What on earth is going on in the Nigeria Premier League? When is the 2012/2013 season going to kick off?
The machinations going on behind the scene in the NPL are incredible and read like the script of an improbable Nollywood movie.
Nineteen of the 20 members of the NPL Congress finally decided that they have had enough of the erstwhile chairman of the board, Chief Victor Baribote, and voted him and his board members out of office.
The Nigerian Football Federation then stepped in, overruled the decision of the board and reinstated Baribote, stating that due process was not followed.
As we speak, Baribote has 'stepped aside' and a three-man committee instituted to probe the Baribote-led board of alleged misappropriation of funds.
The shenanigans in the NPL would be hilarious if not for the severely detrimental effect it is having on our domestic game.
As things stand, the earliest time the NPL can start is February 2013. This is bound to affect our flag bearers in the CAF Champions League, which kicks off between Feb. 15th and 17, 2013.
It is said that when who elephants fight, the grass suffers. What happens to the players and others whose livelihood depends on the NPL while all these power tussles are taking place?
The welfare of the footballer in our domestic league has never been of particular concern to the club administrators.
Funds meant for the players are diverted by unscrupulous individuals, leaving the players to be surviving on meagre salaries.
This makes the players ever ready to jump ship to go and be playing in the backwater leagues around the world.
I hope the NPL not kicking off till next year does not adversely affect the chances of our home based Super Eagles players getting into the squad for the African Cup of Nations in South Africa.
It goes without saying that if our home based Eagles are not playing week in, week out, it is bound to have a negative impact on their match sharpness and all round physical fitness.
However, Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi is looking to circumvent this by inviting the home based Eagles to camp next week to keep them at an optimum level of fitness.
Another consequent effect of the drama engulfing the NPL is the continued credibility gap that exists between Corporate Nigeria and attracting major investment to our domestic game.
I attended the Soccerex seminar, which was held in Lagos in September, where high level representatives of the German Premier League, the Bundesliga, and the French top division, Ligue One, spoke about the leagues in their countries being a product that sponsors buy into, only because they represent an effective, discernible and measurable platform for the propagation and promotion of their brands.
It must be understood that corporate organisations are under no obligation to invest in sport.
It is first and foremost a business decision. The emphasis must be on the NPL to create the right environment for investment in the game.
As it stands, what brand equity does the NPL have? Sadly, at this point in time, absolutely none.
I spoke at length with former NPL chairman – Baribote – at the Soccerex event and he complained that some parties were intent on besmirching the reputation of the NPL.
I said to him that in my opinion, the NPL did not necessarily have a bad reputation but simply had no reputation to speak of.
One thing I have always championed in this column is the reconnection between and re-engagement of Corporate Nigeria and our sports sector.
There should be an increased involvement of the private sector in sport and that involvement should be treated as an investment, rather than as mere charity or corporate social responsibility.
Since football is by far and away Nigeria's favourite sport, it is deeply mortifying that for the third year in a row, the NPL has not got a sponsor.
The reasons for non-sponsorship however are not hard to deduce.
The total lack of credibility and accountability in the running of the NPL will make any potential sponsor run away.
What any sponsor is looking for is some form of corporate governance, which is sorely lacking in the NPL right now, and might be possibly for some time to come.
I watched the Soweto derby between Orlando Pirates and the Kaizer Chiefs in amazement in a stadium packed full of screaming, fanatical fans. The derby was shown all over Africa, parts of South America and in far away Australia.
We can achieve the same in Nigeria. We can do it because we have done it before. I don't think the Soweto derby can rival the titanic clashes of the past between Shooting Stars of Ibadan and their age long rivals, Rangers International of Enugu.
The NPL is our own league, what we, Nigerians of a certain generation, grew up with.
It is merely a sleeping giant with a potential beyond comprehension.
Our Premier League was once the best in Africa and can be so again.
