Undoubtedly, the most successful club in the history of Nigerian football is Enyimba FC.
The club from Aba has won the Nigerian Premier League more times than any other club (9 times). It is the only Club to have won the CAF Champions League trophy (twice). The club’s record and standing in the top half of the Premier League has been consistent and unblemished for over two decades.
Last week, the ‘People’s Elephant’, the finalists among the 4 clubs that represented Nigeria in the 2024/2025 CAF Club competitions, were relegated to the second round of the CAF Confederation Cup. In their last two matches, they lost to Egypt’s Zamalek FC in Cairo by 3-1, after playing in Uyo in the first leg.
They are the last of the 4 Nigerian clubs to have done well and failed (again) to advance in two CAF competitions this season 2024/2025. The other three teams are El Kanemi Warriors FC from Maiduguri, Remo Stars FC from Ikenne and Rangers International FC from Enugu.
All these ‘giants’ together represent the failure of Nigerian clubs to make an impact in African club football in the last 20 years, the last time a Nigerian club won two CAF trophies in African football.
What does this mean for the development of Nigerian football where success is only measured in Trophies and Medals won?
The question is important because Nigeria has many African players who are among the best football players abroad. However, the number of players who play well abroad is not reflected in our domestic leagues. It could also mean that immigration is reducing the number of home teams and reducing the level of domestic leagues. You can’t eat your cake and have it too.
The constant and uncontrollable exodus of successful players from domestic clubs is likely to be the cause of the league’s decline and failure to attract the attention of investors and sponsors. The lack of big players in any league is like tea without sugar.
There was a time (30 years ago), at the beginning of the professional league in Nigeria, when companies (including major telecom companies) were flocking to support the Nigerian league with high quality advertisements. What happened to the fire and all the fun?
Even in the last ten years, or more, the oil company “poured” wealth into Nigerian football, including the league, even at a time when the league’s reputation was very low, full of cases of reckless corruption, and lack of basic facilities. infrastructure, proper management and basic infrastructure without which a business cannot succeed. All sports are best when televised.
The oil company resigned for unknown reasons, but was not connected to the history of the league.
What happened to attract such interest of supporters to Nigerian football despite the negative image it had in the past?
When the idea of an external governing body for the Premier League was first introduced and the League Management Committee, LMC, which operates independently of the Federation was addressed and later welcomed and informed, it was decided that a major change would be made which would end it. to the shenanigans that plagued early management. For example, It was thought that it will end the era of public clubs and the interference of the government in matters of family football which is considered to be the breath of the corrupt practices that affect the transparency and behavior of the league.
That LMC came and went after ten years operating in a cloud of obscurity and mystery, charges of not being guilty hanging over its head like the fictional Albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Marina’.
The staff seemed to benefit more than the league itself. They were released.
In the last three years, a new League Management Company, LMC, was born under a new leadership with a new spirit and clear responsibilities. It is assumed that things will be different and will bear different fruits.
The new LMC is bringing in a new partner, GTI Assets Management, to lead the league in a new direction of management and development.
With the help of the initial funds provided by GTI and provided by GTI, LMC has been improving the management of the league by establishing stability, helping clubs financially at the beginning of each season, helping to pay the high salaries of senior officials, and running the league by avoiding any serious crisis of trust and confidence.
The biggest problem remains the financial development of clubs and leagues. No one knows the details of the relationship that LMC has with GTI, other partners, investors and sponsors until the expected money starts flowing into the league.
Such money will help keep the best players at home and attract retired players to come back and play in the domestic league. But what comes first? Is it the chicken or the egg?
However, there are a few things that need to be pointed out here.
In the 2024/2025 season, of the 20 clubs in the league, 18 of them are still owned and supported by state governments. Private clubs are either out of business or unable to meet the demands of running clubs without capital.
Only two clubs are owned in the Premier League and both are using money from other countries, mainly the sale of foreign players, as the main source of their income. The excessive trading of players has led to the exodus of players, which has created a major problem in the development of Nigerian football.
Many clubs have moved away from focusing on developing players and winning trophies to the simpler and more profitable business of selling players abroad through trial clubs and academies.
The results are bad. Nigerian players have become cheap and plentiful, and many are selling peanuts to clubs in countries with less football traffic, such as Sudan, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Benin Republic, Malta, Albania, Bangladesh, Tanzania and so on. This is where all the ‘professional’ football players from Nigeria are now.
Unfortunately, this place is the ‘place of death’. Players who move there simply disappear into history, forever.
The result is that Nigerian clubs are so weak that they fail to win club trophies in Africa.
The last time a Nigerian club won any CAF competition was in 2003/4, and 2004-2005, through Enyimba FC. That’s it.
Since then, only weak attempts to reach the finals by Dolphins FC (once), as well as the quarter finals (twice) by two other Nigerian clubs, have taken place.
If continental club success is the measure of success in national football (and there is no other way to use it) it is no surprise, therefore, that the Nigerian league is NOT in the top five in the latest CAF competition. That speaks volumes.
What are some of the comments from Nigerians about where Nigerian football is going?
The situation has gotten so bad that two players of the Super Eagles team that is preparing for the CHAN team may have left for Sudan and Albania.
When players travel to several countries they evaporate into oblivion. However, going abroad is a flood where rising stars are washed away before they mature. However, without them, domestic football will be worthless, like tea without sugar.
No matter what incentives or strategies are put in place to improve the league, clubs will not win the competition, and leagues cannot be sold without good players being developed and encouraged to stay in the home league.
The Nigerian Premier Football League is a machine with many moving parts that must move in unison to create a league that is attractive enough to sell.
Without good reasons throughout the country, the best places to show television and radio and programs, without stopping the uncontrolled migration of foreign players, any effort to get the league to the next level will remain tarmac.
I learned that GTI Assets Management has extensive experience in finance and management, and spent 10 years researching and studying the Nigerian league and how to improve its economy. I hope that all these will be incorporated to ignite the flame of true progress and success.
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