An array of leading professionals has been confirmed as resource persons for the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) pre-season workshop for clubs, scheduled to take place in Enugu on Wednesday, 29 July 2026.
Sponsored by Afrinvest, a leading financial and investment company, the workshop will feature specialised sessions for club officials on marketing, investment, brand merchandising and media management.
The NPFL said all 20 clubs, including the newly promoted teams, are expected to participate in the pre-season programme.
The league’s Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, said the workshop forms part of the NPFL’s ongoing efforts to improve the commercial viability of clubs and create additional revenue streams.
“While we recognise that the majority of our clubs depend on funding from their respective state governments, we also believe it is important to broaden their revenue base,” Owumi said.
He added that the initiative aims to make clubs more attractive to private sector investment through sponsorship, which would in turn strengthen the NPFL brand.
Owumi said improved club management remains central to attracting both supporters and corporate partners.
Among the speakers are Dr Iorwase Derek Kaka’an, George Isitua Onukwu, Mitchell Obi, Nelson Ine and Harry Iwuala.
Dr Kaka’an is a sports management scholar, researcher, lecturer and football development practitioner with extensive experience in sports administration, marketing, sponsorship and policy development. He lectures in the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education at Reverend Father Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi.
Onukwu is Chief Executive Officer of TBWA\Concept, where he leads the company’s “Beyond the Brief” strategy, focusing on technology integration, product development and intellectual property.
Obi is Executive Vice-Chairman of Mastersports International Limited, a Nigerian sports marketing and communications company. He combines sports marketing, media production and punditry and is the immediate past president of the African chapter of the International Sports Press Association.
Nelson Ine of GTI Assets Management is an investment banking professional and the architect of The Nigeria Football Fund (TNFF), an open-ended, Securities and Exchange Commission-registered unit trust and mutual fund launched to raise ₦5 billion through five billion units priced at ₦1 each. The fund is designed to support the commercial development of Nigerian football.
Iwuala, the NPFL’s Head of Media and Communications, oversees the league’s media strategy and public relations. Before moving into football administration, he built extensive experience in mainstream journalism and corporate communications, including a role at Globacom.
The 2026/27 NPFL season is scheduled to kick off on 28 August 2026.
