The game of football has been a part of the Nigerian sporting world a long time before the country’s independence in 1960.
The organized Nigerian football league (current NPFL) started in early 1970s when the likes of Rangers and Mighty Jets became fully established. Football has remained ever since but the identity of the league has changed many times.
It was at a time called the Division One League and then it changed differently according to the names of sponsors until 1990 when the current set up was first introduced. It was this period that football administrators and people of like minds sat down to tinker what became known as the Nigerian professional league.
I have deliberately stated that they sat down to set up “what became known” as the professional league because the vision is yet to be achieved. It is more of a name than being professional in the real sense of the word.
Or can anyone say the Nigerian football league is professional if we look across the border to just the North African leagues without crossing the Mediterranean into the shores of Europe?
What’s in a name?
The titles have changed truly many times and of recent it moved from being Nigeria Professional League to Nigeria Professional Football League. In all since 1990 one thing has been constant and that is the word ‘Professional.’
Ironically, not being very professional is the bane of the Nigerian league system. Some individuals have tried so much, especially with the club licensing, as they tried hard to make the clubs have complete professional system or give way to new clubs that are ready to comply.
The major hindrance to achieving this is the fact that most of the teams in this “professional league” are owned by the various governments in Nigeria. At best, most of these clubs are there to satisfy political demands; compensate loyal party men or family and friends.
When the so-called “club owners” are far from being professionals it is utterly a waste of faith to imagine that things would be run professionally.
What’s there for me?
As the league is currently structured, teams crisscross the entire length and breadth of the country to fulfill league obligations.
A team can play in Kano on Saturday and then return to Owerri to host a visiting team on Wednesday. Kano to Owerri is a distance of 951.7km and a journey of about 15 hours and 22 minutes.
They could get back to their base very late on Monday or early hours on Tuesday (barring any major breakdown or incident), rest and then play another hard-tackling game after just resting for 24 hours.
The reason it takes this long to travel is because the teams travel by road. Apart from a few of them like Remo Stars, Akwa United, Rangers, Rivers United and Sporting Lagos the others in a 20-team league travel by road. Teams could be driven across 2000km within a week and also playing about three games within this timeframe.
This is very stressful to the teams as most of these teams travel by road. What comes as pain for the players and coaches in a way passes as financial yielding for some backend officials.
Some of them are civil servants who collect travel and outstation allowances for these trips which means the longer they stay away from their bases, the more allowances they get.
In about Year 2000, a club official explained to me how things work in some of these clubs with regards to their budgets. In his own words, “the bigger the budget, the bigger the gains.” This has made this long trips and budgets quite cool for some people.
He explained that some clubs are not bothered by such sanctions as forcing a team to play their home matches at neutral grounds because of the money involved. “It’s like playing only away matches in one month. So sometimes you are forced to play six straight matches all away from home and that is good business for some people as long the club stays afloat away from the relegation zone.”
Regional or Conference league
In several discussions around the NPFL as it is run today, many have suggested what is called regional or conference league which ends up in a national playoff. The lower leagues adopt this pattern but it has become quite difficult for those in the upper league to accept.
This was the planned pattern for the current season but it was learnt that blackmail and all sorts from a few league representatives made the implementation impossible.
A top official of the league who spoke unofficially said the organizers were told they would “divide Nigeria” if such pattern is applied. The noise was so much, and given the political atmosphere in the country at the period, the league organizers were forced to play the usual home and away style across the entire country.
A softer and safer system would mean the teams in the south are grouped together to produce a top three or four for the playoff and the same pattern is followed for the north.
What this means, for instance, is that Rivers United arrive in Lagos to play Sporting Lagos and then travel to Ikenne in less than two hours to play Remo Stars. They could continue to play Shooting Stars and then Sunshine before returning to Port Harcourt.
Sporting Lagos are expected to leave for Owerri, soon after they have played host to Rivers. They can continue to Umuania and then Aba to face Enyimba.
The organizers can even group the teams across the country into three conferences if they so decide along with the clubs. The final result is that each club may not travel more than once or just twice in the regular season and the players rest more and go through less stress.
Looking at Belgium and England
Some of those opposed to this structure would say that is not how it is done in England and Belgium and that in Holland every club travels to play each other.
What they don’t always remember is that most of the countries in Europe have less landmass compared to Nigeria and each adopted what is suitable for their system without comparing with the Nigerian league.
Again, those in Europe have regular and cheaper flights; they have the option of good, speedy trains and their buses are luxury buses in the true sense of it, while their roads are smooth and secure.
This is a far opposite of what obtains in Nigeria. Paris to London is exactly one hour by flight but you cannot make it in one hour from Uyo to Kano unless you choose to travel with a jet fighter.
Just this season, Sunshine Stars lost one of their backroom officials to an armed robbery attack on the road to Benin City for a league match. There have been other cases of attacks, breakdown of buses and accidents. These hazards can be minimized.
NPFL's Final-6 national playoff
Last NPFL season was wrapped up with a Final-6 playoff and there was another Super-8 organised by a private organization. Both competitions were adjudged as very good by teams and spectators. We watched very creative teams because the players had rested and were playing essentially on a neutral ground.
The Final-6 was attractive at a very good venue and marketers loved it. The Nigerian league system can run on its own unique format as long as it makes it attractive to sponsors and above all, being less expensive, softer and safer for the players and teams who are the centre of it all.
