As Nigeria begin their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, former international Segun Odegbami has described the current state of the country’s football as the ‘worst time’ in its history. Odegbami, who won the tournament with Nigeria on home soil in 1980, told BBC Sport Africa that the problems go beyond the senior national teams and amount to a ‘tectonic shift’ for one of the continent’s traditional powers.
Over the past 12 months, both the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons failed to qualify for their respective Fifa World Cups. The men’s team has now missed both the 2022 and 2026 tournaments. The Super Falcons, who were African champions, also failed to win the 2025 Women’s Afcon, a competition Odegbami said was ‘just there for their taking’. Nigeria have also had disappointing results at age-group level and in African club competitions, although the West Africans recently reached the quarter-finals of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
‘It has never been this bad in our entire history that we didn’t qualify for the World Cup,’ Odegbami said. ‘All our junior teams are not doing well. Our local league is not bringing in money. Something is definitely wrong.’
The crisis has triggered major changes at the Nigeria Football Federation. NFF president Ibrahim Gusau, general secretary Mohammed Sanusi and multiple members of the federation’s executive committee resigned last month following mounting criticism. Odegbami said Nigerian football had not been represented by its ‘first XI administrators’ and called for a restructure to create the conditions for long-term development.
He pointed to a broad public outcry and said President Bola Tinubu had made a pronouncement in favour of reforms. ‘The outcry by Nigerians was total. Everybody wanted them out, to the extent that the President of the country himself (Bola Tinubu) made the pronouncement that he wanted reforms,’ Odegbami said. ‘Everything came together like a jigsaw puzzle and is working now for us to produce a blueprint that will cover every aspect of our football development.’
A joint delegation from Fifa and the Confederation of African Football has been involved in discussions with Nigeria’s National Sports Commission over the future structure of Nigerian football. The parties are working towards a roadmap for comprehensive reforms, but NFF elections scheduled for 27 September have been suspended. President Tinubu stated his desire for reform to overcome what he called ‘repeated failures’. Emmanuel Ikpeme has been appointed NFF interim general secretary, with Ademola Olajire as interim deputy general secretary.
The changes have prompted renewed debate among stakeholders over whether the country needs a deeper restructuring. Nigerian sports journalist Fisayo Dairo believes any reform must extend beyond a change in leadership. ‘The reform should be the setting up of a proper framework and structure that our football can thrive on,’ Dairo told BBC Sport Africa. He said Nigeria needed to develop national teams, harness talent from the grassroots and have governance that incorporates all forms of stakeholders, with the corporate world fully represented so the administration can generate funds.
For Odegbami, the current situation is a stark contrast to the era in which he helped transform Nigerian football. Nicknamed ‘Mathematical’ for his precision and skill on the ball, he was part of the Super Eagles side that won Nigeria’s first continental title in 1980, beating Algeria 3-0 in the final in Lagos. ‘We had unprecedented support and fortunately the stars aligned with us,’ he said. ‘It was an indescribable atmosphere during that period.’ Nigeria lifted the Afcon trophy again in 1994 and 2013, and finished as runners-up at the 2023 edition. They also finished third in 2019 and at this year’s finals in Morocco.
Odegbami argues that sport has ‘not been a priority’ of successive governments and believes Nigerian football has been failed by its administrators since the mid-1990s. ‘The pilots are not guiding us well, they haven’t guided us well,’ he said. He added that this has affected every aspect of football development, from the grassroots and player discovery to player development, institutions, academies and clubs locally and internationally. He also questioned Nigeria’s coaching methodology, football philosophy, culture and style.
Concerns over deteriorating infrastructure and inadequate investment have become recurring themes in discussions about Nigerian football. Odegbami bemoaned the fact that top-class stadiums Nigeria once possessed have fallen into disrepair after being neglected. He named the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, which hosted games during the 1980 and 2000 Afcons, the Liberty Stadium, now Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, in Ibadan, Kaduna’s Ahmadu Bello Stadium and the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar. ‘I weep when I think of the amount of damage they have done to Nigerian football – the infrastructure that we had in the country, some of the historic monuments that were facilities for football in this country,’ he said. ‘Uyo is the best we have in Nigeria, but it is not half as good as what we had from the 1960s to the 90s.’
Across Africa, other nations have continued to invest in hosting major competitions. Senegal will be the venue for the Youth Olympic Games next month, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia are holding next year’s men’s Cricket World Cup, Kenya will stage the 2029 World Athletics Championship, and Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
On the pitch, the Super Eagles will begin their Afcon 2027 qualifying campaign against Madagascar at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday (16:00 GMT) before travelling to Guinea-Bissau on 29 September. Former African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen has been ruled out of Eric Chelle’s squad through injury.