Segun Atanda/
A two-time governorship aspirant in Ondo State, Mr Moyosola Niran-Oladunni, has advised the state government to hands off the running of the state-owned Sunshine Stars Football Club to enable it grow and become profitable.
Niran-Oladunni, who contested in the All Progressives Congress primary election in 2016, made his views known in a statement released on Wednesday in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Niran-Oladunni, who is also a seasoned football administrator in the state, said it had become imperative for Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to do the needful by allowing private individuals to run the football club due to the mounting financial burden it is putting on the resources of the state.
He stated: “I will honestly advise that the government should set up a machinery to ensure the handing over of the management of the club to private individuals for effectiveness.
“I do not believe that government has any business managing a professional football club. It is too expensive to be run as a charity.
“If you look at the history of football in Nigeria, the best years of Nigeria in football were the days we had the IICC Shooting Stars, Stationery Stores FC, African Continental Bank FC, Julius Berger FC, Leventis United FC of Ibadan, New Nigerian Bank of Benin, Abiola Babes FC, Bendel Insurance FC, Spartans FC of Owerri, Calabar Rovers, BCC Lions of Gboko, Mighty Jets of Jos and DICB that later became Ranchers Bees of Kaduna. Those were the glorious days of club football in Nigeria.”
Niran-Oladunni, who is the Chief Promoter of ‘Kalesanwa, a grassroots socio-political group, pointed out that the Lagos State government currently does not own or manage any football club, rather left the responsibility in the hands of private individuals.
He said, “Honestly, for a government to have 100 per cent control of and solely fund a professional football club these days is a misplaced priority in my view.
“I want to congratulate the people of Ondo State and the present government led by Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for the relative success that has been achieved by ensuring that club was not relegated from the premier league division.”
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