FORMER Super Eagles striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, has lent his voice to the clamour for the restructuring of Nigerian football, starting with the reorganisation of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Aiyegbeni, who said that the NFF failed to provide leadership when the team needed it at the 2026 World Cup African playoff, which Nigeria lost to DR Congo, added that time has come for the country to overhaul the football ecosystem.

Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup from a group comprising Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Benin Republic, Lesotho and South Africa when many thought it was easier to qualify than to fail.
The team also failed to grab the second chance at the African playoff, where they lost to DR Congo in the final in Morocco on Sunday.

Speaking on a recent football podcast, AIyegbeni said that the by the players on the eve of the African playoff played a huge part in Super Eagles’ failure in Morocco, adding that the situation would continue until the Federal Government sanitised the NFF.
He said: “We blame the coach and the players, but what of the people that made the situation unconducive for the team.

“You see, this unpaid allowances thing has been with us for so long, even before I joined the Super Eagles.
“I remember the 2000 Olympics, where I had to grab the NFF accountant before they refunded the money I spent on my flight ticket.
“When we were eliminated from the Games, we flew to London, where we demanded for our money. The accountant told us to wait till when we come back to the team for the next assignment to get the money.
“I was with Bright Igbinadolor at the airport and we grabbed the man. urprisingly, the man paid us there and then.
“These current players are nice guys to be playing even when they are being owed up to 30 matches allowances. During my time, Oliseh, Kanu and Jay Jay will not agree. They will lead us to strike and the money will come out.”

On the defeat by Congo, he said the players were not ready to play, especially the strikers.
According to Aiyegbeni, the strikers left everything to Osimhen, adding, “when they got the chance, they did nothing with it.

“The players had no leader against Congo. Nobody there could take the game by the neck. There was no leadership.”
Aiyegbeni disagrees with those calling for the sack of Eric Chelle, saying that it is too close to the Africa Cup of Nations to contemplate bringing in a new coach.

He also said that the country must be clear on the type of coach the Super Eagles need to come back stronger after the recent setbacks.
He advised the NFF to look for a coach in the calibre of the team’s manager at the 2010 World Cup, Lars Lagerback, saying that the Swede had everything the Super Eagles need now that they are down.

“Lagerback trains his teams the way they do in Europe. You watched how the Congolese moved with the ball against us. While we were running without ideas, they conserved energy and picked their passes carefully.
“That showed a well-trained team. They had everything that we lacked.”

He advised the NFF against looking for coaches like Austin Eguavoen and Samson Siasia now, saying, “they have tried their best, but we should move forward.
“Eguavoen has been there for about three or four times and I don’t think he has anything more to give the country. The same also goes for Siasia.”

Aiyegbeni also said that Nigeria should look for ways to resurrect its football, saying that the structure is too weak to build a good team.