By TECHNOLOGY TIMES Reporter
Lagos. July 18, 2013: Nduka Irabor, the Chairman of League Management Company (LMC), has noted that social media will be pivotal in the efforts underway to rejuvenate interest in the country’s local football league.
LMC was formed to revive the local league under an alliance with various stakeholders to drive the game as an interesting passion for football lovers and profitable business for stakeholders in the soccer ecosystem
Irabor dropped this hint amid a recent partnership with Globacom to drive interest in grassroots football noting that efforts will be geared towards attracting the interest of the nation’s teeming youth in the local soccer turf.
Nigeria is home to a teeming Internet user population with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN specialised agency coordinating the global telecoms industry estimating that the country’s user base peaked at 55,930,391 and a penetration of 32.9 per cent in 2012.
It is a niche segment that LMC hopes to appeal to, particularly the teeming youth population known to have embraced the social media and cyber cultures to encourage their interest in the local football leagues, Irabor hinted.
LMC and Globacom recently a deal under which the telecoms company will bankroll the local league to the tune of over N1.8billion as title sponsor.
Globacom emerged the title sponsor of the Nigeria Professional Football League and recently has signed a three-year contract with LMC in Lagos on Monday.
Following the pact, the new League logo was recently unveiled in Lagos where Globacom restated its commitment to the development of the game of football at all levels in Nigeria.
Niyi Olukoya, Coordinator of Marketing for Globacom who made the assurance in Lagos when the phone company and the League Management Company jointly unveiled the logo of the Nigerian Professional Football League.
Hitherto, Mohamed Jameel, Globacom’s Group Chief Operating Officer, said Globacom was delighted to return as the title sponsor of the League saying it would give maximum support to the administrators of the league in their efforts to develop talents for Nigerian football and make the league attractive.
Globacom says its primary reason for sponsoring the league “is to develop Nigerian football.”
At the formal ceremony in Lagos, Jameel added that, “today, we are witnessing the appointment of Globacom as the title sponsor of the Glo Premier League. We thank the Honourable Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi for his efforts to resolve all the issues surrounding the title sponsorship. We also thank members of the League Management Company (LMC) for all the significant strides they are making to develop the Nigerian professional football league.”
Irabor, who led the LMC members to the event as its Chairman alongside other members of the company including Seyi Akinwunmi, Chairman of Lagos Football Association; Sheu Dikko and Salihu Abubakar.
Irabor said at the event that the deal marks a new beginning for the Nigerian football league promising that the company “will hand over a structure that will promote the interest of Nigerian football.”
Irabor said with this start, Nigerians would soon see the sanity that had been restored in Nigerian football while acknowledging the efforts by Globacom in supporting the Nigerian football and assured that the telecoms company would get true value for its sponsorship.
