Rt. Honourable Babatunde Olaniyan, popularly known as ‘Akoro’ is a Nigerian Grade One Referee, who has occupied the seat of Chairman, Oyo State Football Referees’ Academy. He has also served as Premier League Football Match Commissioner since 2010. He is a politician who once served as the Deputy Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly. He is currently the Chairman, Oluyole Warriors, Shooting Stars Sports Club, 3SC of Ibadan, Oyo State. He was our guest recently on our live Radio Show anchored by OLAYINKA AGBOOLA on Splash 105.5fm. He spoke about how his team has been faring and his future plans.
EXCERPTS:
Can you tell us the first major decision you made when you resumed as Chairman of the Shooting Stars Club.
The first major decision was to look at what actually was our major problem that made us not to have desired results. I discovered lot of things and I knew we had to start from somewhere.
I am sure you got information about the Club before you took over its leadership. Can you mention three major problems facing the team when you resumed and what you did to sort them?
The problem of the Club is not something to sort immediately. I came in week 16 of the season. The results they were getting were not satisfactory to the fan, the people and the government of the day. We knew where we were at the table then and I discovered lot of things that were on ground. I asked why were we having those problems and most of the problems could not be solved immediately. The first thing I noticed when I got to the Club was not what I could sort out before the end of the season. Some of the things I observed were that the players we had then were not good enough despite the fact that there were very many of them. The first step I took was to bring in new players and remove those that were not performing well. However, the football law states that a Football Club cannot remove or add a player to a team until the season ends. There was an order from Abuja that we should not do such. Therefore, we waited until the season ended and fortunately, to the Glory of God, the team escaped relegation.
Some people said you sacked the former Coach, Edith Agoye while some said he resigned. Some are also complaining that you have not settled him in respect to his entitlements. How true is this?
Let me state it categorically that we do not owe the said Coach any salary as far as I am concerned because all his salaries were paid. However, there were some backlogs of salaries before I assumed office and since I assumed office, we did not owe him until he left his duty as the Coach.
Did you not take note of the outstanding salaries when you took over sir?
I saw it in the records but there was no way to pay off. Besides, there were many being owed salaries and entitlements by the Club. I made sure that we owe no Coach or player any salary when I took over the affairs of the club.
Did you take any step towards offsetting the outstanding debts?
I took some steps but we only work with the budget released by the government. I wrote a letter on it but I have not gotten a response yet.
There is a rumour that government has refused to grant some of your requests in terms of money. Is there any issue involved that has made the Governor refuse to grant what you requested from him?
All I know is that since I have assumed office, government has not denied any of my requests.
So how do you communicate to the Governor on issues relating to the Club?
Thank you. It is not every time I have the opportunity to speak to the Governor because Shooting Stars Club is not the only Club Oyo State has. I have a method of communicating with him. Whenever we go for a competition, there is a way I send a message to the Governor to give him feedback on the latest events. Government has been carrying out its responsibilities on the Club in such a way that the Club’s staff members receive their salaries the same way government workers do. In addition, no staff member or player can say that they are not paid as at when due. Let me as well inform you that the club’s players also received their 13th month salary from the State government.
Some people said that the Governor is not impressed with the Club’s performance. The Club only drew their last two matches. Can you give the reason for this?
Some Clubs have played three matches and got no point. If we could go all the way to far-away Jos and got a point, we really tried because other Clubs will also struggle to get a point from us. That is what we call a competition. The players spent almost five to six days travelling to Jos by road and they did the same while returning. The truth of the matter is that we have congested fixtures and the players have to travel by road coupled with the fact that Nigerian roads are bad.
Well, apart from bad roads, what are you doing about security, safety of your players?
We only pray for God’s protection on the players during their road trips. Some Clubs have the privilege of flying their players to different destinations to play their matches. We do not have that privilege yet, we are still working towards it. Pending that time, we will keep doing what we know how to do best to make sure that the players’ welfare is our priority. If you observe our first home match, you will notice that we now play beautiful football unlike before. This is just the beginning; I believe the boys will get better in their playing pattern. We implore our supporters to keep praying for us. The team is well prepared starting from their pre-season games that ended with a four-team pre-season friendly in Lagos.
Tell us about the huge prize the team won at that recent four-team tournament sir…
The most important thing is the victory recorded in the competition and not the prize won. Not all the money belongs to Shooting Stars Club. We had an agreement with four ancient and continental teams that participated in the competition based on their past records in football competitions. However, the Sponsors of the competition are not Nigeria-based companies and they felt the need to make an impact in our local League. They only made a plan for the first position. We had an agreement amongst ourselves and signed a memorandum towards the sharing formula of the prize money to cater for all the participating Clubs with no one left behind. Before the competition started, we received the sum of Ten million naira as appearance fee. We used the money to cater for the welfare of the players and even spent above the ten million naira. We camped at Ijebu-Ode for about four to five days prior to the commencement of the competition and we made provision for accommodation, feeding as well as match bonuses until the last day of the competition. Out of the entire money, Shooting Stars Football Club got only fifty million naira. Out of the fifty million naira, we had another agreement with the players and Technical Crew that we would give them 30% of the money if they should win the competition in order to motivate them. Let me also tell you that when I assumed office, we started giving our players match bonus in addition to their salaries if they win any match, including pre-season matches. We do this to motivate them for better performance.
Some people have suggested that any player who scores or assists should receive special bonus in order to make them perform better. What do you see to this?
This is part of welfare package and what we do is we give all the players the same package. If we give special bonus to any player who scores or assists, there will be selfishness on the part of the players. What we can do is to give a special gift to the Most Valuable Player in a Month to encourage them. For now, we do it collectively in order to make us progress as a team.
How do you generally see the Nigeria Professional Football League?
There is a lot of integrity in the 2022/2023 season and it comes from the Sponsors and the Administrators of the League, which is the L.M.C. (League Management Company). There is a level of seriousness in them. You will also discover that there is much sincerity in the officiating on the part of the Match Officials, who are the Referees. If this continues to the end of this current season, people will have much belief in our League.
What have you been doing towards uniting the Club’s Fans and Supporters?
Both fans and supporters are the same. We have many fans and supporters on our social media handles; even we have a set of Professors at the University of Ibadan who are our supporters. These scholars coordinate themselves, buy tickets to enter the stadium to watch our matches. I have met with them. Likewise, students of Ibadan City Polytechnic – they always come with their Coaster Buses to the stadium, putting on our jerseys and with sets of drums. We also have the indigenous fans and supporters who have been in existence for ages. Shooting Stars Football Club is not a team belonging to Ibadan or Oyo State alone. It has supporters everywhere. Inasmuch as we see ourselves as one, we will always relate well with our fans and supporters. We meet often with their leaders and they always work together whenever we have any competition. We want to make sure we all work together so that people will know that we are on the same frequency and there will be no discrimination at all.
The current building housing the Club is rented and not owned by the Club. Since the establishment of the Club, there is no property the Club owns. What steps are you taking to address this?
To the glory of God, the Club will clock 60 years this year. Since I assumed office, I have taken several steps in respect of this. It is not something I can do alone without the support of the authorities. Some successive governments did not care about this. It is true that we rented the current building we use from Odu’a Investments. Some past Administrators like Baba Festus Onigbinde made several efforts to ensure that the building is acquired for Shooting Stars Club but I really cannot explain where the problem was and why those great administrators did not succeed in securing the building for the club. Nonetheless, we will not relent in our efforts. We have made some architectural designs of the building to accommodate hostels, Coaches’ Apartments, offices, mini pitch, bottle water factory, because we spend over 200,000 naira to buy water monthly. We also have provisions for four shops. Instead of renting four houses, we want all to be in the same location and we implore people to assist us. I have personally written to Chairman of the Odua Investments for courtesy visit in order to table our plans before him, but he is yet to reply the letter. It is disheartening that for almost sixty years, the Club has not acquired its own property. Several records showed that past Administrators tried to make this a reality but they could not.
There is also a rumour that there is acrimony within the Club and this has been responsible for the instability of the Club. How will you resolve this?
There is nothing of such amongst the Management as at today. It is mere rumour. Anyone can assist the Club and it will be highly welcomed. The bottom line is that not every rumour is true. I am accessible, so people can contact me for advice and suggestions and we will work on them. The duty assigned to me is to oversee the affairs of the Club and I always make myself available during trainings and match days.
Do you think the Club should hire a foreign Coach?
No Club in the present Nigeria Professional League hired a foreign Coach. Our current Coach is one of the best Coaches in Nigeria. There was a time he was hired on a rescue mission, that is, to rescue the Club from relegation. When I assumed office and things were not going smoothly, I made a frantic effort to hire him so he could help save the team, but he could not come because of his engagement as at that time. He gave us some conditions and we met them. In addition, you will observe that some players returned because of the relationship they have with him. We have many good Coaches in the Nigerian League. The current Coach we have has a record of good achievements and we believe he will give us good results.
What should your fans expect from the Club?
I want all our fans to be rest assured that we will perform better this season.
What is your advice to your Supporters and Fans?
The LMC has made a new rule that they will deduct points from any club whose supporters cause chaos during match days. The current League is an Abridged League – different and more difficult than Straight League. Abridged League is half of the main League. The Clubs are into two categories and the last two teams in category A and B will go to relegation, while the first three teams from both categories will meet and the best three will emerge. In addition, registration for the Federation Cup has begun and by February, the competition will begin. The LMC wants all competitions to end by May of this year. Therefore, I implore our Supporters to have good sportsman’s spirit and keep praying for the Club. It may surprise you to note that fans and not players cause most chaos that occurred in the stadium and this mostly affects the team concerned.
