At Olumo United FC, Our Mission Is To Change The Face Of Club Football In Nigeria – Solanke

TAIWO ADELU & OLUWATOBI EMMANUEL

John Fisher wrote in Backpage Football that “Despite a global financial crisis, football at the highest level has remained huge business. With big money coming into top clubs, many top sides such as Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris St Germain and Monaco are owned by the super-rich who have invested hundreds of millions to transform the clubs into potential title winners.

“Other clubs use their mass appeal to bring in huge sponsorship and commercial-driven cash, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid being good examples. …  The fans are ready to pay high prices to watch their teams play while the clubs are raking in good income.”

Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in Nigerian football. The business aspect of football has been neglected and has not been tapped to the advantage and benefit of all stakeholders. Club football in Nigeria is at its low ebbs. Players are being owed allowances and salaries, while foreign leagues have taken over the minds of most of the fans, no patronage and sponsorship.

“Passion and business in sports go together. You can’t go into a business you don’t have passion for,” said Mr. Segun Solanke, President of Olumo United Football Club, a newly established club in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

“There is a large business surrounding football in the world.  Though, Nigeria may not be harnessing it as much as it ought to be, what I realise is that we tend to sell out our talents to the outside world to make good money, but we have failed over the years to use these talents to develop our game back home.

“We have quite a number of talents in Nigeria, but who is actually taking note of them. Our senior national team is full of foreign-based players with few local players giving chances in the team. We look up to foreign leagues to develop our national team, but if we are able to develop our leagues in Nigeria we will surely have good returns on investment.

“Football is entertainment and entertainment is money, people in the movie making and music industry, make money, if we begin to promote our own football, we will definitely make good yields from it. We at Olumo FC will practically and passionately pursue the business angle of football.

“At Olumo United, we want to bring in the desired innovation of business in football. We at  Olumo United FC has come to stay,” said Solanke, who hails from Ikija in Abeokuta.

According to Solanke, popularly called Majorsho, “Olumo United is a privately owned club, which will operate according to the laws of the land and the rules governing football in Nigeria. We are not out for promotional purpose or any political jamboree, but strictly FOR THE PASSION OF THE GAME. We want to harness the benefits of football in Nigeria.

“The structure of the club is unique. I as the president and other capable directors will be running the club. We are in talk with relevant government officials in Ogun State because our home ground will be in Abeokuta. The packaging is to let people begin to see the need to watch matches at home.

“We want to make a difference in club football in Nigeria.  It is saddened to see clubs owing players for so many months and expects them to perform well. In terms of funding, we know it won’t be easy, but we at Olumo United FC are reaching out to other co-investors who are willing to partner with us. For this one, we want to do it right the proper way and let Nigerians know the good business in football.

“We have a lot of plans to bring fans to the stadium. We have started already. Our social media handles have been buzzing. Within a very short time, we have over 1,000 followers and by June ending we should have over 10,000 followers. Though, 10,000 fans following us on social media will not be the same as 10,000 fans coming to the stadium, our plan is to bring different dynamism into the game to attract fans to the stadium, entertainment that will draw people to the stadium. The plan is to rejuvenate the passion the good people of Abeokuta and indeed Ogun State have for the round leather game. Our people are great lovers of football. We want them to come to the stadium to enjoy good football and at the same time entertain themselves.

“For us at Olumo United, playing football will be a joy to us. It will not be winning at all cost, and it won’t be die-hard thing.

Speaking on the competition Olumo United FC will face when it finally debuts on the Nigeria National League, Solanke, a well-trained Engineer said: “We are very well prepared for the competition. We will have formidable teams to face any opposition. It will be interesting when we begin to play derby game in Abeokuta against the like of Gateway FC and others.”

P.M. EXPRESS understands from Mr. Solanke that the name Olumo United did not just come by accident, but this is a name that has something doing with the hometown of the President in Ikija where the famous Olumo Rock is situated in the ancient city of Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State, southwest Nigeria.

Solake said: “I am from Abeokuta, and Ikija where Olumo Rock is situated and beyond that you will realise that the genesis of great football in Nigeria somehow started from Abeokuta. That goes back to the days of Muda Lawal, Abiola Babes and the rest.

“We could have decided to name the club after Abeokuta or Ogun State or Gateway, but we also wanted something that would resonate in people’s minds whether in Nigeria or at the international level. Olumo Rock itself is a tourist attraction centre that is being known all over the world. We decided to pick Olumo as our brand name not only to sell the club to Nigerians but to the world.”

Recruitment process and policy of Olumo United FC will also be one of the new innovations that will be brought into the club football in Nigeria as there are plans to make it a reference point in the country.

Solanke said: “Our recruitment won’t be business as usual. We have an academy, Kidsport Football Academy and our trials will be coming as soon as the government relaxes the social distancing occasioned by the surge of novel Coronavirus pandemic in the country. We will organise our trials which will be opened to everybody. We are going to have one leg in Lagos and another in Abeokuta. We had a set date before the pandemic, as soon as the coast is clear, we will fix another date.

To the President of Olumo United FC, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is trying its best, “but much still need to be done. The NFF should look inward more to grow our local leagues. There must be consistency in the league calendar. This is the uniqueness in the foreign leagues. We should have a calendar that fans should look on to without any unexpected changes, a calendar that clubs rely on and officials are transparent and not biased.

Solanke believes COVID-19 pandemic has brought misfortune to everything in the world including Nigerian football. “There is always a silver lining in everything, Covid-19 has come to halt every of our lives, but it should be a moment for us to re evaluate and improve where needed.

“After this pandemic, however, I hope the NFF will be able to repackage football in Nigeria so that we can harness the real potentials of football. It is encouraging that we have other areas that generate income in Nigeria, but we should also channel our energy into the business aspect in sports.  We can generate significant income in football if we do it right.”

“I want to say and let it be on record that Olumo United FC will be a club to rely on, that will showcase our culture and passion because we have come to stay.”

Meanwhile, the Chief Head Scout of the club, Paul Olayemi Ogunlaja collaborated with the President on how the club will handle the recruitment of players. He said effort will be geared toward getting young talents during the trials that will kick off in Lagos and ends in Abeokuta, Ogun state.

According to Ogunlaja, the plan is to recruit 35 players for the take off of the club. “These 35 will however be unknown names, extra intelligent players and very young within 17and 25 years old. We want to make the trials a brainstorming sessions. The trial will be open and transparent. We will give every player equal opportunity to prove themselves.”

On the fan base of the club, Ogunlaja said Olumo United FC’s fans are called ‘Citizens’

“Our fans are called the Citizens of Olumo United. They are following us religiously. We can equally be reached on the following social media handles; Twitter – @olumounitedfc, Facebook – https://facebook.com/olumounitedfc, Youtube – @olumounitedfc and Instagram – @olumounitedfc”

The Director of Olumo United FC Academy, Bukola Alabi Edem said the trials to recruit credible players for the club will hold very soon.

According to her, “our recruitment won’t be business as usual. We have partnered with Kidsport FC , a youth academy, has over the years produced talents that have gone ahead to become good football stars locally and tryouts in Nigeria’s U-17.

“Our trials will be coming as soon as the government relaxes the social distancing occasioned by the surge of novel Coronavirus pandemic in the country.”