President Bola Tinubu has directed a comprehensive overhaul of Nigerian football following a series of disappointing results and failures by the country’s national teams to qualify for major international tournaments.
The directive was issued on Thursday, shortly after Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation’s Executive Committee resigned amid growing concerns over the state of the sport.
The NFF confirmed the resignations in a statement on Thursday, explaining that Gusau’s decision was aimed at creating room for “a comprehensive and orderly reform process” to tackle persistent governance, institutional and developmental problems affecting Nigerian football.
According to the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu ordered the reforms to address Nigeria’s repeated inability to secure qualification for major regional, continental and global football competitions.
Tinubu blamed the continued decline of Nigerian football on what he called “structural weaknesses” in the system. He noted that other sporting disciplines had made progress following the restructuring of Nigeria’s sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC).
The President said the reform should focus on improving governance, administration, stakeholder representation, player development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across the football sector.
He stressed that football remains Nigeria’s most popular sport and the biggest recipient of public support, investment and national attention, but has continued to face setbacks because of deep-rooted structural deficiencies within the system.
