DIKKO MEETS WITH CLUB OWNERS: NINE TALKING POINTS

National Sports Commission chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko today welcomed a delegation of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) club owners association. Here are nine talking points from the meeting.

(1) "I AM ONE OF YOU"

Dikko was filled with nostalgia at this meeting. The Club Owners came with a written speech, a bit unlike what he was used to during sessions with them while he was chairman of League Management Company (LMC). There was also an anchor for the programme who sustained protocols, a departure from those informal sessions.

The NSC helmsman began by saying, "I wish this (meeting) was informal. I can't remember how many of such meetings I had with this same group for many years at even odd times and we didn't require all these protocols. I want you to know that I am part and parcel of you."

(2) "THE LEAGUE IS THE LEVER OF WHAT WE ARE DOING"

These were Dikko's exact words while concluding, a statement that was re-echoed by the event anchor as a way of summary. Dikko cut in after her statement and said "she has summed it up". And in truth, everything he said at the meeting was captured in this statement. He insisted, "We must make the league to work. If the league works, everything works."

(3) "DOMESTIC LEAGUE IS CATALYST OF SPORTS ECONOMY"

Buttressing point 2, he said, "Whatever we want to do as regards the sports economy hinges on the league. All over the world, the driver of the sports economy is the elite league. When the elite league flourishes, the sports economy gets a boost."

(4) WHEN YOU GET THE LEAGUE, OTHER SPORTS TAG ALONG

Furthermore, Dikko pointed out that other sports get a lift from a flourishing elite league. His words, "When the elite league is thriving, other sports just tag along, they naturally fall in place. We have to take our domestic league more seriously. It should be the benchmark that we will use to set the standards for whatever we are planning to do."

(5) SIX WORLD-CLASS PITCHES IN THE NATION

 Speaking earlier, the club owners led by their chairman, Okey Kpalukwu, urged Dikko to "prioritize infrastructure  development by enhancing the existing facilities and building new ones to provide world-class training and competition venues." They added, "Currently having only one stadium that meets international standards hinders our success in international football competitions."

Replying, the NSC helmsman revealed plans to have six international-standard pitches across the country. His words, "It's a shame that Nigeria has only one standard pitch to play our international matches. The big disgrace will come if Uyo becomes bad and we are made to play our home matches abroad. So we are working to have at least six functional stadiums, one in each geographical zone."

(6) TARGET YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

The club owners' speech read thus, "Furthermore, we implore you to focus on talent identification and development programmes, nurturing young talents to ensure a strong pipeline of future athletes and players."

Dikko threw the charge back at them. It would rather be a partnership. He said, "I want to hear more of youth development in your clubs. We will have a meeting with governors, who own most of the clubs, to tell them that relegation and winning titles is not everything. It is all about how many young players you discover and develop."

(7) "LET'S NOW DO IT OURSELVES"

In Dikko's views, now that one of them was the NSC helmsman, the time is ripe to take the league to another level.

He continued, "Most of our plans in the past were hampered by those running sports in the country. Now we are the ones in charge, we have no excuse. All those ideas we were discussing and waiting for approvals, now we have to revisit them and do them ourselves."

(8) THE PRESIDENT WANTS THE LEAGUE TO WORK

He pointed out that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was so interested in the growth of the league.

"The president is very interested to get the league working. A definitive statement will be made to this effect soon", he assured.

(9) HOW WE USED NIGHT FOOTBALL TO BOOST SECURITY

Dikko highlighted the importance of the league in tackling youth restiveness, vices and insecurity. He revealed how a security report during the time the LMC under his watch introduced night football matches indicated that while those matches were on, there was relative peace in the environs. He charged the club owners to note that they were not just involved in football matches, but are veritable tools for social re-engineering.