The chairman of National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko has emphasised on the role of governments in kick-starting successful football leagues across the globe.

Mallam Dikko was speaking in the aftermath of antagonisms to the Federal Government’s intervention in the Nigerian domestic league pointing out that such interventions were necessary to set the league on the right pedestal.

A former Chairman of the League Management Company, Mallam Dikko flashed back to the lack of political will that mitigated against the progress of the league during his reign.

His words, “We should have been accused of negligence if we failed to do what we are doing, but now we are doing the needful and some people are against it. If I had this type of support from government those days we would have taken the League to much higher level now.

“I was in charge of the league from 2013 to 2022 so I know what I am talking about. All the while not even 1 Kobo came from government to support the league.

Rather some people in government were working against us. Those days I will work hard to generate revenue for the league and some people in government will call the sponsors not to work with us. Now that we are here, we shouldn’t do the same thing. Only a mad man will keep doing the same thing when it is not yielding results.

“We have all been complaining that the league is bad and needs support and now the government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR in his wisdom has decided to intervene and some people are complaining.

“Our assignment as a government is to provide enablers for all sports to succeed. Anywhere we can intervene directly or indirectly we will do that.”

The NSC Chairman enumerated private sponsorships initiated for sporting activities by the Commission and wondered why the same cannot be done for football and the league.

He continued, “We just raised N5b for the National Sports Festival from just one sponsor.So why can’t we put our heads together and get a similar result for the league? This sponsor was encouraged by the innovations at the last NSF in Abeokuta like Invited Junior Athletes. If we bring in more innovations into the league, the sponsors will be encouraged to come in.

That is what we are doing when we put down N2.5b and push towards the N2m minimum wage. We have to make the product more attractive to investors.

“Right now we have commitments from A-list sponsors wishing to support our school sports initiatives. The money they are putting down for school sports is much more than the entire revenue of the NPFL. The league should be more lucrative, so why can’t we work together with the NFF and NPFL in this direction?”

He punctured the opinion that governments had not made financial interventions in the thriving leagues across the globe.

“When the EPL started in 1992, the British government first put down £200m to get it started. At that time people also complained but today, from that £200m, the government gets £5-6b from taxes generated from EPL.

“The South African government finds a way to put at least $20m to the SA league indirectly through SABC who buy the free-to-air rights. Every year British government puts in over $400m into the EPL through the BBC. The government of Morocco pays every club subvention, repairs the stadiums, buys OB vans and several other interventions that help the league to grow.”

Mallam Dikko pointed out that ultimately government’s intervention in the league will rub off on the nation’s economy.

“Just as the British government today generates more money through its investment in the EPL, the same will ultimately happen to the Nigerian economy. The money we put in will come back to the economy. We will have a truly professional league where the players will be well paid and we will generate plenty sporting jobs”, he concluded.

In his speech the NSC Director-General Hon. Bukola Olopade noted that if the domestic league doesn’t improve under the leadership of Mallam Dikko as NSC Chairman, then a lot should be questioned.

He said, “Mallam Dikko did this league for several years, so if there is anyone who should know where the problem lies, he is the one. He should be in a good position to proffer solutions. And we have a President who wants to get this sorted. Where there is a will there will surely be a way ”

Similarly, the President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau called on the stakeholders and the media to rally round the current administration to fix the domestic league.

“I can recall when those days, we will think that we are going to hit a gold mine in the league, then over the night, one government official will call our sponsors and they will back off. Now we have a government that wants to support our league to develop, we should support and not discourage them”, he opined.

Chairman of the NPFL club owners association, Sir. Okey Kpaluku commended the NSC for coming to the aid of the league.

“You need money to have a successful league. Without the government will, it is very difficult. The private sector can only come in after the government has put in so much. Whatever name you give to your dog is what people will call him. We have to make the league attractive first for investors to come in. On behalf of the NPFL clubs, I must thank the Federal Government for this intervention”, he stated