After two world cups miss, NFF deserves rejection not re-election — by Bunmi Awoyemi

There comes a moment in the life of every institution when failure ceases to be an unfortunate occurrence and becomes an entrenched culture. Nigerian football appears to have arrived at that tragic destination under the stewardship of the current Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) leadership.

It is therefore astonishing—indeed breathtaking in its audacity—that individuals who presided over one of the most disappointing eras in the history of Nigerian football can contemplate seeking a fresh mandate from the very football community they have repeatedly failed.

By what logic should a board that could not deliver an AFCON title in over eight years despite participating in multiple tournaments be rewarded with another term?

By what reasoning should administrators who oversaw Nigeria’s failure to qualify for two consecutive FIFA World Cups—Qatar 2022 and United States-Mexico-Canada 2026—be entrusted with the future of our football?

In every serious football nation, results matter.

Accountability matters.

Performance matters.

Only in Nigeria do some administrators appear to believe that failure should be rewarded with tenure extension and incompetence should be mistaken for continuity.

The tragedy is that much of this failure was entirely avoidable.

For years, former internationals, football analysts, journalists, supporters, and stakeholders repeatedly sounded the alarm. They warned that Nigerian football was drifting. They called for professionalism. They demanded long-term planning. Most importantly, they urged the NFF to appoint a world-class coach capable of restoring tactical discipline, technical excellence, and strategic direction to the Super Eagles.

Those warnings were ignored.

Those appeals were dismissed.

Those concerns were treated with the kind of arrogance that often accompanies bureaucratic complacency.

The result was predictable.

Nigerian football drifted from one avoidable crisis to another. Coaching appointments became experiments. Technical direction became uncertain. Long-term planning became virtually nonexistent. The Super Eagles, a team once feared across Africa and respected globally, became a side increasingly dependent on permutations, calculators, and prayers.

A nation blessed with some of the finest football talents on the continent should never find itself in such a humiliating position.

The painful truth is that had the NFF acted decisively and professionally when the warning signs first emerged, Nigeria would not have found itself in this predicament.

Had a competent and proven technical manager been appointed much earlier, Nigeria would likely have secured qualification comfortably.

Had football decisions been driven by merit rather than mediocrity, the Super Eagles would have topped their qualification campaign instead of collapsing under the weight of administrative negligence.

Had the current technical direction arrived years earlier, Nigeria might have qualified ahead of schedule rather than becoming spectators to football’s greatest spectacle for the second consecutive edition.

The emergence of Eric Chelle has merely reinforced what millions of Nigerians already knew.

The problem was never a shortage of talent.

The problem was never a shortage of passion.

The problem was never a shortage of football pedigree.

The problem was a shortage of vision.

The problem was a shortage of leadership.

The problem was a shortage of competence at the highest administrative levels of Nigerian football.

When leadership is poor, even gifted players struggle.

When administration lacks direction, even abundant talent is squandered.

When football governance becomes an endless cycle of excuses, mediocrity becomes institutionalized.

This is why the current NFF leadership cannot credibly campaign on performance.

Their record is their greatest opponent.

Their scorecard is their most devastating indictment.

The scorecard is not merely disappointing.

It is damning.

No AFCON title despite multiple attempts.

Failure to qualify for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Failure to qualify for the United States-Mexico-Canada 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Years of administrative confusion.

Questionable technical decisions.

Recurring controversies.

A persistent inability to inspire confidence among supporters.

And the unprecedented humiliation of watching two consecutive FIFA World Cups from the sidelines while countries with fewer resources, smaller populations, and less football pedigree proudly represented Africa on football’s grandest stage.

Entire generations of young Nigerian football supporters have now been denied the experience of seeing the Super Eagles compete at two successive World Cups.

Such an outcome should ordinarily trigger resignations in any serious football federation.

It should provoke introspection.

It should produce accountability.

Instead, the architects of this decline appear prepared to seek another mandate.

That alone speaks volumes.

The NFF is not a welfare programme.

It is not a retirement home for football bureaucrats.

It is not a sanctuary for serial underperformers.

It is not a platform for perpetual office holders whose greatest achievement is their ability to remain in office despite poor results.

The NFF exists to advance Nigerian football, not to provide endless relevance for administrators.

Those who have failed that responsibility should not be rewarded with another opportunity to fail it again.

Nigerian football deserves administrators with vision.

It deserves leaders with courage.

It deserves football managers with competence.

It deserves a leadership class that understands that qualification for major tournaments is a minimum expectation, not a miraculous accomplishment.

Most importantly, it deserves leaders who understand that occupying office is not the same thing as producing results.

The era of excuses must end.

The era of accountability must begin.

The era of administrative entitlement must be buried once and for all.

And if the current custodians of Nigerian football genuinely believe they deserve another mandate, they should first explain why Nigerians should trust those who have already squandered so many opportunities.

History is often merciless toward those who confuse longevity with achievement.

History rarely rewards those who mistake occupancy for performance.

History certainly does not celebrate those who preside over decline and then demand applause.

Nigerian football does not need continuity of failure.

It needs a clean break from it.

Good riddance to administrative mediocrity.

Good riddance to football governance by trial and error.

Good riddance to endless excuses masquerading as leadership.

Good riddance to the illusion that Nigerian football owes perpetual tenure to those who have repeatedly failed to justify it.

The future of Nigerian football belongs not to free-loading parasites feeding on the prestige of the game while delivering little in return.

It belongs to competent reformers, visionary administrators, and courageous football leaders capable of restoring the Super Eagles to their rightful place among Africa’s finest and the world’s respected football nations.

After eight wasted years, two World Cups lost, and countless opportunities squandered, Nigerian football owes the current NFF leadership only one thing:

A firm, unequivocal, and emphatic rejection.

–Awoyemi is a Real Estate Developer, Builder and Public affairs Analyst.