June, 4 2023.
The kick-off of the eagerly awaited Nigeria Premier League Play-offs christened Super Six has come and gone, with three closely fought top quality football matches decided on Saturday.
It was common place for the organizers of the nation's top flight league, especially in the past to promise so much but deliver very little. As a consequence, the immediate past Minister of Sports Development, Chief Sunday Akin Dare handed the responsibility of reengineering and reinvigorating the NPFL to the Interim Management Committee (IMC) ably headed by Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, a former member of the Federal House of Representatives and most crucially, a former Director General of the defunct National Sports Commission.
On assuming duties, he promised a lot, and many who have followed Nigerian football closely, remained skeptical and played the "wait and see game". From the matured manner Hon. Elegbeleye and his team at the IMC resolved all inhibitions, prior to the kick-off of the new season on January 8, 2023, some naysayers started to believe.
The leadership, clout and experience with which the IMC and its hierarchy delt with issues of crowd violence and hooliganism, recurring infractions in officiating and publicity of the league were top notch, and unambiguously demonstrated the aspiration of the IMC to restore the lost glory of the league, and make it one of the best in Africa.
Alas! In Hon. Elegbeleye Nigerian football enthusiasts have found a man that has been courageous enough to 'walk the talk' in the mucky waters of the Nigerian game.
His vast ability to negotiate, which stems from his having served as Chairman of House Committee on Sports, saw him do the improbable, by luring back South Africa based Cable Satellite Television Giants, Supersport to Nigerian football, many years after they acrimoniously disengaged from the NPFL.
On Saturday, June 3, 2023 football lovers across Nigeria, and followers of our league all over the world had a carnival-like treat, as all three Day 1 matches were on DStv, GOTV; and streamed live, ckdmedia.ng can confirm.
The ambiance and branding of the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, in Onikan Lagos, which will host all matches in the Championship Play-offs, were equally exquisite, and are proof of the quantum of work put in by everyone at the IMC.
It is on this basis, that Nigerians are eagerly looking forward to the last day of the season ending tournament June 11, 2023; when the best of the six competing sides, will be crowned champions of the 2022/23 Season, as promised by the IMC. wwwckdmedia.ng report.