THE American cliché is instructive: ‘Think of what you can do for your country and not what your country can do for you.’
Miles away in Abuja on this sunlit day, Adam Mouktar Mohammed, Vice-Chairman of the FCT Football Association and owner of amateur club FC Hearts of Abuja, sat behind his desk preoccupied with just the thought of making a difference in Nigerian football so that the country could attain its full potentialities in the art the renowned Pele called ‘the beautiful game.’
“After 10 very successful years as a player agent, I resigned early this year to face the management side of football in order to further be a game changer,” began Mohammed with a deep long breath in an interview with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN.“I want to be the game changer of Nigerian football.”
There is no doubt that Mohammed means business and overtime, he has shown that he is the type that matches his words with action. This time, the Masters degree holder in Finance from American Intercontinental University in London looks at the numerous challenges facing sports development in Nigeria and provides recipe for transforming this pastime into a big business and employer of labour for the country, adding the wind of change in the country and the ‘PMB’ effect would definitely rub off on the Nigerian sports industry.
“Let me start by saying that civil servants are not trained to run sports,” he explained. “It’s (sport) a business and there is a scientific dimension as well as an artistic angle to it.
“You must see how most countries that have built successful sporting traditions achieved it; Germany, Spain, Brazil, USA have built models that were carefully planned and implemented as an enterprise that are professionally run by top experts.
“It’s constantly dynamic and evolving, so you must keep up; success does not come by chance but it comes with skilled knowledge, meticulous preparation and unrivalled desire.
“When you look at all aspects of life, you will see the proper foundations that led to growth in the world’s leading countries and if we are to see a change in our fortunes, then we must go back to the drawing board and lay the foundations,” he emphasised with a clinched fist.
Mohammed further explained that it was his desire to do things in a better way that he decided to put his money where his mouth is by funding FC Hearts which is becoming a conveyer of talents for the country’s youth teams.
He said: “There is no better proof to show your love for the game and to consolidate yourself as an important stakeholder than putting your resources not only financial but time, which I consider even a more valuable resource because you can recoup your money, but not your time.
“It gives me immense satisfaction to invest my time and resources in my country Nigeria because I believe in it and I truly want it to be at par with the world’s most developed countries; football goes beyond just the game as it has a multiplier effect on the whole economy.
“Clearly, everybody has woken up to know that it’s big business and also has a huge impact on the people and when it’s your passion, you get the most satisfaction in the success of the project by adding value to people and they benefit a lot in terms of earnings, entertainment, success and reward,” he noted, as he speaks about his unbridled passion for sports and sundry issues. Excerpts…
Developing passion for football
I am Adam Mouktar Mohammed, born in Kano, grew up in Lagos, Kano, attended university in London. These major cities moulded my love and passion for football. My first foray (as players’ agent) started 10 years ago when I made up my mind that I could change the football scene then as it was exclusively dominated by foreign players’ representatives. I cannot over emphasise the important role that plays in the football chain. Thus I sat for the FIFA exam, passed it and was subsequently granted a licence to become a football players’ agent. Thankfully, I have had huge successes in terms of unearthing talents, harnessing them and eventually placing them in clubs in Europe. After 10 very successful years, I resigned as an agent early this year to face the management side of football in order to further be a game changer. And a few months ago, I was elected Vice-Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Football Association.
Possibility for sport business
Yes, sport goes beyond your imagination. Some countries are famous for their sporting achievements more than any other thing. Take Brazil for instance – as soon as you mention that country, the first thing that comes to mind is football, Pele. These countries have mastered the art and science of building institutions that run sports both as a business and as entertainment successfully. Another example – as of today, the English Premier League is No.1 in terms of followership and TV revenue in the world. This was only after certain clubs took the bull by the horns and decided to change football in England and run it as a business, as a private enterprise, and, as they say, the rest is history. Just look at the facts and figures, it’s phenomenal in terms of income to clubs and players and the economy as a whole – leisure and hospitality, tourism, player sale, TV rights, sponsorship, player salary. Yes, it could be done here. I believe Nigeria has all the ingredients for sports to be a huge contributor to our GDP. It’s waiting to happen in Nigeria, the market is ripe and demanding it. In my humble opinion, we must tell ourselves the hard truths; we must get focused, determined, patriotic persons with integrity to drive this process and build from down up and this must be privately driven, but with necessary support from the government at inception.
Wants new role for government’s involvement
Virtually 18 teams of the 20 Premier League clubs in Nigeria are state government-owned. This is a huge drain pipe and there is lack of professionalism in the running of the clubs because the perception is “government money is easy money”, “it’s other people’s money, hence it’s easy to spend”. These days you hardly see any government involvement in sports across the world apart from policy, legislation, special grants, tax incentives or infrastructure contributions and issuing guarantees for hosting international tournaments. Government has more pressing issues to deal with such as security, health, education and infrastructure. Resources are scarce and limited and so where these are allocated is key. Evidently, sports can generate huge revenues so it can fully sustain itself once it’s put on track and run efficiently. We just have not had the will to change the current situation. Once people who know and share the vision come on board, you will see instant changes.
Addressing lack of mega sponsorship in Nigeria sport
Sponsorship has a fundamental reason to it – you put your money in anticipation of return. Firstly, financial returns from sales and, secondly, image or brand perception. You want to send a clear message and you would want to partner with a positive product, but all the ingredients required from a marketing perspective, product, place and so on are absent. Hypothetically, take the Dangote Group, they must have a huge advertising budget, but certainly they would want to put their money in a place or associate with a product that would not give customers a bad perception because of say bad officiating, crisis, government interference, poor stadium, lack of TV coverage, hooliganism and so on.
Facts and figures don’t lie and so no company would pass the chance to associate with top brands like Manchester United or Barcelona by virtue of their success, fan base, quality of facilities and instant brand recognition. They give a good return on investment. There was a time when football was the standard bearer for Nigeria. But these days, Hollywood and the music industry have long overtaken the country’s No 1 passion especially in international significance and as major employers of labour.
Where did it all go wrong for Nigerian football in your own opinion?
Our football and sports as a whole have been on a steady decline and virtually decimated, as they have not re-invested in themselves in terms of clear-cut short, medium and long-term blue prints, the laws, manpower and infrastructure. There has not been a deliberate plan, will and desire to take sports to the top level, hence new privately driven form of entertainment has taken the world by storm in the form of music and Nollywood. This has come not by chance but by a manifestation of hard work, talent and sheer will to succeed and be the best. Clearly, the world has stood up to recognise the force Nigeria is in terms of music and the film industry! I firmly believe it’s not too late for football and sports in general to play catch up and go on to surpass Nollywood as the No.1 form of entertainment in Nigeria. It’s a known fact Nigerians love sports, particularly football, but unfortunately they have not had a good return on their expectations.
Dealing with dilemma of age-grade competitions
I beg to differ on the measure of success in age-grade competitions because the whole essence is to create a platform for the future stars to gain experience in preparation for the big stage, which is the World Cup. So, physically clinching the cup is not the aim of most countries at the youth stage.
And you must note that there is a big gulf in terms of infrastructure, environment, training programmes, family support, psychology, poverty levels as this affects decision making, physical attributes and formation, mental attributes and what have you. In a tournament, there are many factors including element of luck, but in the end, going forward the difference becomes clearer.
It’s no surprise that this transpires as countries like Germany and Spain tend to produce more quality athletes than others due to their deliberate investment, infrastructure, scientific approach and policy. So, there is a huge difference in the support structures that eventually determine the longevity of a player’s career.
Dearth of big transfer of Nigerian players
The football world is global business and the economics dictate, constantly dynamic and increasingly demanding marketplace with a huge entertainment angle. It’s a clear case of demand and supply, where the consumer is king! Clubs want the finished article in terms of the players, they look at ability, mental and physical qualities and other market forces such as potential for a Brazilian player to attract more fans to follow and buy club merchandise. We lack world-class facilities and knowledge to train players from a very young age in order to learn the basics and reach the top. So, you find out that usually African players lag behind and take time to adapt and integrate in a different world whereby language, food, weather and knowledge of the football philosophy are huge challenges. The league in any country is usually the bedrock of that country’s football.
Repositioning Nigerian football league
Certainly, I agree with you 100% that is the case, but we in Africa concentrate always on the top premier tier of the league at the detriment of the lower amateur and academy structures which are the starting points that all players are spotted and moulded. Hence, we produce half-baked products that simply stagnate and eventually without a proper system a lot of them don’t ever make it to the top of the pyramid.
Coming back to the Nigeria Premier League, we must transit gradually from public to private hands whereby investors will have ownership and control to run the teams in a more efficient, professional and goal-driven manner. As soon as they invest in infrastructure and competent manpower, you will see improvement in player recruitment and match attendances and in turn revenues will rise and the best talent will gravitate to the league. They will have the freedom to negotiate TV rights and sponsorship deals. We have started to see slight changes with the formation of the League Management Company (LMC), particularly in better officiating and increased sponsorship money, but we are still a long way from where we need to be as ownership of the league still lies with the government-owned teams. If Enyimba Football Club of Aba with their successes were a private enterprise, you would see them being a big continental brand with huge commercial potential. Fans want to see beautiful entertainment, the best players, great stadium experience and top-level infrastructure.
My short and long term plans in football
I have a dream for sports in Nigeria firstly, I am over the moon to see Nigeria finally get a leader that is tackling corruption seriously, so the “PMB effect”, as I call it, will affect the sports industry positively. Corruption is really the enemy and it has virtually killed sports development in Nigeria. You see mediocre in charge and it can never work! We must demand better output and higher quality, clean up our league, set benchmarks, because the current structure is flawed. Being in sports circles for a long-time is not indicative of competence or ability to perform or deliver. There is a specific skill set required, and you must build that capacity. INtegrity and vision are key, persons who lack both qualities have occupied important decision-making positions and hence they can’t produce the desired results!
