A supporters’ coalition has declared it has reached the limit of its patience with the NFF and is mobilising fans across Nigeria for a protest at the federation’s Abuja headquarters this week.
A coalition of football fans operating under the name Reform Our Football has announced a nationwide protest beginning in Abuja this week, demanding comprehensive changes at the Nigeria Football Federation. The group, whose statement was signed by Leo Olagbaye under the hashtag #TimeIsNow, described Nigerian football as having “gradually collapsed” under the current administration while 250 million citizens watch in silence.
The protest directly targets what the group characterised as “maladministration, incompetence and corrupt leadership” at the NFF. Their central grievance is the back-to-back failure by the Super Eagles to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, a situation they described as “unacceptable” for a football nation of Nigeria’s size and potential. The coalition has announced that Abuja will be the starting point, with the action to subsequently spread to other cities nationwide.
Specific Allegations Against the NFF
Reform Our Football directed pointed criticism at Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, the NFF General Secretary, arguing that his tenure has been marked by failures across multiple dimensions of Nigerian football administration. The group highlighted the neglect of the Super Falcons ahead of WAFCON 2026, where the women’s team faces a qualifying pathway that carries a World Cup berth at stake. According to the coalition, preparations for that tournament have been handled inadequately, putting Nigeria’s women’s football programme at serious risk. The group also noted that age-grade team officials, including those working with the under-17 and under-20 sides, are owed backlogs of allowances.
One of the more stinging observations in the coalition’s statement concerned the Golden Eaglets. Nigeria’s under-17 side remains the most successful in the history of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, having won the tournament a record five times. The coalition argued that since the inception of the current NFF administration, the Golden Eaglets have failed to qualify out of WAFU B regional level, a deterioration they attributed directly to poor planning and treatment of the age-grade programme. Fans who follow Super Eagles football closely can use the latest Bet9ja promotion code ahead of upcoming national team fixtures.
NFF Has Signalled Some Openness to Reform
The protest announcement arrives against a backdrop of some movement within the NFF itself. At an Extraordinary General Assembly in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau publicly acknowledged that the federation’s statutes, electoral code, and standing orders had not been updated to keep pace with the evolving demands of modern football administration. The NFF approved a series of amendments at that assembly, and an upcoming elective congress is now widely seen as a pivotal moment for the direction of the federation. Whether those changes satisfy the demands of groups like Reform Our Football remains to be seen.
Former Super Eagles players have added weight to the calls for change from a different angle. Defenders Godwin Okpara and Sam Sodje have both spoken publicly about the need for the NFF to open administrative positions to former professionals who understand the game from the inside. Sodje, speaking to Brila FM, called for the “old guard” to give way to a new generation with a clear footballing vision. For Super Eagles fans wanting to back the national team in upcoming qualifiers while the governance debate continues, the Bet9ja welcome bonus is available for new sign-ups. The NFF must also contend with the frequently asked questions from a football public that wants results, not just institutional promises.
📌 Did You Know?
- Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets hold the record for the most FIFA U-17 World Cup titles in history, having won the tournament in 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, and 2015, making their recent failure to qualify from the WAFU B zone particularly jarring for fans.
- The NFF was formally launched in 1945, making it one of the oldest football associations on the African continent, though historical research suggests an earlier version may have existed as far back as 1933.
- Nigeria has now missed consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments, having failed to qualify for both the 2022 edition in Qatar and the 2026 edition in North America, an unprecedented run in the country’s football history.
- The NFF’s Extraordinary General Assembly in Yenagoa approved amendments to the federation’s governing statutes, marking one of the most significant internal governance changes in the federation’s recent history.
- WAFCON 2026, which the Reform Our Football coalition highlighted, carries a FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification slot, meaning a poor NFF performance could cost Nigeria a place at the global women’s tournament as well.
- The NFF General Secretary position has been held by Dr. Mohammed Sanusi for over a decade, a tenure longer than most of his counterparts in major African football federations.
- Nigeria’s NFF headquarters is located in Abuja’s Area 11, which has previously been the site of protests by football stakeholders including a 2019 demonstration over the Chris Giwa board dispute, showing that fan activism at the NFF is not without precedent.
