Victor Osimhen's state of origin is Edo State, and his tribe is Esan. When his father Patrick died in May 2020, Channels Television reported that he hailed from Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo. The striker himself was born in Lagos on 29 December 1998.
Lagos raised him. Edo is the state he inherits.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| State of origin | Edo State |
| Tribe | Esan, through his father |
| Paternal LGA | Esan South East, Edo State |
| Born | 29 December 1998, Lagos |
| Grew up | Olusosun, Lagos |
| Club (October 2026) | Galatasaray, four-year deal signed July 2025 |
| Super Eagles | Named in Eric Chelle's squad for the September 2026 AFCON qualifiers |
Born in Lagos, Esan by blood
Nigeria separates birthplace from state of origin. A child born in Lagos to parents from elsewhere is usually recorded under the father's state, on school forms, job applications and every official document that asks the question, which is why it keeps coming back for players like Osimhen who spent their whole Nigerian childhood in one state while belonging, on paper, to another.
The reliable trail runs through his father. Patrick Osimhen died on 23 May 2020 after a brief illness. He was buried in Lagos on 23 June, Legit.ng reported.
Channels Television placed him in Esan South East LGA, in Edo Central.
We stop short of naming a village. Neither Osimhen nor his family has confirmed a home town on the record.
Olusosun, water bottles and newspapers
For the childhood, the best witness is the player. In February 2026 he told his story in The Players' Tribune, starting with the neighbourhood: “It's next to the biggest landfill in Africa.”
He was the youngest of seven children. “Me and my 6 siblings lived in a one-room apartment in a shanty town in Lagos,” he wrote.
His mother died when he was two or three. He remembers only her holding him.
His father, a driver, then lost his job and “started washing dishes in a police department kitchen.” The children worked too: Victor was quick, so he sold bottled water in Lagos traffic, while his older brother Andrew rose at 3am to sell sports newspapers on the street, the job Osimhen called the hardest of all.
Fans in Istanbul know the story. Before Galatasaray faced Liverpool in March 2026, supporters unfurled a giant tifo of Osimhen with his late mother, Belgian broadcaster Sporza reported. He was in tears before kick off.
How Edo has claimed him
Benin City has never hesitated. Governor Godwin Obaseki hailed him after Napoli's Serie A title in May 2023.
He did it again that December, when Osimhen became the first African to win the Italian Footballers' Association award. “I heartily congratulate our own superstar, Victor Osimhen,” Obaseki said, according to ThisDay.
No formal Edo State honour turned up in our checks. His titles are federal, starting with Member of the Order of the Federal Republic in May 2023.
Galatasaray and the Super Eagles in 2026
Osimhen joined Galatasaray on loan from Napoli in 2024 and signed permanently on 31 July 2025, beIN Sports reported, in a deal valued at 75 million euros with a four-year contract. Club president Dursun Ozbek later insisted: “There is no exit clause in Osimhen's contract.”
October has been rough. On 13 October Galatasaray lost 4-1 at home to Barcelona, and Osimhen had a goal chalked off; our report on the Barcelona defeat has the details.
For Nigeria he had 35 goals in 51 caps by January 2026, second on the all-time list. His hat-trick against Benin and extra-time brace against Gabon carried the Super Eagles to the World Cup play-off final, but injury forced him off at half-time against DR Congo, and Nigeria lost on penalties. He then scored against Tunisia, Mozambique and Algeria at AFCON 2025, where Nigeria finished third.
Chelle named him for September's AFCON 2027 qualifiers. A muscle injury kept him out.
Our view
Edo by origin, Lagos by upbringing, Istanbul by trade. None of those labels cancels the others.
That matters beyond trivia. A boy from an Esan family, raised beside a Lagos dump, sold water in traffic and became the most expensive signing in Turkish football history; for every young Nigerian filling a state of origin box on a form that does not match the street he grew up on, his story says the box is only the start of the answer, and that the Super Eagles are built from exactly those mixed roots.
Our guide to Super Eagles players and their states of origin shows how varied the squad is. Readers chasing other numbers can check how tall Osimhen is or the old argument over whether Davido or Osimhen is richer.
Olusosun shaped him. Edo claims him.
This article was most recently revised and updated 28 seconds ago
