President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football following the country’s repeated failures to qualify for major international competitions.
The directive was issued on Thursday, hours after Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation’s Executive Committee resigned amid mounting pressure over the state of Nigerian football.
The NFF confirmed the resignations in a statement on Thursday, saying Gusau’s decision was aimed at paving the way for “a comprehensive and orderly reform process” to address longstanding institutional, governance and developmental challenges affecting the sport.
Announcing the presidential directive, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu ordered the reform to help Nigeria overcome its repeated failure to qualify for major regional, continental and global competitions.
Tinubu attributed the decline in the fortunes of Nigerian football to what he described as “structural weaknesses” in the system. He noted that other sports had made progress following the restructuring of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC).
The President said the reform should focus on strengthening governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability within Nigerian football.
“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,” Tinubu said.
The development comes amid growing concerns over the performance and administration of Nigerian football, with calls for reforms aimed at improving the management of the sport and strengthening the country’s national teams.
