It was glamour and glitz at the unveiling of players, officials and programs of Green Lock Football Club in Abuja on Friday as the club’s chairman, Dr Olubunmi Oladeinde Peters announced the club’s entry into Nationwide League One (NLO), the third-tier level of Nigerian football.
At the event which was graced by football stakeholders including the NLO chief executive officer (COO), Sola Ogunnowo and others, Dr Oladeinde Peters, said Green Lock, brainchild of his United States-based son, Olufunso, has come to give the best to Nigerian football. He said Green Lock will make an impact in the lives of immensely talented Nigerian youths with the mission to empower them and help them to achieve success in their career. He added that doors are open to potential investors to have stakes in the club.
“It is a privilege to find myself in this environment. I least imagined I would ever be someone who will be in the football arena but it seems like it was ordained and because we give the best in whatever we do I think the Nigerian environment is going to benefit immensely and exceptionally from the value they (Green Lock) are going to bring on the table.
“What you’ll be watching out for is the tenacity for continuation. When you are able to continue doing what you have to do the best way possible, you’ll succeed. So in a few years down the line, I am expecting an amazing football club that will impact locally and internationally. We will develop strategies that will change the game and with me privileged to be leading and providing leadership, I will give them the best guidance,” Peters told Sporting Tribune.
Speaking through Zoom, the proprietor and the Executive Vice Chairman, Green Lock FC, Olufunso Peters, said it has always been his dream to own a football club. He promised to give his best to the club and make it one of the best-run football clubs in the world.
The NLO chief, Ogunnowo, in his remarks, said the NLO mandate is to give support to clubs to find their footing in the league and encourage them to do the right thing always.
“We are happy to identify with Green Lock FC. We are hoping that in the next one season or two, we will see them move up the professional cadre and probably do it with top clubs in Nigeria that is what they told us. I want to tell you that the NLO will do everything possible to support them administratively because our role is beyond what goes on on the field of play among the clubs. Ours is to advise the club and guide them to achieve their aims.
“Sincerely speaking, we are happy to be here. We are ready to accept them among the 300 football clubs in the NLO and at the same time looking forward them to being among the best football clubs in Nigeria.
“They bid to buy a slot in the NLO from an existing club without any liability. They have their own property 100 percent to themselves. It is our responsibility to showcase this (unveiling) to other clubs so that they can emulate them and all of us will always be on the same page.
“Because if one of you is doing the right thing and others are not following suit, and are doing their own thing separately, it means we are not doing our work. Our work is when we see a forward-thinking we advised others to emulate so that we can all achieve the same goal at the end of the day,” Ogunnowo stated.
Green Lock will be taking part in their maiden campaign in the 2023/2024 in the Nationwide League when hostilities get underway later this month.
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