Why debutants, Kun Khalifat may not last long in NPFL

With only five matches played so far in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, newcomers, Kun Khalifat of Imo are literally gasping for breath: an indication that they may return immediately to where they joined the topflight. In five matches, the private club has managed to record one victory, one draw and three […]

With only five matches played so far in the ongoing Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, newcomers, Kun Khalifat of Imo are literally gasping for breath: an indication that they may return immediately to where they joined the topflight. In five matches, the private club has managed to record one victory, one draw and three losses, leaving them at the basement of the league table with only four points.

Indeed, this is not a good omen for the club that overcame so many hurdles in the Nigeria National League (NNL) to actualise their dream of playing among the big boys. Although they picked a historic draw at seven-time winners of the league, Enugu Rangers, their performances have left so much to be desired.

Speaking in an interview, the owner and chief executive officer of the club, Michael Chukuwudi Amaefula, said bluntly that the club, which was founded in 2020, would need the government financial support to cope with playing in the NPFL. In fact, it was reported that he said the club would need at least N1 billion to meet operational demands for a single season. In a related development, the Imo State Club Owners Association also called on the government and well-meaning Nigerians to support the club.

These appeals didn’t come to some of us as a surprise because even as the league is not well organised, the NPFL is one of the most expensive leagues in the continent. This explains why it is mostly government-owned clubs that thrive in it.

Players and officials of the clubs are poorly paid, but huge sums of money go into what is commonly called “tactical.” To be able to impress their employers, club chairmen spend so much money to oil the wheels of their clubs. Therefore, when a privately owned club is not strong financially, chances are quite high that such a club would quickly fizzle out.

It is on record that the oldest and surviving clubs in the NPFL are government- sponsored clubs like Enugu Rangers, Kano Pillars, Shooting Stars, now 3SC of Ibadan, Heartland of Owerri, Wikki Tourists, El-Kanemi Warriors, Gombe United, Lobi Stars, Enyimba FC, Sunshine Stars and a host of others.

Meanwhile, private clubs like Abiola Babes, Stationary Stores, Julius Berger, Ranchers Bees, Iwuanyanwu National, BCC Lions, Udoji United, FC IfeanyiUbah, Gabros United, Jos City Raiders FC, that came and dazzled Nigerian football fans, are either dead completely or struggling to survive. Right at the moment, Hon. Mohammed Bello El-Rufai and Super Eagles’ striker, Sadiq Umar, are doing their best to revive the once dreaded Ranchers Bees of Kaduna.

Back to Kun Khalifat, soon after the news emerged that the “Pride of Imo” as they like to be called, want financial assistance to continue in the NPF, I gathered from a reliable source that there are plans to sell, sorry, to hand over the slot to one of the clubs that were relegated last season.

The NPFL has warned that it won’t tolerate slots trading in the league. However, it is difficult to see how a club owner that has spent millions of naira taking his club to the NPFL would give it out without any form of compensation. Therefore, some of us are still monitoring the relationship between Kun Khalifat and the club.

If indeed financial help, especially from the Imo State Government, which is already sponsoring Heartland does not come, the NPFL debutants may have no option than to give up their aspiration to leave a mark in the domestic league. As a matter of fact, if my source was right, Kun Khalifat may not complete the first round of the 2025/2026 season in the NPFL.

It is worthy to note that some of the private clubs earlier mentioned in this piece thrived in the Nigerian league because their owners were billionaires. Abiola Babes FC was the best club in terms of players’ and officials’ welfare. When they existed, every good Nigerian player in Nigeria aspired to play for Abiola Babes.

The multi-billionaire and business tycoon, MKO Abiola ensured that his team flew to away matches even in the Nigeria Professional League. When they won the 1985 Challenge Cup at the expense of hard-fighting BCC Lions of Gboko, he donated cash and cars to the victorious players.

Then came the billionaire from the North, Senator Muhammed Ahmed Aruwa, who came from the USA to float Ranchers Bees, named after one of his numerous farms. In order to take the Nigerian league by storm, my friend and former Super Eagles dynamic midfielder, Dahiru Sadi, disclosed to me that Senator Aruwa commissioned him to convince some of the best players in Abiola Babes to come over to Kaduna.

Sadi said that with the irresistible welfare package in Ranchers, it wasn’t difficult to convince Dominic Iorfa, Victor Ogunsanya, Tajudeen Olaiya, Danladi Ibrahim from Abiola Babes and Ayo Ogunlana from Leventis and Daniel Abdullahi from 3SC to join Ranchers Bees. Filled to the brim with super stars, it didn’t take the Bees of Kaduna long to sting local and continental opponents.

Apart from Abiola Babes and Ranchers Bees, clubs like Julius Berger, BCC Lions, and Leventis United, flourished at home and abroad because the corporate organisations that sponsored them had more than enough money to meet up with the clubs’ financial demands. For instance, there is no talented Nigerian payer who didn’t play for the now defunct BCC Lions of Gboko. Most GenZ football fans in Nigeria may not know that Moses Kpakor, Terfa Kpakor, Dominic Iorfa, Bolaji Douglas, Sam Pam, Patrick Mancha, Terfa Akosu, Andrew Aikhuomogbe, John Ene Okon, Friday Ekpo, Felix Pilakyaa, Afioma Sylvester and Benard Ugwu “Surugede,” were among the best players who laced their boots for the Lions of Gboko.

Managing a private club requires a lot of money, which most club owners in Nigeria do not have. Surely, it is now that Amaefula of Kun Khalifat is realising the magnitude of what he has set out to achieve. Without undermining anyone, most of the private club owners in Nigeria can’t boast of the kind of money that billionaire Kunle Soname splashes on his clubs, especially Remo Stars, who are the defending champions of the NPFL. So, if help comes to Kun Khalifat, they may exist for a while like some of their predecessors. However, if the Kun Khalifat chief executive officer’s plea for financial assistance falls on deaf ears, he would be left with no option than to face the challenges of the NPFL alone. If he eventually buckles under the weight of the multi-million naira responsibility, it would mark the end of his baby club in the elite league.