•Super Eagles players
Nigeria’s failure to qualify for a second consecutive FIFA World Cup has intensified calls for a change of leadership at the Nigeria Football Federation, with football stakeholders urging the current board to take responsibility and step aside, as pressure mounts ahead of the federation’s next electoral cycle, reports The PUNCH.
Former Nigeria international and 1996 Olympic gold medallist, Abiodun Obafemi, told our correspondent that he supports any measure capable of restoring sanity to Nigerian football, insisting the country cannot continue with the status quo and expect a different outcome.
“Honestly, I agree with any action that will bring good to the football house, even if it is an overhaul. Honestly, we just need a change. We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results,” Obafemi said.
“Last World Cup before this, we were not there. If you look at the calibre of players we had, we should be there. Even if it is two teams from Africa, Nigeria should be there. We are number one football nation in Africa, and everyone knows the reason why we are struggling, and whatever measure that will bring us back, we should take it. We are losing the respect that we had, that fear factor most of these nations have when facing us is gone. Whatever will bring back those glory days, I am for it 100 per cent.”
Also reacting, former Green Eagles captain and 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner, Segun Odegbami, said the Super Eagles’ absence from the tournament reflected deep-rooted problems within the country’s football administration rather than a lack of talent.
“This is a very, very sad situation for us,” Odegbami said.
“There is no reason on earth that Nigeria should not have been one of 10 African countries that went to that World Cup. As Nigerians, we should be one of the top one or two, not outside the top 10. Nobody can justify that. To miss back-to-back World Cups is a sad commentary on the state of our football.”
The Nigerian football icon insisted those in charge of the game must accept responsibility for the country’s decline.
“We cannot put the blame at the footsteps of anybody else but the administration that is in charge,” he said.
“As a country, we need to look at that place. That is where the whole issue is. We are doing things that are not right, and we keep repeating them while expecting different results. It cannot happen.”
Odegbami added that the country’s lack of enthusiasm during the ongoing World Cup was another reflection of the disappointment caused by Nigeria’s absence.
“Look at what is going on in the country. The World Cup is going on, there is no energy. We cannot even watch properly, and we are not enjoying it. The Nigerian government must not allow what brought us to this point to continue. They have to do something,” he said.
The calls for accountability have gathered momentum after Italy embarked on a major overhaul of its football structure following its third successive World Cup qualification failure, with senior officials stepping down before the appointment of new leadership to oversee a rebuilding process.
Many Nigerians have also taken to social media to demand accountability from the NFF leadership.
One fan, Alex Wenge, wrote on X, “Extremely disappointed in Nigeria’s back-to-back failure to qualify for the World Cup. I still cannot point to the exact issues, but our football will most likely decline further if care is not taken. Our football federation is extremely corrupt.”
Another supporter, Insonet Uche, warned that expansion of the tournament alone would not solve Nigeria’s problems writing, “I will not be surprised if the Super Eagles fail to qualify for the World Cup even if it expands to 64 teams until they start doing the right things.”
“The only people worried about increasing the number of participating nations are those who always qualify. The quality of football has improved globally, and teams once regarded as easy opponents are now causing major upsets.”
However, National Sports Commission Director-General, Bukola Olopade, insisted any change at the NFF must come through democratic means rather than public pressure, while also rejecting suggestions that the current leadership should be blamed for Nigeria’s back-to-back World Cup failures.
“I am not going to undemocratically push for a change. Any change must be done democratically,” Olopade said, adding that responsibility for the first missed qualification lay with the previous administration led by Amaju Pinnick.
“Apart from not qualifying for the World Cup, how did President Gusau and his board fail Nigeria? We need to be fair to one another. I know I will get a lot of backlash from this. People keep saying they failed to qualify for two World Cups. No, that was Amaju Pinnick, and that consumed him,” he said, while pointing to Nigeria’s performances at the Women’s World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations under the current board as evidence of progress.
