The COO of 247sportsnetwork limited Oba Adeniji has given his take on the newly promoted alongside teams who where relegated to the Nigeria National League ahead of the 2022/23 season as the struggle for thier survival and fight for top flight football begins in earnest.
It will be noteworthy to know that Katsina United, Heartland, Kano Pillars, Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries (MFM) were relegated to the NNL following the conclusion of the NPFL 2021/2022 season.
“First of all, I will like to say a big congratulations to the team that qualified from the NLO to the NNL division and I will also like to welcome those from the NPFL who were relegated at the end of last season to the NNL,” he began of his chronicles of survival.
“NNL which we regard as the most important league in the world and why I say it’s most important is that for you to go the zenith of the league in the country, you have to pass through it, that’s why it’s a struggle in the sense that a league that has almost thirty teams or thereabout and only four will be promoted to the premiership at the end of the season.”
“So, for you to qualify, two from the North and South, for you to qualify from that zone means that you need extra work to be done for you to overcome other clubs that are also pushing to gain promotion to the top-flight at the end of the season,” Oba explained.
“I once again welcome the new comers into the NNL ahead of the new season and I wish them all the best. It took three years in three seasons to gain promotion from the NNL back to the premiership, it took Bendel Insurance almost four years to gain promotion back to NPFL.”
“Now we are having Kano Pillars, one time CAF Champions League team now having to struggle it out with other clubs in the NNL. They have to push and struggle to get out if they want to make it this season back to the NPFL where they belong.”
“It’s not going to be a smooth ride, the way is going to be rough but if they can put themselves together, they can gain promotion back to the NPFL.”
“To the other clubs like Vandrezzer that are gunning for promotion, I wish them all the best. For MFM, I don’t know if truly they want that promotion, we have Ikorodu City FC, I wish them all the best. We welcome them to the new season and wish them the best, may the best team qualify from the most important league in the world,” he concluded.
