Nigeria football needs a fresh start now
By Douglas Baye-Osagie
Four years. That is all it took to take Nigerian football from “sleeping giant” to “patient in ICU.”
Yesterday, Ibrahim Gusau and his NFF board were planning to do the honorable thing and resign.
We thank the Presidency for stepping in to stop a further slide. For listening to stakeholders, fans, and players, and for refusing to let Nigerian football drift into FIFA sanctions, normalization committees, and another wasted cycle.
This is not a time for gloating. It is a time for rebuilding.
Let’s be honest about the record. In the past four years:
The Super Eagles failed to qualify for a World Cup. The Olympics football event also passed us by. The Super Falcons missed qualification too. The U20s and U17s, once our pride, became afterthoughts. The CHAN Eagles could not get out of the group.
It wasn’t just results. It was the chaos. Coaches hired today, sacked tomorrow. Players begged to play for Nigeria. Camps opened 48 hours before games. Bonuses unpaid. No league reform. No youth development. No data. No medical department that works. A federation running on vibes, not structure.
The board inherited goodwill and spent it. They took the most talented generation of Nigerian players in 20 years and gave them disorganization. Even with a relatively easy World Cup qualifying group, we missed out again.
Women’s football was diminished. The Falcons, 10-time African champions, were treated like an afterthought. Then we expected to stroll into WAFCON and pick up an 11th title. We got a shock. No proper preparation for World Cup qualifiers, and the girls paid the price. No league support.
Youth football was abandoned. Countries like Morocco, Senegal, and Ivory Coast are passing us because they invested in 12-year-olds while we fought over NFF elections.
Government intervention in football is delicate. FIFA watches closely. But in this case, the Presidency chose the path of stakeholder engagement over dissolution. That saved us from bans and bought us time for a proper reset.
For that, Nigerian football owes a debt of gratitude. The cleanest exit is a voluntary one, and the board took it. Now the job is to make sure this resignation actually means something.
A new board will come. But new faces without new culture will give us the same results in 2030. Here are 7 non-negotiables for the next NFF:
1. Professional League First: The NPFL must stop changing sponsors like diapers. We need a 10-year commercial deal, club licensing with teeth, and a minimum wage of ₦500,000/month for players. State Governments must stop running clubs like family businesses.
2. Youth and Data: Hire a Technical Director with real power. Reach out to the tax office and seek rebate for companies who want to sponsor youth tournaments. This must come from robust marketing.Fund U13, U15, U17, U20 programs every year, not just before tournaments. Build a player database. If Morocco can find talent in Europe and at home, so can we.
3. Women’s Football: Equal treatment means equal budgets, equal camps, equal flights. The Falcons and Flamingos must have year-round programs. We are 10-time African champions. We must act like it.
4. Coaching and Identity: No more emergency appointments 3 weeks to a game. Hire a Technical Committee to define a Nigerian playing style. Give coaches 4-year contracts tied to KPIs: qualify, develop players, win.
5. Infrastructure and Medical: Guarantee 2 CAF-standard home stadiums at all times. Set up a functioning medical and sports science department.
6. Governance and Transparency: Term limits for board members. Independent audits published yearly. Clear separation between NFF, LMC/NPFL, and government.
7. Branding and Partnerships: Football in 2026 runs on analytics, media, and partnerships. The NFF must hire professionals to monetize the Super Eagles brand. Our players — Osimhen, Lookman, Iwobi, Boniface, Ajibade, Oshoala, Nnadozie — are our biggest export. The house must match their standard.
The benchmarks for the next 4 years must be public:
Qualify for 2030 World Cup and 2031 World Cup for men and women .Win AFCON 2027 and WAFCON. Qualify for the Olympics in 2028. Qualify all youth teams. Make NPFL profitable. Pay all coaches and referees on time. Get 2 Nigerian clubs to CAF finals.
A FINAL WORD
To Gusau and the outgoing board: thank you for serving. The results did not come, but the door is now open for others.
To the Presidency: thank you for choosing reform over crisis.
To the fans and the kid in Katsina kicking a ball barefoot: this reset is for you. You deserve a federation that finds you because you are good, not because you know “an uncle on the board.”
Nigeria is still the Brazil of Africa in talent. That has not changed. What must change is management.
A resignation is not failure. Staying and destroying what’s left is failure.
Let this be the beginning of rebuilding, not the end of another era.
Because if we don’t reset now, in four years we will be writing this same article again.