That millions of football followers in Nigeria are disgusted with the present state of affairs in the country’s senior football team, Super Eagles and by extention the running of the game in the nation is an incontrovertible fact....Read The Full Story Here ▶
It is also an open secret that public interest on who becomes the next head coach of the three-time African Cup of Nations (AFCON) champions have waned dramatically following the inability of the country’s football governing body, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to appoint a substantive manager after coach Finidi George resigned his position less than a month of taking charge of the Super Eagles after a poor run of games in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier series.
Finidi who was appointed by NFF on April 29, 2024, three clear months after Portuguese Jose Peseiro’s contract expired in February and several weeks of searching for “most qualified coach” to lead the Eagles, shocked Nigerians by throwing in the towel on June 15 after just two matches incharge, although he took charge of Super Eagles on an interim basis for the doubleheader international friendly against Ghana and Mali earlier on.
The ex-international led the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw against Banyana of South Africa at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo and a 2-1 loss to Benin Republic in Abidjan, Ivory Coast three days later, results which have put Nigeria’s qualification to the 2026 World Cup in serious doubt.
Also, the two results extended Nigeria’s winless run in the qualifiers having previously played two draws under former coach Jose Peseiro against Lesotho and Zimbabwe with Nigeria now seated in the 5th place above only Zimbabwe in the Group C qualification lot for the 2026 World Cup.
Following the poor performance of the Super Eagles in the two games under Finidi especially the loss to Benin Republic team led by Nigeria’s former coach Gernot Rohr, there were several calls from Nigerian fans for the sack of the ex-Ajax Amsterdam winger.
Expectedly, Nigerians descended on NFF too, with many calling for the heads of the leadership of the federation and faced with the potential of the country missing out on another World Cup after the failure of Qatar 2022, the NFF and the Sports Minister, Senator John Ewan Enoh held an emergency meeting initiated by the Sports Minister in Abuja with Finidi in attendance as they reviewed the two games against South Africa and Benin Republic.
However, it was in the meeting that that NFF chieftains revealed to the Sports Minister that it will hire an “expatriate” technical adviser for the Super Eagles to the shock of Finidi who was not sure what role he will play in the Super Eagles going forward.
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of NFF had hurriedly held a meeting on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 in hybrid mode to deliberate on important issues in Nigeria football and resolved as follows:
“The Executive Committee wholeheartedly apologized to Nigerians for the dismal output and subsequent very poor returns of the Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles, in four out of 10 matches in the ongoing qualification series for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals, and pledged to work assiduously and put necessary measures in place to ensure a better-prepared squad ahead of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers in September this year and the resumption of the World Cup qualifiers in March 2025,” the NFF said.
“Further to (1) above, the Executive Committee resolved to employ an expatriate Technical Adviser for the Super Eagles in the coming weeks, ahead of the AFCON qualifiers and the remaining FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.”
Perhaps, Finidi did not want to be humiliated further more by NFF hence he quickly tendered his resignation letter addressed to the President of NFF Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau which however got to NFF headquarters in Abuja during the Sallah holidays. The federation initially denied the receipt of the letter but later acknowledged and accepted Finidi’s resignation.
His departure has left a vacancy that the federation has not filled and it is now almost two weeks the former Enyimba International chief coach resigned but the NFF which announced to the whole world of its intention to hire an “expatriate” technical adviser for the team has neither identified any target nor discussed contract terms with any “expatriate” coach.
Sadly, the federation has left a vacuum in the communication channel, leaving rumour mongers to have a field day by dishing out fake news; misinformation and disinformation to the gullible public on the next “expatriate” coach of Super Eagles.
The media is awash with the stories of NFF hiring Tom, *** and Harry as foreign coaches from XYZ countries with all the persons being linked to the vacant position in Nigeria either not interested or not aware of the position they are being associated with.
No day passes in Nigeria at the moment without bloggers in particular announcing the long list of “expatriate” coaches NFF have contacted to replace Finidi, quoting “sources” close to the federation or unnamed NFF Technical Committee Members” as the source of information.
Why Hiring Head Coach Is Stalling
Notwithstanding the urgency of finding a substantive head coach for Super Eagles to start ground work before the next FIFA International Window, it may take a little longer before a new “expatriate” coach will be appointed by NFF.
Interestingly, the politics of hiring a foreign coach for Super Eagles has assumed a new dimension with several interest groups not ready to be outdone by rival groups thus neither the coaches who have applied for the vacant post nor those rumoured to be interested have been officially contacted by the federation.
Prompt News investigations revealed that there are two camps in the football house with each trying hard to produce the “expatriate” coach who will now be amenable to the lucky camp.
Aside the above reason, the main impediment to the appointment of a new coach for Super Eagles is the financial implications of hiring an “expatriate” coach in the face of poor financial standing of the NFF which depends heavily on the statutory budgetary allocations from the federal government through the supervisery Ministry of Sports and Youth Development.
It was gathered that with the Sports Minister making it crystal clear from beginning that the federal government will not pick up the payment of the humongous salaries and bonuses of the foreign technical adviser, the NFF leadership is in a quagmire over the source of the funds to undertake such big project.
They figured that with most of the federation’s major sponsors and partners parting ways with them, hiring a foreign coach at this moment with the huge financial implications will be counter-productive at the long run.
It was gathered that the “apostles” of foreign technical adviser are now weighing their options because it is not possible for NFF to find a highly sought-after technically and tactically sound foreign coach who will accept less than Seventy Thousand Dollars ($70,000 or N105 million monthly salary which Peseiro was receiving when he was first appointed, outside match bonus and allowances.
This is even as the NFF is currently paying the American-born Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum the sum of $10, 000 or (N15 million) monthly salary plus allowances and bonus.
The above situations have combined to make the hiring of an “expatriate” technical adviser for Super Eagles a hard call for the federation that is always crying for paucity of funds to execute its projects and run its statutory programmes.
This has also presented an interesting scenario where the pro-indigenous coach for Super Eagles may have the last laugh as the NFF is now pressed for time to announce Finidi’s replacement, a situation which has made it possible for NFF to now reconsider its earlier decision by revisiting the list of shortlisted candidates from where Finidi was picked for the short-lived coaching job.
Among indigenous coaches in the five-man list the NFF Technical Committee recommend for the federation earlier in April are Emmanuel Amuneke and Daniel Amokachi, both have CAF A Licenses and UEFA Pro Licenses with Amuneke possessing the highest certification of UEFA Masters Degree in Coaching.
The duo are tested hands in African football and are members of the prestigious CAF Technical Study Group (TSG) even as Amuneke, former African Footballer of the Year is also a FIFA Technical Study Group Member and led Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
This also means that “the stone the builders rejected may become the cornerstone” of Super Eagles revival as Nigeria battles Rwanda away in Kigali in Group C when the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers resume on March 17, 2025.
