This article was spurred by a question, asked elsewhere on this site,in response to a thread set up on the recent players strike by players of a football club in this country over unpaid salaries.

The question was ''Why doesn't Dangote buy the club?'

That question has bothered me....especially as our football is in need of investment. Lots of it. And Dangote investing in a football club, or in our league as a whole is not a bad idea.....really.

But.....and there is a big but....Dangote buying a club is not as simple as it looks.

First off, when a businessman buys an asset like a club, a house or a painting by Ben Enwonwu, he buys it with the idea that the asset will make money for him. So,assuming Dangote buys a football club, he is buying it with the idea that the club is going to make money for him.

But first, he has to make the asset work. In practical terms, this means spending money on a new stadium, new facilities,new players, new coaches. And the fans would be rejoicing. Finally....things are looking up.

But, all these need to be paid for. And one way it can be paid foe easily is by raising the price of tickets to watch the team. So....instead of paying N200 for popular stand....someone would be paying N1000. And so on.

Also, fans would have to buy club merchandise....ie shirts, cups ,etc branded with the club's logo. And all these things cost more than the ordinary shirt, cup, etc. (Example...I went into a Sports Direct shop in the UK some years ago to buy a shirt. I saw the shirt of my favourite club on sale...and it cost 4 times more than a plain Lonsdale sport shirt. Of course I bought the Lonsdale shirt.).

Then there is the fact that Nigerian clubs don't get much from sponsorships and TV money. So...the fans will be asked to pay more for the privilege of watching their club play.

Then, buying lots of star players and paying them high fees does not always translate to success(Real Madiric's galactico policy some years ago led to......zero trophies). So...facing no sucess in the various local and international tournaments.....Dangote starts selling players to balance the books. Or at worst....he takes a leaf from the owner of Newcastle's book on managing clubs....and just buys the players that would be good enough to keep the club from being relegated.....angering fans who want to see trophies.

By now...you must be asking why Dangote just does not divert some of the money from his other businesses to prop up the club? Seriously? Did I not tell you that when a businessman buys an asset like a club , it is to make more money for him,not to drain more money from him.(One Nigerian club owner was forced to disband his club because it was draining money from his other businesses).

So...five years from now....the club bought by Dangote is not making a profit.....it is making a loss. At which point, Dangote has two choices.....either keep the club, and watch as it drains money.....or sell the club.

He sells the club....and we are back to square one.

Nigerian football needs investment. But we should not necessarily be waiting for a rich businessman to play saviour.

On point brother