Stop de-marketing Nigerian League, GTI, Media Partners Tell Nigerians

Strategic partners of Nigeria Professional League , GTI Asset Management and Trust Limited has charged Nigerians to stop de-marketing the country’s football but rather believe in it:saying that the domestic league has improved tremendously.

They gave the charge Thursday during a media agencies interactive session on NPFL live commentaries on Radio project held at the training room of the company’s corporate headquarters at Marina, Lagos Island.

In his presentation at the event, Executive Director of GTI, Nelson Ine expressed regrets that Nigerians will be clamouring for other leagues while relegating theirs to the background, reminding them that nobody will change the narratives for them.

Ine stated that the interaction became necessary in order to build a good synergy between the league and the media to enable people understand that the negative perception about the country’s league is not necessary.

“This interaction is necessary in order to build a good synergy between the media and the league and to also point out the importance of radio commentaries in football matches.

” We’ re all aware that it’s only football which runs for nine months with 380 events that make Nigerians forget their gender, religious , language or tribal difference and as such the negative perception of the game is not necessary if we must get it right

He disclosed that not minding the huge successes recorded in the country’s top flight football since the intervention of GTI Group, corporate organisations are not yet ready to put their money in the league which he described as worrisome.

Ine noted that it’s disappointing that Nigeria with a population of close to 200 million with the youth making up about 70% of the population, no.proper investment is being made by both government and corporate Nigeria to invest in football which is capable of not only creating job opportunities for talented youths but will also bring in a lot of revenue to the country.

” When the English Premiership was started in 1992, with £200million provided by the British government, it’s profit grew steadily because the citizens believed in it and supported it and today, it has grown into financial and global influence becoming the most watched league in the world.

“Right now, EPL is broadcast in 52 countries of the world to 643 million homes, with a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people.

” So, there’s need for Nigerians to believe in our country’s football and invest in it so that the country can tap from the financial potentials inherent in the game.

On the insinuation in some quarters that there is low turnout of fans at the country’s match venues which is discouraging sponsors from.putting money in the league, Ine disagreed with the verdict noting that high profile matches from Enugu to Aba, Kano, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Ibadan and other venues attract huge crowd which he attributed to improvement in the league since GTI stepped in as an interventionist organisation.

The Executive Director used the occasion to remind Nigerians on the need to invest in the Nigeria Football Fund which was opened for public subscription in 2022, positing that very soon investors will start reaping their profits.

Highlighting some of the achievements recorded since GTI came on board, he listed them as establishing a conducive atmosphere for partners collaboration, facilitated seamless operation of the NPFL in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 seasons and the ongoing 2024/2025 season.

Others are; restored discipline and officiating integrity, improved live broadcast of matches to local and global audience, take off fund of N400 million for the 20 NPFL clubs for season 2022/2023 and 2023/2024, attractive financial incentives of N100 million for league champions ( Enyimba Fc for 2022/2023 season, N150 million for Rengers Int’l for 2023/2024 season and N200 million for 2024/2025 season.
Also it fostered partnership with Radio Nigeria National Network commentaries of NPFL matches to 37 FM stations across the country as well as instituted a system of accountability and transparency in the financial management of the league.

He further explained that GTI being mindful of the importance of radio as the most popularly means of communication, partnered FRCN in running life commentaries of league matches to enable the poorest rural dwellers have opportunity of following the games as they’re being played across the country.

In his own remarks, Chairman of Nigeria Professional League , Otumba Gbenga Elegbeleye explained that when they came on board, they inherited a poor league but expressed happiness that they’ve been able to change the narratives and are working towards moving it higher.

He appealed to corporate organisations to come forward and invest in the league, assuring them that accountability is their watch word

Chief Operating Officer of the League, Prince Davidson Owumi giving a break down of their performance since coming on board announced that for the last two years, referees indemnity have been settled fully which accounted for many away wins in the league.

He also announced that act of hooliganism at match venues are now being tackled seriously with any breach attracting severe fines and sanctions which he said has helped in stabilizing the league
“We’ re really stabilizing the league and have ensured we tackle all those things that put the game to disrepute. During the 2023/2024 season, a total of 380 matches were played with 784 goals scored which translates to an average of 2 goals per match.

” In those goals scored, 244 were home wins while 42 were scored on the road. We also had 76 penalties; 60 scored and 16 missed. There was also 1380 yellow cards and 56 red cards which is an evidence of fair officiating.

“These statistics demonstrates that the NPFL is thriving in structure while growing in technical depth and entertainment value with balanced distribution between home and away results signifying tactical evolution and improved refereeing standard”, Owumi submitted.

In a message he sent, Director General of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria Dr. Mohammed Bulama commended GTI for partnering with FRCN which boasts of the largest radio network in Africa in running commentaries during league matches which he said has helped in reaching to people in the remotest villages and hamlets in the country.

On his expose on FRCN Marketing Document, Deputy Director Marketing, Seyi Oyewunmi posited that the station also uses local languages to run NPFL commentaries which gives the league adequate coverage
He explained that FRCN at it’s peak reaches over 120 million listeners and that it runs commentaries of one NPFL match per week for 38 weeks with 6-8 windows for advert in every match.

In his closing remark, the Group Managing Director of GTI, Mr. Abubakar Lawal lend his voice to the clarion call for Nigerians to invest in the country’s league and join the global community in reaping the financial gain which football provides.
According to him, instead of wealthy Nigerians going abroad to acquire property, they should invest such monies here in football development and will never regret doing so.