A League is Reborn!
A real change is happening in Nigerian football. The stadiums are getting packed out by excited fans and the rivalry amongst local teams which had grown cold over the past decades is warming up. Now the fans appear to have taken ownership of the games, and are excited about the outcome of matches, whether
beat Rangers, almost as much they are in Arsenal vs Chelsea. League football is re-born!
This shouldn’t really be news. Football is the most popular sport in the world with large following across all continents. But until recently you wouldn’t know this is the case as it relates to the Nigerian league. Games of the premier league were played in virtually empty stadiums and make little impact even in the communities where the stadiums were located.
Nobody appeared to care if Kano Pillars beat Heartland 10:0, or if Enyimba was playing at home or overseas. It didn’t make any difference. If it was not European football, count Nigerians out. There was no buzz, no chatter about local players or teams, and this led to an exodus of players overseas, to less fancy leagues in India, Malta and even Sudan. Apparently anywhere else but Nigeria.
That was not the case in the 80s, a decade of local football and a time when Nigerians religiously stuck to the radio for information on the local teams and footballers who were major celebrities at that time. It was the decade of Segun Odegbami, Emmanuel Okala, Muda Lawal, Christian Chukwu and Baba Otu Mohammed; a period of fond memories: of great dribbles, great shots and great goals!
Gradually the glamour associated with the local league faded away. In time, the teams and players appeared to be invisible and nothing they did seemed to matter. It did not help that most of the games were lacklustre as the quality of the teams were poor. A number of factors were responsible for this depression in domestic football: downturn in the economy, government take-over of clubs, poor officiating and corruption, the rise of European football and its exposure on cable TV, and others.
But things are changing. The fans are coming back, the quality of the games has improved significantly, and so have officiating and management of the league. The single most important factor for this positive development is the League Management Company (LMC), the body that was initiated by the former Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, and which now manages the Premier League.
The body that was in charge of the management of the premier league before the LMC was called the Nigeria Premier League (NPL). It was a hopeless body, which had no motivation or clue on how to deal with the various challenges affecting professional football in the country. The body was riven with corruption too. Several team managers personally complained about how the NPL short-changed their teams by influencing referees.
Besides the corruption and incompetence of its leadership, the structure of that body also hampered good performance. The NPL was in theory an association of club owners and one of whom was elected chairman with the responsibility of managing the league as its CEO. In practice, this unorthodox and oldfashioned way of running professional football was deeply flawed as the so-called chairman was also a participant in the league as a club owner with keen interest in the outcome of matches. He wielded too much power and with no institution empowered to checkmate him; this was greatly abused by the former chairman who carried on like a demi-god with no accountability. The consequences were grave and resulted in a league which lacked integrity with fans, sponsors and other stakeholders.
Because of the excessive powers of the NPL chairman and lucre associated with the post, the election into that office was always controversial. As at the time Abdullahi was appointed in December 2011 in an acting capacity, the crises over the last election had dragged on for years between Messers Victor Rumson Baribote and Davidson Owumi, who refused to see reason or put the interest of the league above their personal considerations but rather engaged in litigation and media wars which further damaged the premier league brand.
Abdullahi’s efforts to resolve their differences did not yield much result. It was at that time the idea of a new league body was born. His plan was a premier league built in the mould of the Barclays Premier League of England which was inarguably the most valuable football brand in the world and definitely the most watched. He also however understood the limitations of his powers. Sport is one area where the minister does not have much executive power, only powers of persuasion. The federations come cap in hand to ask for funds from the government but if you try to interfere in their processes, would insist they were independent and autonomous and show you statutes of their global bodies to prove this. The minister could therefore not just dissolve the corrupt and incompetent NPL Board. It required more tact and wisdom. Abdullahi eventually achieved that goal through the board members who were disenchanted with the leadership and an interim body led by Hon. Nduka Irabor was set up.
Irabor built the foundation of the LMC, resolved most of the crises that had plagued the previous football body. A company (League Management Company) was registered by the interim body with the mandate of running the league in line with best football practices. The club owners, sports ministry and NFF are the shareholders in the company.
Shehu Dikko, the new LMC helmsman has upped the ante, attracting more funding in terms of title and broadcast sponsorships. Players get more pay now through the harmonised salary scale pushed by the LMC, even as clubs earn a minimum of N55 million as participation fee in the league. Private sector participation in terms of club ownership and sponsorships has improved significantly, even as security at match venues and overall welfare of players. But more noteworthy is the integrity of the matches; no one can easily predict outcome of matches merely by which team is playing at home.
All of which has delighted the fans who are trooping back to stadiums, adrenaline pumped up shouting or whatever local team they support. Change is indeed possible; at least in football we can feel it!