- Sports Presenter, CHARLES ANAZODO
It began with a simple but pressing question: What exactly is holding the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL back? Despite being a nation overflowing with raw football talent, with streets, schools, and communities bursting with passionate players and fans, Nigeria’s top-flight league continues to lag behind its counterparts in Africa, let alone on the global stage.
The stadiums are half-filled, media coverage is patchy, sponsors are hesitant, and many clubs continue to operate with an alarming lack of structure. Match days, instead of being spectacles that draw crowds and create memories, often pass like ordinary events, poorly marketed, under-reported, and largely unnoticed beyond those directly involved. Even talented players use the league more as a stepping stone to Europe than a destination in itself.
To unpack these issues and explore possible solutions, City People had a chat with one of the most respected voices in Nigerian Sports Journalism, Charles Anazodo, veteran broadcaster, football analyst, and host on Lagos Talks 91.3 FM. Known for his sharp commentary and no-nonsense style, Anazodo has spent over two decades covering local and international football, and his view of the NPFL comes from a place of experience, concern, and above all, a desire for genuine change.
“The NPFL must stop thinking small,” Anazodo said bluntly as the conversation began. “We cannot continue to run a league that’s based only on local players and expect it to be competitive, vibrant, and commercially viable. Football is global, it’s time Nigeria’s league reflected that. If you want to grow, you have to open up. The mindset that foreign players will block local talents is wrong. On the contrary, they will challenge and elevate our players to perform better.”
His point was clear: for the NPFL to move forward, it must embrace diversity and competitiveness. According to him, foreign players should not be seen as threats but as catalysts for growth.
“Our league needs diversity. The presence of foreign players will not only improve the competitive quality of games, but it will also raise the professional standard across clubs. We see what foreign players have done in other African leagues, in South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia. Why are we still playing it safe?”
Anazodo’s words carried the weight of a man who has seen it all, from the rise and fall of clubs to the countless missed opportunities that have plagued the league. He emphasized that football today is as much about performance on the pitch as it is about the business and branding that surround it.
“It’s not about flooding the league with imports,” he clarified, “but strategic recruitment can create a buzz, attract scouts, and force clubs to be more professional. Even the fans want to see variety, they want to watch football that feels big, that feels international.”
He turned his attention to the media, or rather, the lack of it.
“The NPFL has done very little to market itself to the Nigerian public, let alone the world. When you tune into local TV, how often do you see highlights, features, or behind-the-scenes content from the NPFL?” he asked, a slight tone of frustration in his voice. “Compare that to the English Premier League or even the South African PSL, they know how to sell their product. We haven’t even scratched the surface.”
With media being a tool he knows well, Anazodo insisted that proper coverage and storytelling could transform the NPFL. “Media drives emotion. Football is emotion. Without that connection, you’re just playing matches in silence. Let me tell you something, football is as much about the storytelling as it is about the skills. If you don’t tell the stories, people will not care.”
He went on to suggest that clubs should have active digital teams producing weekly content, engaging with fans, and building profiles of players who could one day become national icons. “Every club should have a strong media department,” he said. “We need to make our players stars. Right now, most NPFL players walk down the street and nobody knows them. That shouldn’t be the case in a football-crazy country like ours.”
The issue of sponsorship, which has crippled the league’s growth for years, also came up. “Sponsors want a return on investment. If there’s no visibility, no guarantee of professionalism, and no fanbase engagement, why would they put money in?” he asked rhetorically.
He proposed a radical shift in how the league is presented to corporate Nigeria. “We need to stop approaching sponsorship with a begging bowl and start offering value. Create data, show audience growth, sell stories, sell the future. That’s how the Premier League went from a modest English competition to a global economic force.”
The conversation then turned to the physical state of the league. “Too many of our stadiums are substandard. Fans can’t sit comfortably, there’s no decent parking, and no facilities to enjoy a match-day experience. Even our pitches are barely playable in some states,” he said.
According to Anazodo, fans deserve more than just football. They deserve an experience, something that makes them want to come back week after week. “We’re asking people to come to games and support their clubs, but what experience are we offering them?”
He believes the League Management Company must step in more firmly. “Some clubs are still run like family businesses. That’s unacceptable in modern football. Let club administrators be people with real understanding of sports management, not just political appointees.”
Even the integrity of the game wasn’t left out. “Refereeing in the NPFL has improved slightly, but we still hear too many whispers of manipulation and intimidation. Until the league is seen as fair and credible, fans and investors will remain skeptical.”
His call was for better training, stronger sanctions against offenders, and where possible, the introduction of video analysis systems. “If players and fans believe results are fixed, the whole thing collapses. We must protect the integrity of the game.”
Despite all of this, Anazodo remains optimistic about the league’s potential. “We have the talent. We have the passion. What we need now is leadership with vision. Nigeria is a football country, but we’re not a football industry. That’s the difference. Until we treat football as business, we will continue to lose our best players, our best coaches, and our future. We should be exporting quality from the NPFL, not just waiting for Europe to develop our stars.”
As the interview wound down, his voice carried the passion of someone who still believes, someone who knows that football, done right, can be one of Nigeria’s strongest unifying forces and economic drivers.
“Let’s stop managing poverty and start building wealth around our football. Let’s create jobs through football, build careers, open up media opportunities, and most importantly, give fans something to believe in again.”
For Anazodo, the NPFL isn’t just a league. It’s a dream, one that can still be saved.
–Benprince Ezeh
