Written by Chuks Ogbu
There is really a thin line between sponsorship and what today some organisations choose to call Corporate Social Investment (CSI) which hitherto went as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In time past, corporate bodies got involved in CSR initiatives that only returned goodwill which of course is expected in the long term to translate to loyalty and affinity. But over time, it began to emerge that organisations were dubbing their commercial sponsorship activities as CSR. Sponsorship by simple definition is understood to be a form of marketing in which a corporation pays for all or some of the costs associated with a project or programme in exchange for some rights which may include the use of such rights for commercial returns. Therein lies the difference as one purely seeks to extract goodwill whilst the other may in addition to goodwill, exploit commercial benefits.
The commercial objective of corporate involvement in sponsorship was aptly captured in a speech by the Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Mr. Peter Amangbo, during his interactions with the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) recently. He had said; “You are on the right path, with your attitude, determination and openness of mind. Once people see transparency, they will want to identify with you. Companies support sports in order to derive value. Football is big business and millions of people can be employed across the several value chains.” Fortunately, he also underlined the point that when properly positioned and supported, football can empower a lot more people than it is presently doing in Nigeria. Unfortunately also, football is yet to attract the right corporate support despite strides made in the competitive field by the clubs and national teams.
It has rather been a situation where the corporate organisations make billions of Naira in Nigeria and deploy same to support foreign football. It has to be agreed that over the years, there may have been poor articulation of football administrative agenda to provide the business parameters for corporate bodies to key into. Yet, there is a case to be made that as Nigerian businesses, they have also failed to be part of the building process which at the end will serve to provide the enabling environment for football and trade to thrive. Regeneration is a vital activity for life and this obviously is the objective for creating succession lines and plans.
Quality and overall improvement means that we evolve better ways of doing things or creating value which results in capacity building and development. In human society and in business, there is always need for education and leadership training – to regenerate doctors, lawyers, engineers and, sportsmen.
By the nature of things, each generation of sportsmen will get old and weak and new athletes will have to take over. When applied to football, it explains the inclusion of sports and physical education in primary and secondary schools curricula which ensured a steady stream of sportsmen and women to represent the country. The strategy was further elevated with the institutionalization of the National Academicals programme which produced the likes of Henry Nwosu, Stephen Keshi and many such players and athletes that became ‘Reliables’ in the national teams.
It is difficult to determine when and why youth development was de-prioritised and focus switched to international competitions leading to a disconnect between retiring players and new talents for replenishment. The phrase “tired legs” consequently crept into our football lexicon.
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