Over the years, the nomenclature of the country’s premier football league, which is the highest level of club football has been changed severally by those managing it. This exercise has not bequeathed a flourishing league to the country as obtained in most footballing nations. Rather, it has been one form of controversy after another to make its rechristening almost meaningless, GOWON AKPODONOR reports.
That said, frequent changes in a company’s name could give the impression that it is battling an identity crisis that may, in fact, affect the way that the public relates with it. In some cases, such identity changes have led to eventual collapse of outfits In Nigeria, the National League came into existence in 1972, two years after the Nigerian Civil War. It retained that name until 1979, when it was changed to First Division with the creation of two lower leagues, Division Two and Division Three, to accommodate more clubs in the system.
This can be further gleaned from the frequent changes in the name of the managing body, which has been variously known as the League Management Committee , Interim Management Committee , and now the Nigerian Premier Football League board. “The frequent name change affected the league’s fortunes and also impacted negatively on clubs and players. Refusal to honour sponsorship deals made a mess of the system, and the flow of the game to the point that the rights’ owner, who could have fought to stop all the nasty court cases arising from the refusal to honour these deals, was mysteriously sidelined by the corrupt powers that be in our football,” Obanoyen stated.
With the league’s new status as a limited liability company, sponsors trooped in and the league became viable. Total Promotions brought in Supersports as the television broadcaster, while Globacom became the title rights owner of the league. Barely a year after he took office, Owumi was removed as the NPL CEO in 2012 through an arbitration panel constituted by the Nigeria Football Federation to mitigate the impasse that broke out after Ransom Baribote cried foul in the wake of the election.
When Irabor came in as LMC chairman, he allegedly jettisoned the five-year broadcast deal between Total Promotions Limited, and the League body because “it was skewed in favour of one party. In setting aside the deal, the LMC elected to deal directly with Supersport.”