Happy Sunday Everyone.
While FIFA president Gianni Infantino was busy trying to convince the football world that selling a piece of the World Cup was a brilliant idea, the NPFL has issued its own ultimatum at home: embrace technology or risk losing your club licence.
At a recent workshop for Media Officers, Media Directors and Marketing Officers, NPFL Chief Operating Officer Davidson Owumi said the league is losing millions of naira in sponsorship because clubs fail to provide accurate, reliable and accessible data. His solution? Every club must have a functional website, strengthen its media department and begin operating like a professional football club. On paper, nobody should argue with that.
In fact, he’s right.
A modern football club cannot survive on matchday posters and a few blurry training photos. Websites should be updated. Player profiles should be accurate. Statistics should be available. Media departments should be properly staffed instead of expecting one person to be photographer, cameraman, graphic designer, writer, interviewer and social media manager all at once.
But here’s the problem.
Before demanding higher standards from the clubs, shouldn’t the league itself be setting them?
I visited the official NPFL website after hearing Owumi’s remarks. It was disappointing. Several clubs have incomplete or non-existent histories. Richarlison—the Brazilian international—was somehow listed as an Abia Warriors player. There are hardly any meaningful press releases, historical records remain patchy, and comprehensive league statistics are difficult to find. Even the league’s official X account feels more like a retweet page than the digital home of Nigeria’s top-flight football.
That is why Matthew 7:3-5 comes to mind. Before pointing out the speck in another person’s eye, remove the plank from your own. Leadership carries responsibility. If the league wants clubs to embrace professionalism, the league itself must become the benchmark for professionalism.
Now, let’s talk about Enyimba.
To be fair, Enyimba already has one of the best-looking websites in the NPFL. Credit where it’s due. But a beautiful website means very little if the information on it cannot be trusted.
Some players are still listed with impossible ages. Match statistics are either missing or outdated. Stanley Eguma is still displayed as head coach. These are not minor errors—they damage credibility. Fans, journalists, sponsors and even potential investors should be able to visit the club’s official website and trust what they see.
The bigger disappointment, however, is social media.
Watch other NPFL clubs and you’ll see behind-the-scenes videos, player features, dressing-room moments, community content and creative posts that keep supporters engaged even when there isn’t a match. Football today is played for ninety minutes on the pitch, but it lives for twenty-four hours online.
Meanwhile, Enyimba often goes silent.
Supporters now depend on rumours or who happens to appear in training photos just to figure out who has signed for the club. Yes, clubs don’t reveal every negotiation, but once a deal is completed, why keep supporters guessing? Fans shouldn’t have to become detectives just to stay informed.
What’s even more frustrating is that Enyimba already possesses something many clubs would envy—the biggest overall social media following in the NPFL. That audience should be attracting sponsors, promoting players, selling merchandise, growing the brand and creating new revenue streams. Instead, it is too often left idle.
Football is won on the pitch, but modern football clubs are built off it as well. For thousands of supporters who cannot attend training sessions or travel across the country every weekend, the internet is our stadium. It is how we connect with the club we love.
So yes, Enyimba should embrace technology. Not because the NPFL has threatened clubs with licence sanctions, but because this is Enyimba Football Club. The record champions should not be following standards—they should be setting them.
EnyimbaEnyi
