Nigerian Football
Unique benefits of The Nigeria Football Fund
The Nigeria Football Fund (TNFF) is an open-ended Security and Exchange Commission-Registered Unit Trust/Mutual Fund with an initial public offering to raise N5billion through the issuance of 5,000,000,000 units at N1.00 per Unit.
It is a fund launched by GTI Asset Management & Trust Limited on Tuesday, March 22, 2022,to provide sustainable solutions to the challenges hindering the growth and advancement of football in Nigeria by focusing on sports development. Presently, TNFF is the catalyst energizing the transformation of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
In the past, the organization of NPFL had so many challenges bedeviling it and topmost among them is the issue of poor funding which the Fund is going to breathe in a new lease of life into it going forward.
The emblem for progress of Nigerian football – The Nigeria Football Fund (TNFF) logo
For the records, TNFF also invests in high-quality investment-grade instruments involving equities of quoted companies, money market or fixed-income instruments, and strategic investment in football/sports sector via securitized lending investments in identified short to medium-term “Football Projects.”
The Fund also aims to transform football clubs from socio-political tools to profitable business enterprises and by extension, a national asset; contributing to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
As noted earlier, TNFF will promote investment culture among participants in the sports industry with an opportunity to earn returns from investment-grade instruments involving equities of quoted companies, sovereign and corporate short/long-term debt obligations and securitized lending investments in identified short to medium-term “Football Projects.”
The multiplier effects of building a “Football Economy” is extremely huge, as an improved football sector will drive a cycle of growth (value-chain effects) across several other sectors like Tourism, Broadcasting, Technology, Gaming, Media, Hospitality, Transportation, Merchandising etc.
The result of these will lead to increased economic activities, increase in employment opportunities, rise in disposable income, significant contribution to GDP and a general increase in demand for the products, goods and services produced by Nigerian corporate/manufacturing companies.
The Fund which is currently managed by GTI Asset Management & Trust Limited has the following under-listed deliverables:
It will help the government to use football to manage social vices, especially among the teaming idle youths. Most of these youths would be kept busy through sporting activities and will not fancy indulging themselves in criminal activities if left unchecked.
Therefore, an improved football economy enhances national development as the beautiful game in turn becomes an easy tool or a veritable source of revenue for government finances.
Another deliverable is that TNFF will help to enhance national saving culture and will stimulate the financial inclusion agenda of the federal government.
Also, another good benefit of TNFF is that it deepens the creative economy of Nigeria, produces and distributes cultural goods with positive economic impact. The positive spill-over effect on the tourism sector development can be heart-warming because of its positive impact on hotel occupancy rates.
Aside from enhanced foreign exchange earnings, which TNFF will bring to the table through foreign television broadcasting rights, infrastructural development; the fund has demonstrated the capacity to convert the interests of mammoth Nigerian fans into commercial success and sustainable growth.
From the foregoing, the benefits of TNFF are much and for a country like Nigeria that wants to diversify its economy, TNFF is a ready mutual fund that will provide the magic wand to add up to the GDP of Africa’s most populous black nation.
Even as another celebration appears in the offing, Remo Stars have announced a victory parade on Friday.
Their women’s counterparts, Remo Stars Ladies, are already having a good head start in the NWFL Super 6 League and could also win it.
That makes a double for Remo Stars, a feat never achieved by any other club in Nigeria.
With that possibility, the victorious Remo Stars will flag off a parade of stars in Ikenne as the club expresses appreciation to their supporters and the media for the “awesome coverage of our team in the 2024/25 season.
“We have won games, drawn some, and lost others, but your support has been unwavering”, the club remarked in a public statement issued on Tuesday.
“A massive celebration is on the horizon as we can confirm plans for a champions parade through key towns in Remo land after clinching a historic league title – the club’s first top-flight championship.
“The parade will take place on Friday, May 16, 2025, beginning at 9 AM, as thousands of fans will line the route to celebrate this landmark achievement in Nigerian football.”
The victory route is designed to touch the heart of Remo communities, starting from Our Saviour’s Anglican Church in Aiyepe junction, which is just a stone’s throw from the Remo Stars Stadium.
The carnival proceeds towards Sagamu, passing by the Gateway International Stadium, which used to be the home ground of Remo Stars, some years ago.
From there, the victory parade extends to Isale Oko and then by the frontage of the palace of the paramount ruler of Remo, the Akarigbo Palace.
The procession goes through Ita Oba to Ijoku Road to Remo Secondary School, then to the Sagamu-Iperu Road before veering into the Iperu-Ilishan Road passing the connecting road of the Gateway Airport to the Ilishan Roundabout before crossing the Sagamu-Benin Expressway for the homeward journey to Ikenne, the home of champions and legends.
With the procession through the Obafemi Awolowo Avenue, it ends at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne.
Fans are strongly encouraged to plan, arrive early, and line the entire route to create an unforgettable atmosphere for the players, technical team, and supporters. The event promises to be a festival of Remo pride, unity, and sporting excellence.
The club announced that safety will be assured as it has engaged the local security agencies, who will be on the ground to maintain a peaceful and celebratory environment.
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Nigeria’s former football captain and coach, Christian Chukwu, will be buried on August 22.
According to Segun Odegbami, a teammate in the national team in the 1980s, the deceased’s family announced the date.
He also revealed in his LinkedIn post that arrangements for a national befitting burial have already begun.
Plans are underway for an event to take place in Lagos, where he played most of his national team football, to enable his fans and friends who may not be able to travel to Enugu for the funeral to celebrate the legendary Nigerian football hero.
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Nigerian Football
Remo Stars’ lifting of the NPFL trophy marks the 35th anniversary of professional football in Nigeria
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Remo Stars’ coronation as Nigeria’s new football kings perhaps marks the 35th anniversary of the introduction of professional football in Nigeria.
It was on this day, 12 May 1990, at the now Mobolaji Johnson Arena Stadium that the professional league symbolically kicked off and former Super Eagles’ rear guard, Ben Iroha, entered the record books as the first scorer when the then Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now Heartland) beat Stationery Stores 2-1.
Without much fanfare, such that heralded the first North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1969 and the J-League of Japan in 1993, a professional league kicked off in Nigeria.
The pioneers were the now-defunct Lagos ACB, BCC Lions, Bendel Insurance, Bendel United (now defunct) and Enyimba.
Others were Highlanders of Jos, Iwuanyanwu Nationale, JIB, Kano Pillars, Obanta United (later VIP), Ranchers, Enugu Rangers and Stationery Stores.
An attempt to have one of the pioneer clubs pitch against the Crystal Palace of England, as a symbolic kick-off of the professional league, failed.
After years of prolonged debates, the professional league finally kicked off with a Super Stores versus Iwuanyanwu Nationale opener at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos.
The Owerri-based Iwuanyanwu, now renamed Heartland, dictated the pace of the away tie, winning 2-1. They kept their form and the pace until the season ended, winning the inaugural championship.
Remo Stars on Sunday became the 19th club to win the laurel. But the most successful club in the 35-year history of professional football in Nigeria is Enyimba, record nine-time winners.
Across ages, Enyimba have been the most successful, winning the professional league nine times. They are followed by the crowd-pulling Kano Pillars, who won four times.
Shooting Stars, Heartland and Lobi Stars have each won twice. In 2012, the Nigeria Professional League had its best ranking as the topmost in Africa and the 24th in the world.
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