President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau has expressed his satisfaction with the leadership of the board of the Nigeria National League (NNL), following the boards seamless organization of the country’s second tier league
Gusau gave the commendation during the third edition of the NNL Monthly Awards ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday 15th of April, 2025.
The NFF president, who was represented at the event by the first vice president, Felix Anyansi Agwu, said the National League has taken a new shape with giant and commendable strides since the emergence of George Aluo as its chairman.
He emphasized that the newly introduced monthly awards has given the league a greater face and made it more competitive as all actors, including players, coaches, referees and managers alike not only compete to be recognized and selected but ensure a transparent management and smooth flow of the league.
Earlier in his opening remarks the NNL chairman, George Aluo noted that the awards recipients, including players, coaches and clubs have shown enormous strength in projecting the image of the most important league in the country, the NNL, adding that the awards is therefore designed to reward those who have performed exceptionally well in the month under review.
He expressed the board’s appreciation of the support from the NFF president, noting that he has always given the NNL a free hand to do what he believes in, adding that he has remained very supportive in all the achievements the NNL board has recorded in the ongoing league season.
Aluo further highlighted the strength and quality of the second tier league, stating that the strong performances of the clubs in the league have similarly been replicated in the big victories the NNL clubs have recorded in the ongoing President Federations Cup where NNL teams are upstaging their Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) counterparts.
He said, “Exceptional achievements are within our reach when we stand tall on a foundation of personal integrity, hard work and unwavering determination.
“Success is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution.
“Today, I feel very privileged and honoured to stand here in front of you all and acknowledge the achievements of our brilliant Football Players, Team Officials, outstanding Team and outstanding arbiters for the Month of February, 2025 who have made themselves, their parents and their clubs proud.”
The NNL chairman noted further that the awards program is held “to recognize the young talents who have made an immense contribution to our noble League “the most important League in Nigeria,” adding that the brilliant athletes exhibit such qualities that will not only help them in achieving their goals, but also bring glory of success to their football clubs and organizations.
“Today, we have gathered here not just to celebrate the achievements of our players, but also to give due regard to our values and morals which these awardees exemplify, like discipline, compassion and zeal for learning.”
He explained that the awards are a way to encourage good performances, good behaviour and inculcate competitive spirit, stressing that such practices informed the Nigeria National League (NNL) alongside its partners, organize monthly award ceremony to encourage outstanding footballers, officials and referees.
“So we are here to give away the awards in mainly seven categories; the best behaved Team, the best coach, the Best Goalkeeper, best Goal of the month, Highest Goal Scorer, Most Valuable Player and Best Referee,” he noted.
