By Saheed Afolabi

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a full-scale reform of Nigerian football to end the country’s repeated failures to qualify for major regional, continental and world tournaments.

Recently, Ibrahim Gusau resigned from office as the NFF President following the country’s football national team failure to qualify for major international competitions.

Tinubu said the reform must strengthen football governance, provide developmental pathways for indigenous league football and also players improvement.

“The reform must respond to a longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football,” the President said.

He noted that while other sports have recorded meaningful progress since the reset of the sports sector under the re-established National Sports Commission, football has continued to lag behind because of deep structural weaknesses.

“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 stated.

He stressed that Nigerian football must now match the country’s exceptional talent, passion and resources with stronger institutions and consistent high performance.

President Tinubu directed the Chairman of the National Sports Commission to work closely with the NFF Secretariat and relevant football stakeholders. The mandate is to ensure continuity in essential football administration while facilitating a broad, consultative reform process.

The process will involve appropriate engagement with FIFA and CAF, while fully safeguarding Nigeria’s obligations within the international football framework.

The President called on football stakeholders and all Nigerians to support the transition and work together to build a stronger, more accountable and successful football system.