President Bola Tinubu.

BY FRONTLINE REPORTERS

President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football following a series of disappointing performances and failures by the country’s national teams to qualify for major international competitions.

The directive came on Thursday, just hours after Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi and members of the federation’s Executive Committee resigned amid mounting concerns over the state of the nation’s football.

The NFF confirmed the mass resignations in a statement, saying Gusau’s decision was aimed at paving the way for “a comprehensive and orderly reform process” to tackle longstanding institutional, governance and developmental challenges in the sport.

Announcing the presidential directive, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the reform was intended to reverse Nigeria’s declining fortunes and end the country’s repeated failure to qualify for major regional, continental and global competitions.

Tinubu attributed the decline to what he described as “structural weaknesses” in the football system, noting that other sports had recorded progress following the restructuring of the sector under the re-established National Sports Commission (NSC).

According to the President, the reform must address the longstanding need to strengthen governance, administration, stakeholder representation, development pathways, domestic competitions and accountability across Nigerian football.

“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 said.

He said the government was determined to ensure that Nigerian football regains its competitiveness, credibility and pride of place on the international stage.