The vacuum in the position of Chief Executive Officer of the League Management Company, LMC was created due to the resignation of Honourable Nduka Irabor last year.
Nduka Irabor when resigning on December 28, 2019 stated that he was leaving the board because of his private business.
“I am offloading some of my schedule and doing more travels these days. I need to focus on my core private business,” he said.
He added that, “the board needs time to find a replacement for me. If it has one now it may go ahead and date the resignation letter I submitted at time of incorporating LMC.
However, following a brief by the Chairman of the LMC, Mallam Shehu Dikko on the efforts to drive the NPFL forward during the last NFF Executive Members meeting via a video conference which held on 10th of August, 2020, he informed the board of the formal resignation of Hon. Nduka Irabor as CEO of the LMC and he was subsequently mandated to as soon as possible, propose and conclude the process of recruiting a suitable CEO for the LMC in line with the governance structure of the company.
Whatever the dictates of the governance structure of LMC, the NPFL need more than a capable hands in administering its affairs where a CEO holds the forth in administration after the Chairman.
The CEO is like an engine sphere of the LMC settings and more or less the driver of its ideals who should not in any compromise its position or bend its law for expediency.
While there could be a need for considering a person with ample of experience in football administrations, it is important to note that some leadership and management traits like creativity, positive manuevering tendencies, visionary, patriotism and defence of the league interest should stand tall among the deciding factors for choosing the new person.
It is important we discourage the basis of language and ethnicity, region and religion in appointing the new CEO.
We don’t want to count mistakes but achievements from whoever is going to come on board as the CEO, so in the words Sheikh Al Maktoum,the ruler of Dubai in his book titled “My Vision”.
We need a person that will drive home all the inception message of the LMC with creativity; bearing in mind that something great and positive should happen to the league under his watch.
We need someone that will broker the deal for NPFL to get Television broadcast and end the long stayed woes of Nigerian not being able to watch their own league its actors on terrestrial or cable broadband.
As new realities continue to emerge in football administration, we are in dire need of someone with sophisticated and cognate knowledge in order to develop the league to an enviable standard.
What about our financial challenges, we can’t but need a person who can strategically bring about new sponsorhip for the league to aid its sustainability.
We don’t want a tribalistic personality or even a religious bigot to steer the affairs of the league.
We want a professional who is ready against all odds to pioneer the spirit of the LMC essence even in the middle of challenges.
We don’t want a political oppurtunist who will only come in to destroy the relative growing tentacles of the league and complicate it with his inexperience.
While other leagues across the continent continue to evolve prosperously with them leveraging on their human and capital resources, we continue to put the round peg in a square hole, thus making things difficult. We need the right person this time arround.
The NPFL 2020/2021 is scheduled to kick off between the last week of September and the first week of October, our hope is that we get to see a capable and able Chief Executive Officer to handle the league while hoping for a new dawn.