Former international, Harrison Jalla, is worried by the indifference shown by the Federal Government in Nigerian football, which, he alleged, has been severely mismanaged by the current board and principal staff of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Nigeria will not be at the FIFA World Cup for a second consecutive time after failing to qualify for the 2022 edition in Qatar and the 2026 edition, which is billed to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July.

Apart from the current NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, under whose watch Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, the principal staff of the federation were involved in the country’s failed bids to make the last two championships.

Aside from the World Cup, stakeholders accuse the NFF of failing to qualify the men’s football team for the last two Olympic football tournaments in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Nigeria won the Olympic gold medal in 1996, silver in 2008 and the bronze medal in 2016.

Jalla accused the current NFF board of failing in the discharge of its duty and therefore should resign.

He said: “By now, a serious government should have dissolved the Ibrahim Gusau-led board and proceeded with its prosecution, including that of the previous board. The NFF electoral process is subjudice, and we shall follow the judicial process to its logical conclusion.

“You cannot take our football down the same route as in the last 12 years, during which we missed out on two World Cups back-to-back. Yet, these same individuals have the effrontery to continue on the same path instead of resigning en masse from the NFF Board.”

In a message to The Guardian yesterday, Jalla, who is the chairman of Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reform Concepts, added: “You have failed Nigerians, and we will not allow this trend to continue. If necessary, we shall apply self-help if the relevant government agencies fail to act to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

“Monday’s charade in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, cannot stand. How long will the NFF, driven by state football association chairmen, continue to go on a frolic of their own? We thank the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, for his brilliant speech. Nigerian football is a critical national asset, and those who have held it in the past by hook and crook should understand that that era is over.

“The FA chairmen, who went to Bayelsa to manipulate their one-member congress, allocate votes, and enlarge congress while retaining their control, should know that the game is over. As critical stakeholders, we will not allow our football to be run in this old-fashioned way any longer. We shall challenge you in the public square until the federal government fully intervenes.

“The Court of Appeal has spoken: the election of September 30, 2022, was set aside. These charlatans cannot continue to ruin Nigerian football in lawlessness. This is a group so comfortable in failure, so settled in mediocrity, and so unbothered about growth. None of these cosmetic amendments moves us; we shall remain in the trenches until Nigerian football is salvaged.”

Jalla said that Nigerian football deserves to be in the best “hands that can encourage the federal government and the private sector, and save Nigerians from the continued trauma of poor performance by our national teams due to incompetent leadership and corruption-infested administration.

“The decisions taken in Bayelsa are of no consequence and cannot stand.”