The time has come for Nigerians with the interest of the football industry at heart to collectively speak up against the insistence of a group claiming to be League Clubs Owners to hold down the elite football league which by all indices is the bedrock of the game in the country.

In the last couple of weeks, there has been fresh marketing impetus to the league brought about by obviously the positive perception engendered by the on-going reforms and restructuring of football league administration by the League Management Company (LMC). Within the period, the LMC has successfully resolved the title sponsorship log-jam that has dragged for over two seasons.

There has not just been a successful resolution of the dispute, Globacom has officially signed and presented cheque for the 2013 season.

A growing evidence of renewed corporate confidence in the League is seen in the upswing in club sponsorship through shirt endorsement for no fewer than eight clubs in the league. Leading corporate businesses namely Guinness Nigeria, the BUA Group  founded by Isiaku Rabiu and ULO Consultants, an Abuja based construction company owned by Chief Uche Okpunor, have in the last three weeks invested in our clubs.

This means that these significant corporate players have recognised that there is an effort to create enduring and viable structures for the administration of the league.

In the light of these developments in the league, it is unacceptable that persons who otherwise should concentrate on running their clubs profitably are acting in disruptive manners capable of eroding the gains setting in on our football.

There is an urgent need to call the ‘Club Owners’ to order to save the league from further degeneration as witnessed in the period they held sway. It is obvious that we can not continue with what has been in place in the past as it never yielded growth for the league.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) owes the country a duty to properly regulate the football industry by ensuring that deterrent actions are taking against such disruptive conducts in order not to scare away other prospective investors.

The personal interests of a few should not be allowed to jeopardise the future of our youths and the millions of Nigerians who eke out a living through football and allied business by watching. This is the time to speak up on the side of reforms for the league business.