NFF: Let Peseiro Be The Last Colonial Master

After Jose Peseiro failed to renew his contract, the Nigeria Football Federation is looking to hire another foreign coach! Yes, there are even news reports claiming the NFF was trying to lure Peseiro back with a more juicy offer! The NFF advertised for a new coach and threw it open to anyone from anywhere instead of restricting it to Nigerian coaches or simply picking one of Nigeria’s best coaches. When will this football body get it serious with Nigerian football?

A career news scrolling on the website of the NFF says it is “looking for a visionary leader to take the helm of our Senior Men’s National Team, the mighty Super Eagles! “The main qualifications for the Super Eagles head coach are: possession of necessary coaching qualifications to lead a national team, Proven experience managing football at the highest level, a successful track record of leading teams to victories and knowledge of African football.”

If you have what it takes, the NFF invites you to apply for the job.

I found the advert disturbing, and I believe there are many Nigerians who feel same way. If those are the requirements for the national team coach, why do we need to look far? Aren’t there enough talent pool in Nigeria to pick from? Why do we need to even advertise the position at a time Nigeria is competing in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers?

The NFF is in a situation that requires what, in the Nigerian Public Service parlance, is called “emergency procurement,” which exempts contracts from the encumbrances of the due process. It means the NFF could have simply summon a technical meeting and decide on a new national team coach.

The advert is unnecessary and sends the wrong signal that the managers of Nigerian football are not looking inwards to take the Super Eagles to the next level. The advert’s last sentence states: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make history with Nigerian football. If you’re a coach who thrives on pressure and dreams of etching your name in footballing lore, we want to hear from you.”

After Nigeria’s defeat to the Elephants of Ivory Coast in the last AFCON , I wrote an article calling for the sack of Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles coach, and urged the NFF to give the job to Nigeria’s former winger, Emmanuel Amuneke. My reason was that Nigeria is too big to have a foreign coach. I felt embarrassed that the Elephants who beat us and outplayed us at the AFCON final were coached by a home boy, a rookie coach who had never coached any national team in his career.

Emerse Fae , an ex-international football player for Ivory Coast, was one of the assistant coaches to the Frenc tactician, Jean-Louis Gasset, who was the national team coach that took the team to AFCON. Gasset could not win any of his matches at AFCON and the team was on the verge of elimination when Emerse Fae was asked to take over the team. Gasset was asked to go.  Fae’s appointment changed the trajectory of the team and they eventually won the cup!

It was the kind of fairy tale story that only coaches hungry for success and stardom can script, not some so-called accomplished foreign coaches who know little or nothing about Nigerian or African football.

I had suggested the name of Emmanuel Amuneke as a replacement for Peseiro before he was disengaged. I chose Amuneke, just as many others have done, because of his pedigree as a Super Eagles player and coach of Nigeria’s U17 national team which won the World Cup in 2015. He was also the coach of the Tanzania national team when they qualified for AFCON in 2019.

Yes, his CV is not all successes. But is there a coach who wins all matches? Even the best coaches in European football have lost games they were not supposed to lose. Wining or losing games is not just down to the quality of the coach. The quality of the players also matters, and their levels of motivation. Great football coaches have said as much. When Manchester United lost the 2010 UEFA Championship to Barcelona, the great Alex Ferguson who was then the manager of Man U, said his team lost to a better team, not to a better coach!

If there’s any reason why Amuneke is not suitable for the job, there are several of his former colleagues who can do the job, and who have also gone into coaching. It doesn’t matter that someone had been tried in the past and failed. We should try them again. Anyone that fails can be fired. There should be such a clause in their contract agreement.

Finidi George is also a former national team winger and current coach of Enyimba FC. He was assistant to Peseiro in the Super Eagles. He led the People’s Elephant to their ninth NPFL title in his second year, and are on course to successfully defend their title. There is also the stylish Daniel Ogunmodede of Remo Stars. He has led Remo Stars to a top-two finish this season and a historic place in the CAF Champions League.  

There’s no forgetting Fidelis Ikechukwu of Enugu Rangers who has earned accolades over his achievements in NPFL clubs like MFM, Plateau United and Enugu Rangers. Other coaches in the NPFL who have earned the priviledge to be considered for national service include Paul Offor of Sporting Lagos, Kennedy Boboye (who has won the NPFL twice with Akwa United and Plateau United), Abdul Maikaba (the current Kano Pillars manager), and Lobi Stars manager Eugene Agagbe, among others.

I listened to a popular sports programme on radio a few days ago, and the topic was the search for a new Super Eagles coach. I felt dejected that many of the people who called in during the programme had no confidence that the Ibrahim Gusau led NFF will do the right thing. It’s a pity for our football that those saddled with administering it don’t care about the country. If they do, they will never hire a foreign coach for the Super Eagles. That is the flagship national team that we’re putting in the care of a foreigner. It’s self-imposed colonialism!