Again, former Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, wants Nigeria to withdraw from international football, heal itself of self-inflicted injuries, and recalibrate the game’s structure before relaunching.
 
As sports minister under the late Muhammadu Buhari-led government, Dalung had begun a process that would have seen the country pull out of international competitions to address issues that were hampering the growth of the game. That process, however, did not succeed as “some people fought to ensure the status quo remained.”
 
Speaking with The Guardian on the country’s football woes, particularly the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the World Cup for a second consecutive time, Dalung said that Nigerian football would continue to stutter until the nation decides to address the issues holding the game down.
 
“The only way out is to withdraw from international football. This was identified in 2017 by Abdulmumini Aminu’s committee, which was set up by me when I was minister,” he said.

“The committee recommended that Nigeria should excuse itself from international football because of the rot and the depth of corruption that has destroyed the fabric of sports administration, especially football.
 
“We should excuse ourselves for six months and put the house in order before we can return. The government accepted the report, and we forwarded it to FIFA for approval and setting up a normalisation committee.  
 
“Suddenly, the then-acting president decided to bypass the ministry and wrote to FIFA, disowning the report. And since then, Nigeria has continued to navigate the turbulent terrain of qualification.
 
“Since 2018, when we qualified in a grand style with one match to spare, we have never again qualified for the World Cup. If nothing is done, I don’t see Nigeria qualifying for the World Cup too soon because every day we are going down in football administration.”
 
Dalung said that the factors that have destroyed Nigerian football are known to the government, adding, “most of the major football administrators have been implicated in corruption cases conducted by FIFA themselves, investigated by EFCC and indicted. But they are still being recycled.
 
“So they have positioned themselves along the corruption corridor, right from states’ FAs to FIFA. So they keep milking the country, subjecting Nigeria to international embarrassment; humiliating and maltreating the players, treating them like slaves. Because there’s nowhere contemporary slavery is practised in Nigeria than in Nigerian football.”