By George Aluo
Reigning Nigerian professional league champions, Rangers and eight other clubs in the nation’s domestic league are set to go public by being quoted in the Nigeria Stock Exchange.
The nine clubs that had got the nod of League Management Company (LMC) are Rangers, Enyimba, Kano Pillars, Gombe United, MFM, Abia Warriors, 3SC, Wikki Tourists and El Kanemi Warriors.
The move to get the clubs attract investors was stepped up yesterday in Lagos when their representatives met with financial, banking and legal advisors that will facilitate the process. NASD, a Lagos based stock broker is driving the process which analysts believe would change the face of domestic football in the country.
Chief Executive Officer of the LMC, Nduka Irabor, urged the club representatives to take full advantage of the development to turn the fortunes of their teams around.
Irabor said the league had grown over the years from having about 2,000 people at the stadia to having over 25,000 people at some of the match venues.
He said: “Teams like Kano Pillars, Rangers and Shooting Stars consistently attract huge spectators at their centres but they have to make this count in many ways especially on merchandising. What is the essence of having huge fans if we cannot seize the opportunity to make money from this.
“We are now opening up ownership space to create more jobs, more money and also better professionalism in the running of football generally. The top four teams in the EPL: Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are not owned by Englishmen but foreign investors. That is what we are looking at in future.”
The MD of NASD, Bola Ajomale, advised the representatives of the clubs to be ready to follow all the template for them to be listed.
“There must be accountability and transparency. The teams must all be duly registered like any other corporate body. The issuing houses will guide the teams accordingly,” Ajomale said.
Officials of the 18 leading issuing houses were shortlisted to act as advisors to the clubs and were also present at the meeting where they commended the efforts of the LMC over the proposed listing of nine of the 20 clubs in the NPFL.
The NFF’s First Vice President, Seyi Akinwunmi, also commended the LMC and declared that: ”Football has come of age today.”
Some of the issuing houses at the meeting included Finmal Financial Services Limited, Cowrie Assets Management Limited, Fundvine Capital & Securities, GTI Capital, Afrinvest Securities, Bestworth Assets & Trust Limited and Capital Assets Limited.