Nigeria’s failure to qualify for a second consecutive FIFA World Cup has intensified calls for a leadership overhaul at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), with football stakeholders and supporters demanding accountability as the federation approaches its next electoral cycle.
Former Nigeria international and 1996 Olympic gold medallist, Abiodun Obafemi, said the country’s football needed a fresh direction, insisting that maintaining the current approach would only produce the same results.
Obafemi said: “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.”
He added: “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.”
Former Green Eagles captain and 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner, Segun Odegbami, also blamed the country’s football administration rather than a lack of talent for the Super Eagles’ absence from the tournament.
Odegbami said: “This is a very, very sad situation for us.
“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.”
He insisted those in charge of the game must accept responsibility.
Odegbami said: “We cannot put the blame at the footsteps of anybody else but the administration that is in charge.
“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 also said Nigeria’s absence had reduced public enthusiasm for the ongoing World Cup.
“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 gathered momentum after Italy embarked on a major restructuring of its football administration following its third successive failure to qualify for the World Cup, with senior officials stepping down before the appointment of new leadership.
Many Nigerians also took to social media to express frustration with the NFF.
One supporter, 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.
