Ernest Osogbue.
It was indeed an interesting session, when the management of the Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL, brought the four newly promoted teams from the Nigerian National League, NNL, to Abuja, for an interactive meeting. It was tagged an induction seminar, and so it turned out to be, at the Habor Hotel, in the serene Area 1 District of Abuja, as both the officials of the NPFL, and members of management of the promoted clubs, rubbed minds together in an interactive session.
The Chief Operating Officer COO, of the NPFL, Davidson Owumi, who welcomed the delegates to the induction seminar, informed them that life in the premiership was completely different from life in the lower divisions. According to him, the premiership maintained the standards of the Nigerian Football Federation NFF, which in turn, was in line with the standards of CAF, and FIFA. Speaking further, he posited that while some infringements of the rules could be accommodated in the lower divisions, such was not possible in the premiership. He therefore, enjoined the clubs to endeavor to maintain the rules, as he equally congratulated them on their hard earned promotions.
Different courses on club management, including on security, legal, financial, grounds management, and many others, were undertaken, with a view to bringing the promoted teams up to speed with the standards required of them in the premier division. The four promoted clubs, Doma United FC, Ranchers Bees FC, Inter Lagos FC, and Sporting Lagos FC, had their top officials present at the induction seminar. Godwin Enakhena, Chairman Sporting Lagos, led his teams delegation, with Gabriel Adigwe, General Manager, Inter Lagos, leading his team. Murtala Sambo, Secretary, Doma United FC, was also in attendance along with other officials, with Jide Bodunde, Secretary, Ranchers Bees FC, equally in attendance, along with other members of the clubs delegation.
At the end, delegates of the promoted clubs expressed satisfaction with the induction seminar, which they said had opened their eyes to many issues, and cleared up some of their misconceptions. According to them, the induction seminar would ultimately help in their preparation for life in the premier division of the Nigerian league.
