THUR 02 SEPT, 2021-theGBJournal- Civil Society Groups has congratulated the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for the signed agreement between it and Air Peace airline, for an initial fee of 300million Naira, which would see Air peace serve as the official airline sponsor of all national teams.
The Groups described the agreement as a milestone and called on the NFF not to rest on their oars in reaching out to more corporate sponsors, to wean Nigerian football off government funding and the complications associated with it.
‘’We call on other private sector players to give stronger consideration to sports sponsorship as a major pillar of their CSR and sustainability plans, as sports is one of the major unifying factor among Nigerians. We equally assure Nigerians that we shall continue to drive advocacy for best practices in our football management to make us more competitive in the global stage,’’ the Groups said in a statement made availabke to theGBJournal on Thursday.
The Civil Society Network for Good Governance, a conglomerate of 87 civil society organizations, which are working in diverse areas of human endeavour, to amplify members’ voices in the cause of enthroning people centered governance in Nigeria said in the statement that, this sponsorship deal crystalizes their lengthy advocacy for the leadership of the NFF to be allowed to do their job in an environment devoid of rancor, in a clear departure from the recent past wherein disgruntled and unpatriotic elements would cook up frivolous petitions against the body.
The Groups noted that it is on record that these allegations continued to be recycled from one security agency to the other even though they had never been proven in a competent court of law.
‘’Our position all along, which had been established in series of correspondences with the Presidency, security agencies and all the anti-graft agencies coupled with several press conferences and releases, had been that the lengthy investigations which sometimes included questioning of sponsors who had to leave their private businesses unattended, had been a major cog in the wheel of efforts of the current NFF board to attract sponsors.’’
‘’Thankfully President Muhammadu Buhari intervened and sanity has been restored into the affairs of the football ecosystem, which has culminated in this unprecedented sponsorship deal by a local airline. That this is happening at a time some are questioning the viability of Africa’s largest economy shows that the Nigerian economy remains resilient and is capable of rediscovering its bearings on a more solid footing,’’ they added.
Twitter-@theGBJournal|Facebook-The Government and Business Journal|email: govandbusinessj@gmail.com
