Former Sokoto State FA chairman Dr Danladi Bako has called for the immediate removal of the Ibrahim Musa Gusau-led NFF board, warning that their continued stay in office is doing more harm than good to Nigerian football. He described their prolonged tenure after a disappointing first term as an embarrassment that even past military governments would not have tolerated.
Bako, who once produced the popular NTA sports programme MasterSports and helped push FIFA to increase Africa’s World Cup slots in the early 1990s, said the current board’s failures would have led to swift dismissal in previous eras. He argued that keeping them in place despite repeated setbacks is both insensitive and damaging to the emotions of millions of Nigerian fans.
He pointed to the Super Eagles’ repeated failure to reach the World Cup since 2018, despite FIFA expanding African slots to ten. Even smaller nations like Cape Verde and Curacao have qualified while Nigeria has not. Bako recalled that Nigeria first qualified in 1994 after the slot increase he advocated for, but 32 years later the country is still missing out. He also noted the government’s heavy financial support for recent tournaments that yielded little success.
The former NBC director general extended his criticism to the Super Falcons, who crashed out of the WAFCON at the quarter-final stage and failed to qualify for the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 35 years. He rejected excuses of bad luck, insisting that the repeated poor results stem from incompetence at the federation level.
Bako accused the NFF of hiding behind FIFA threats to avoid accountability over funds, noting that free money has become the main attraction for those seeking leadership positions. He said the outdated claim that government interference would trigger a ban is no longer credible, pointing out that other countries manage their federations differently without issues.
To fix the problems, he proposed overhauling the NFF statutes and shifting voting power in elections to Premier League clubs instead of politically connected state chairmen. He also stressed that the federation needs leaders with real football experience, business acumen and strong decision-making ability, rather than individuals lacking the pedigree to handle major campaigns.
Bako urged President Tinubu to direct the relevant authorities to dissolve the current board before they organise another flawed congress in September.
