Alhaji Tukur Babangida is the chairman, Kano pillars football club. He spoke on the teams preparation for the African Club Championship and the next premier league season. He also commented on pillars feat as double champions and the motivations by the state government.

Below is the interview:









Congratulation on pillars double, the premier league and the supper 8. As league leader, your team will now participate in the African Club Championship where they will face other formidable things especially from the North-African Countries. How prepared are you for the challenges ahead?

Thank you very much, being a champion is not an easy thing and again it is not easy to maintain a position at the top because other clubs in that category will also be working towards being there and try to pull you down, so as far as we are concerned as the management of Kano pillars, we know we are going to have a Herculean task ahead of us, very challenging task, as I said apart from the local league where your are the champion we are going to play the African Club Championship where we are going to face champion clubs from different countries, that won’t be easy and again, this is the first time Kano is to participate in that competition. So, it is a very serious and challenging task ahead of us. Our intension as we are aware of the task ahead of us is to see the level of our players, their capabilities and their based on the recommendation by the technical crew, because we have to get a recommendation from them. It is the crew that will tell us the department where we are deficient and find ways of fortifying the department. As at today, we have a report from the technical adviser of Kano pillars and we are meeting, the pillars management to discuss the technical report and come out with our decisions on what we are going to do to strengthen Kano pillars. At the same time we intend to present our budget to the state, what we intend to spend as far as the league and championship are concerned. But for what we are going forward to the state what we intend to spend on the premier league. The NFA will still give us guidelines on the amount we are going to invest in the African Club Championship, but as you know during registration, we are not going to wait for tat because where you register for the African Club Championship. So our registration will contain both our premier league and Champion. By 13th of July Kano pillars will commence training. What we intend doing is to have both open and close contest before the competition and this training will start and from there we are going to play. The charity cup which is on the 26th July where ever we are going to have the annual general meeting.

Do you have any plan for international friendly as part of the build up?

You see, playing international friendliest is capital intensive, it is very expensive, however, we have been in touch with some agents who wanted us to go for some European tours, we are still talking but if we can get sponsorship to that effect we will definitely be happy, we will honour it.

Have you made efforts in getting some organizations to bankroll such Europe tour?

As I said earlier, we are in touch with an agent who is working out the possibilities of realizing this dream through sponsorship for marches in Europe. As I said, I have proposal for that but a lot of money is involved and we cannot afford such huge financial commitment now when we don’t have money to register our club, so that is why we are looking for sponsorship. If we get one, definitely we will honor it.


Like you rightly pointed out it is not getting to the top that is the issue put sustaining it, so what are your plains to keep the club on top for at least some time?

With the commitment of the government, the people of Kano state, supporters and well-wishers, with their players and financial banking and with the technical input by the technical crew we are going to maintain the position by the grace of God. Presently despite the fact that we have remours that our coach is leaving us, I know his contact will expire by the 27th of July; it is then that we will take a decisive action on how to strengthen our technical department. But as I said, with the commitment of the government and the people of Kano we are going to maintain that position.

What has the state government done specifically to appreciate the feat preformed by pillars as double champions?

Right from time, we on the part of the management we wrote to the government we put our request regarding players welfare, they also respond by approving it and making the money available. So, in appreciation of wining the cup, I am sure the government is planning some thing big for the boys. Some thing is the opting.

In the course of strengthening Kano pillars for the forth-coming premier league and African Championship, do you have plans for new players, what is your budget?

We have many players in mind but it doesn’t mean the players you have in mind will all come, some may come, some may not come, if they have better offer somewhere but as at now we have penciled down about 16 players what we are going to invite out of this numbers we may be able to have at least 8, but as I said, you may invite them so may come, some may not come. As soon as we start training, we shall invite the players and they will be in camp.

How true that some of your players are leaving for professional football abroad?

Professional football is a business; if a player wants to leave you can’t hold him back because you can’t force him to play for you. If any player wants to leave, we will allow him to go. As at this moment, apart from Bello Kofar-Mata whose agent wanted to take him to the Norway, there is no other player that I know of. But the rest is press speculation. No other clubs at players have contacted me for that purpose.

Chairman, what has been the relationship between the pillars management, the technical adviser, Kadiri Ikhana. Since his bribery outburst that has raised questions on the Nigerian football?

Right from the time, we have shared sound relationship, the chief coach and his crew, the management of pillars and players, it has been very cordial and up to this time, I think there is no bad feeling either by management or the coach. We have been maintaining our cordial relationship and we will continue to maintain it.
If you have your way, will you press the coach to remain in pillars?

If I have my way, I would love him to remain in pillars because it is with his efforts pillars were able to achieve such feat for the first time, so, it will not be nice for such coach to leave like that, in my opinion, he ought to have stayed till the end of the African Championship, to guide the players. At least he could have remained for two (2) seasons. But, if he insists on going, there is nothing we can do.

How much of a pressure is the management putting to keep him?

We are still discussing with him, since his contact is not yet over, we want after his contact expires, but we have been having fruitful discussion, like I said, we are still talking. For now, we are on recess, when we are pack he too will be back and we will talk.

What would you say inspired pillars to such wonderful performance last season?

Is commitment, dedication from players, coaching crew and management, supporters and the government which is the sols sponsorship, they release finds on time to the club.