The 24 year-old centre-back is now in his second season with Slavia, helping them to sit seven points clear at the top of the Czech First League table at Christmas.
Ogbu sat down with Tribalfootball.com last week for this exclusive chat, where he discussed his decision to move to Slavia, his hopes for a first senior Nigeria call and also what is in his career plan further down the road.
SLAVIA PRAGUE
Seven points clear at the top of the table, do you think this could be the season you win a first league championship?
Yes, we are seven points clear and for sure, I believe that it's our time and I strongly believe in God I know that for sure we are going to come out victorious and win the league this season. I'm certain about it.
Now into your second season in Czechia, do you think the league has improved your personal game?
Yes it has. I will say that my second season at Slavia has been lovely. The league has really improved, they have really been doing well and the league is getting better. We have more competitive games among the Czech teams. So, for me, I think the league is really good at this moment.
How important has been working with coach Jindřich Trpišovský? Has he improved your game?
With my coach, he has a very good sense of the game. He knows when to change and when not to. He is a good coach and he has been helping me, the players and others in the team. He has really worked hard for me to be a better player.
How have you dealt with your head injury? The first moments must have been difficult.
My head injury, I think that was most difficult moment for me. Everybody who saw this, they don't really see it the way it happened because everybody thought it was just something that just occurred and I'm going to be fine, but I broke my face bone and it was not easy for me because I had never gotten that kind of injury before.
I was at the hospital when the doctor told me that if the bone went up a little bit, that would have been the end of it for me, active football wise. It was something very scary to stop doing what you love.
So, for me, it has been the grace of God, if not God I could have lost it (my career), not being able to eat or do what you want to do, is really difficult.
How did you mentally get over the unfortunate accidents in the Prague derby?
You know with the Prague derby, that is a totally different game entirely. Sometimes you know in football, you are not always mentally strong, it is not that you are afraid or something, but in those kind of games, you know that the little chance the opponent gets, they will definitely use it against you and those kind of games you need 100% concentration.
So with the derby, I don't have anything in my mind when it comes to them, it is just a game and I just go out to play and whatever happens, happens.
How do you see the current competition for the central defender position at Slavia?
There is nothing, there's no one in competition in central defence or anything. Football is Football, you cannot play all the games and every game, I was there to play before I got my injury and when I came back I was on recovery for the team. I was not thinking about the position. I think the most important thing is for us to win, that has been my aim. I don't see any competition there, I just see football players trying to give out their best in their own unique way.
NORWAY AND NIGERIA
What convinced you to join Slavia from Lillestrom?
For me, what convinced me as a player is to feel the club that comes to look for me has great plans for my career development. It Is not just about going to a club because they are big or in a certain league, that is none of it. It is more about knowing how can they build with you to become a better player and in all the teams that came for me, Slavia is the one that was open enough to make me feel comfortable like home and that was why I chose Slavia Prague.
Were there other offers? Why the Czech league?
The Czech Republic league is a good league and you can see that the Czech league has produced a lot of good players abroad. They are producing good goalkeepers, you see many players playing in the Italian league because they always come to watch the Czech league. It is a good league for development.
As a player, you know you have to grow, you don't just play good seasons and run to a bigger club. You can face difficulties that you can't maintain. So, you have to build yourself in every step of the way so that when you reach the top, it will be better for you.
There are many players here they've had since young, they developed and played in the academy of the club and they moved into the main team, so it's much easier for them.
We from Africa is different, we have to think and be clever when we make decisions.
How was playing in Norway for you?
For me, I chose Norway because it's a good place for development of young players from Africa that have dreams of playing professional football in Europe. It is a place that you stay focused and it is very quiet. You just play football. It is you and football.
For me, playing in Norway has really helped me, I met some good people. It is a good place to start your football development in Europe.
Are transfers to Scandinavian countries a good path for African players moving to Europe?
Transfers to Scandinavia are a good option, but with African players, it's all about the mentality because it's not every player is mentally strong.
When you travel and you leave home you need to know that you leave home because you want to feed home.
So, it's a mental thing. I don't think it's about Scandinavia or something, it's about just going there and enjoying football and it will be really good. I don't think playing in Scandinavia is a bad place for an African player. It is really a good place for a start, if you have the confidence and the mind that you want to grow and you believe in it.
You played for Eirik Bakke, the former Leeds player, at Sogndal. How did you find working with him as a coach?
Actually, Eirik Bakke is one of the best coaches I had since i started playing football. He really helped us when it comes to not just playing football, but life outside football. He counselled us on how to live as players. He has experience, he has gone to abroad, he knows how the systems works. He was teaching we the African players how it should be.
For me, Bakke has been one of the best coaches I've had, so playing for him is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'm proud of that.
What about the Super Eagles? Have you had any contact with the NFF? Should their scouts come and watch you?
For me, the Super Eagles is a team that every Nigerian kid dreams of. Every footballer wants to play for his country, to wear the jersey and be proud of it.
I had contacts with the NFF. The last time I had contact with them my dad had just passed away, but for me I just wait for the right time and when the right time is due I know for sure that I will be in the team.
So, I'm not in a haste, I just believe in what I can do and I just have to wait. Other Nigerians are playing and other players are there as well. It will always come to be your time if you keep working hard and improve your game, it will come to be your time and definitely it will happen in God's timing.
Tell us a little about playing for your country in the U20 World Cup. Where does that stand in your career?
Playing for Nigeria at the FIFA U-20 World Cup was good, but one thing for sure is: I don't take too much (from it), it's a youth football tournament and I'm already playing abroad. So, for me it was fun to represent my country in the U-20 FIFA World Cup.
I was happy to be there, it helped me actually because it exposed me to understand more about football, to understand more on what I need to work on as a player, it helped my career in a certain kind of way.
Are you friends with your compatriot Victor Olatunji, who also lives in Prague but plays for rivals Sparta?
When it comes to that I don't have issues with people, but I'm not a people person. I don't always go out or do a lot of things, but of course we are cool. He is a good player and I don't have any issues with him.
When it comes to football yes, but outside football, we don't go out like that, so I'm not going to say that okay we're friends; yes he is a Nigerian, we see and we greet each other and all that, that's all.
PLAYING IN EUROPE AND FUTURE PLANS
Were you always going to be a defender back home in Nigeria?
Actually, I didn't start as a defender. I started playing as a winger. I think a player had an injury and the coach needed someone to play in that position. So I had to move to right-back and play, after that he saw that I did really, really well.
One day, the coach asked me to play in the central defence position, I did and I continued playing from there. I never wanted it initially, but when it worked out well and all that, I just continued and that was how I became a central defender.
Who were the players you looked up to as a young player?
Actually one of the players I really looked up to while I was younger was Carles Puyol, he was a very great defender. I love the way he defended and John Terry, another top defender and I love him because I saw his dedication, the mindset he had and I think that really inspired me as a young footballer.
You've had some great experiences in European competition - can you tell us how playing against the likes of Roma and AC Milan has improved you?
Playing in the European games really helped me to develop my game, it made me see that football is something that when you love it and you put your energy into it, you can achieve anything.
So playing with those great players and seeing how they played, helped me so much to realise that I needed to feel it, the game made me realise how good and talented I can be.
For me, I think it helped me to know that the future is bright, that I am just starting to make things happen. So playing with them was very fun for me, it was not with pressure. It was just fun for me to just play and enjoy when you play with these teams.
What about marking Olivier Giroud, Romelu Lukaku and Omar Marmoush?! How did you find that experience?
Playing against Giroud, Lukaku and Marmoush can be described as a good experience for me, a great thing. Lukaku is a very strong striker, Oliver Giroud, Marmoush as well, who everybody knows, the experience is there. I wasn't stressed at all. After playing against Lukaku, I think I don't have any fear against any striker.
Is the Premier League an ambition?
The Premier League is a good league, but I'm not a player who chooses to say 'this is the league I want to play, I want to play in the Premier League or I want to play in that league'. I'm just a player that loves football, I love to play football.
Let the Premier League be the Premier League and when the time is right and all that, and they come, I know for sure that I will make the right decision for myself and for my family.
In the past you had the opportunity to leave Slavia, which you did not take. What made you stay?
I had many opportunities to leave Slavia but I don't think they were opportunities because I felt it was not the right time and deep down inside me, I can feel it you know, like some players work with their instinct, some players not all. Personally, I work with my instincts and I see what is good for me and what is not good for me. I'm not in a rush to go to anywhere, I would like to just play and enjoy football and when the right offer comes for me, I will feel it strongly and I will go, that is what I believe.