

There is also the anticipated entry of reasonable television coverage of the league, so everything points in the direction of Nigerian football reaching a new dawn!