The Authentic Nigeria Football and Allied Sports Supporters Club has written to President Bola Tinubu, asking him to sit down with the people who run the game and talk through what it calls a long slide in Nigerian football.
The letter went to the President and was copied to Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and National Sports Commission Chairman Shehu Dikko. ANFASSC, recognised by CAF and endorsed by FIFA, wants a proper roundtable with the Sports Commission, the Nigeria Football Federation and groups such as itself. It is not asking Aso Rock to take over the NFF. FIFA and CAF protect that independence. What it wants is a working partnership on reform, and a date for when those talks can start.
Prince Ogunjimi, the club’s president, lists a run of setbacks from Amaju Pinnick’s years at the NFF from 2014 through the tenure of Ibrahim Musa Gusau. The Super Eagles missed the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The U-23 side failed to reach the 2024 Paris Olympics. The CHAN Eagles stayed home in 2022. The Flying Eagles have just gone out of 2027 AFCON qualifying. The U-17 team did not make next year’s Africa U-17 Cup of Nations or the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The blow that stings most is that the Super Eagles and Super Falcons will miss their World Cups in the same cycle, a first for the country. DR Congo knocked the men out in November’s African play-off final. The women did not qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
ANFASSC says it is not here to hang anyone. It wants money and attention back on grassroots and youth football, better coaching, better care for players, and cleaner governance. The group says it is ready to work with anyone who will help put Nigeria’s teams back among the best on the continent and on the world stage.
