Barau FC

Barau FC arrive in the Nigeria Professional Football League only recently and are already eighth place in their debut top-flight campaign, with a first trophy already on the shelf. That trophy, the Kano State Federation Cup, came in April 2026 with a 3-2 win over Bichi First FC and carried the club into the President's Federation Cup, where they beat Sunshine Stars U-19 before going out to Ikorodu City FC on penalties in the quarter-finals.

The club exists because a sitting politician wanted it to: Senator Barau I. Jibrin, Nigeria's Deputy Senate President, founded the side in 2021 with youth unemployment and a Nigerian football brand in mind, and Ambassador Ibrahim Shitu Chanji has chaired it since. Promotion followed a second-place finish in the Nigeria National League Super 8 playoffs, and by the time Barau reached the NPFL they were already outgrowing Dambatta, their home town, whose stadium could not meet league standards. Matches moved to Kano's Sani Abacha Stadium instead, a switch that came with a running dispute over usage fees with the state government.

On the pitch, winger Joseph Atule, signed from Enyimba FC, top-scored with 8 goals and 5 assists in the first NPFL season. Midfielder Nana Abraham had a harder afternoon: after scoring against Katsina United in November 2025, he was allegedly stabbed by a pitch invader.

Pillars answer to the state government and the ruling New Nigeria Peoples Party locally, Barau to a senator from the All Progressives Congress, and the meeting has picked up the name Pyramid Derby around Kano.