Shola Akinlade, a Nigerian fintech tycoon and co-founder of Paystack, has founded Sporting Lagos Football Club as part of a community project that he hopes will inspire the next generation of Nigerian footballers.
The death of Akinlade’s father in 2021 prompted him to deepen his involvement in our community.
“Last year, I lost my dad and spent a lot of time with my 75-year-old mum. And for the first time in my life, I started thinking about what my life would look like at 75. The outcome of my reflection was a commitment to deepen my involvement in our community, which has given me so much,” he said.
The club’s governing body will include notable figures such as Godwin Enakhena, CEO of Global Media, and Uzo Okonkwo, managing director, Colin Udoh, a former Super Eagles media officer, and Fola Olatuniji-David, a Google employee, among others.
According to Akinlade, the platform is in line with a desire to use football’s transformative power to connect people from all walks of life together and create large-scale economic opportunities.
“in the last few years, several platforms have emerged to provide opportunities for young Nigerians to perform at the highest level of excellence. Young Nigerians came together to turn technology, music, and cinema into hugely successful industries that command global attention, and we’ve built flourishing ecosystems around these platforms that benefit millions of people. In sports as well, we have a long history of individual Nigerians using football – and sports in general – as a platform to ascend to global recognition.”
Enakhena, speaking about the club’s ambitions, stated that the team’s stay in the Nigerian second division will be limited to a season before entering the Nigerian Professional Football League’s top clubs (NPFL).
The Lagos-based team will play their inaugural game in the Nigerian National League’s second division on February 12 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria, with the goal of progressing to the first division in the coming years. The club has also welcomed the general public to become Founding Members for a one-time cost of NGN 50,000 (about $100).
