WHEN in 1990 some respected Nigerian soccer administrators conceptualised the Nigeria Professional League body, they were responding to the new trends in the beautiful game in other climes. These men couldn’t stomach the mediocrity associated with the Nigerian game. They wanted a departure from the tardy past to embrace the new dawn where very good players could earn a living outside the country. The wise men foresaw the future where with a new mentality to matches, the country could one day play at the senior World Cup.
The pioneers’ dreams came to pass in 1994 with Nigeria’s Super Eagles qualifying for the USA’94 World Cup using players who had been exported to Europe to hone their skills which were still lethargic as a result of obsolete facilities across the country. The elite class was structured out of the old order. Indeed, there was something to fight for while those not listed fought gamely each season to qualify into the elite cadre.
The quasi-professional league witnessed a lot of improvement except that the ownership structures didn’t quite change with most of the teams owned by the government. The few private clubs (Leventis United FC of Ibadan, Abiola Babes FC of Abeokuta, New Nigeria Bank FC of Benin City, Flash Flamingoes FC of Benin City, Julius Berger FC of Lagos, Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC of Owerri, etc) left their marks, although they were eventually emasculated by the government teams which had tremendous cash which their administrators used to corrupt the system. The thought of having four teams in Benin City didn’t excite the fans as much having only their darling team in the elite class. The private clubs’ owners soon dropped their sponsorship initiatives when they couldn’t cope with the malfeasances of the league.
The conspiracy against the privately-owned teams brought back the sharp practices of the competition leading to the dearth of new talents. These private clubs couldn’t enjoy the support of the fans in those cities where the state’ owned team operated. Leventis had to manage its relationship with the Ibadan fans. Flash Flamingoes FC went through hell playing inside the Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin. The fans’ favourite was Bendel Insurance FC. The defunct New Nigeria Bank FC had a similar problem of acceptance. In fact, games involving these teams and their traditional local rivals threatened public peace as the security operatives had to be at their best to ensure peace before, during, and after matches. In one of such needless skirmishes, Bendel Insurance FC’s chairman, the late Major Ojo lost his life in a car crash very close to the stadium while trying to rescue the match referees from being lynched by irate fans. Gallant soldier, if you ask me. May his soul continue to rest in peace.
The rot in the league was such that we had predictable victories for home teams ably aided by the dubious calls of matches referees who most times are cajoled into taking such decisions. Who would blame the referees when their entitlements were being paid by the home side. Not forgetting the overdoes of hospitality by anxious home clubs eager to win their matches at all cost to justify the huge resources splashed on them by their owners. The administrators further bastardised the league by introducing board room points in connivance with officials in the former NFA’s league department which then was just one scruffy room compared with the digitalised offices with different units of the league having functional offices. It was that bad.
The league had difficulties in getting television sponsorships after the existing ones opted out because they were not getting commensurate returns on their investments. Urchins, beasts, hooligans, and hostile home supporters made life difficult for the fans, especially the visitors to watch matches of their choice. Unlike in Europe where fathers come to the stadium to watch matches with their families, it was risky doing so here and it affected pitching for sponsorships with the blue-chip companies.
Such hazardous settings soon affected the players’ performance with many of them opting to seek greener pastures elsewhere. This star-trek of players out of the country soon affected the quality of the league. Television coverage which serves as the biggest money-spinner for teams in Europe among other marketing windows couldn’t gain ground in Nigeria. The few who dared to cover matches lost equipment anytime there was violence in the stadium. There were always chaotic settings during matches because the fans took the laws into their hands rather than allow the referees to do their jobs according to the dictates of the rulebook.
During the trying periods of the Nigeria league, IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan (3SC) won the Cup Winners Cup in 1976. They were dethroned as champions in 1977, with the games between 3SC and eventual winners Enugu Rangers International very problematic. The second leg game had to be played on neutral ground in Kaduna, no thanks to the lunacy of the irate fans. NNB and Bendel Insurance at different years won the WAFU Cup for keeps with Bendel Insurance winning the defunct CAF Cup in1994 along with the WAFU for the third time in the same year. It must be said that 3SC won the CAF Cup in 1992, the trophy was donated by the late Chief MKO Abiola.
Many have called those victories pyrrhic because it didn’t represent how badly the league was organised. In these years there wasn’t any deliberate plan to train the coaches, officials and even educate the players about new trends in the game which is dynamic. Even the simplest of tasks in getting the elite clubs to also run youth teams which could also play league games either a day before the main teams’ or at an earlier time on the same pitch their seniors’ uses. This is how it is done in Europe. It explains the ease with which these European clubs replace their aging stars or those burdened by injuries. These youth teams help the countries having them pick players for their age-grade teams just as it provides the country’s Football Associations (FAs) data to plan the new discoveries’ future.
But in 2005, former sports minister Colonel Musa Mohammed (rtd) removed the league department from its dingy office at the Glasshouse in Abuja to stand on its own under a new nomenclature the Interim League Management Board under the leadership of the late Chief Oyuki Jackson-Obaseki. This body was taxed with the burden of creating a new template for the game to grow. Since some of the members of this body were running the clubs, they knew where the problems were and fixed them.
ILMB removed the payment of the match officials from the clubs by paying their entitlements. ILMB sought a collaboration with AIT to beam the matches live. This singular move brought the fans back to the stadium. Clubs were made to pay their debts to players before the commencement of the new season. Away teams were encouraged to record matches whose footage can be tendered as evidence in the event of disputes. ILMB’s innovations brought back the spark in the league. But with everything Nigeria, we returned to the trenches after the late Obaseki was removed from office. Obaseki, the moving train’s new ideas were bastardised, leaving the league in its worst-ever condition where nothing works.
Most of the leagues in the world have reached the tenth week, ours’ hasn’t started with the players and officials training without playing competitive games. Our continental representatives are no longer good enough to compete in the CAF Champions League, with our last hope, Rivers United dumped to the Confederations Cup which also has Enyimba FC of Aba. Two of them Akwa United of Uyo and Bayelsa United have been bundled out, no thanks to the fact that we have not commenced our league which others use to prepare their representatives.
Nigeria league is in limbo. It is in a coma awaiting another ministerial directive for it to begin like it happened last year. The organisers who have been in charge are offering laughable reasons for the delay again.