President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football following a series of setbacks that have seen the country’s national teams miss out on major international competitions.
The directive was issued on Thursday night, August 27, just hours 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 Nigerian football.
The NFF confirmed the mass resignations in a statement on Thursday, saying Gusau’s decision was aimed at creating room for “a comprehensive and orderly reform process” to tackle longstanding institutional, governance and developmental challenges in the sport.
Announcing the presidential directive, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu ordered the reform to address Nigeria’s repeated failure to qualify for major regional, continental and global competitions.
According to the President, the continued decline of Nigerian football is largely linked to structural weaknesses within the system. He noted that other sporting disciplines had recorded progress following the restructuring of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission.
“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football,” Tinubu said.
The President added:
“Football, Nigeria’s most popular sport and the greatest beneficiary of public support, investment and national attention, has continued to struggle basically due to structural deficits within the system.”
The proposed reforms are expected to focus on improving the administration and governance of Nigerian football, strengthening domestic competitions, expanding development pathways and ensuring greater accountability across the sport.
