Exclusive: Former Super Eagle Ezeugo slams the NFF after Finidi exit

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Emeka Ezeugo believes the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as a body is being mismanaged, and that the resignation of erstwhile men's senior national team boss, Finidi George is barely a microcosm of the larger evils that lie within.

News broke on Saturday afternoon that Finidi has left his role as the Super Eagles manager following on from the 2-1 defeat to Benin Republic in a World Cup qualification game.

The news was shocking, but once the Eagles had failed to cover themselves in glory from the last two World Cup qualifiers that ensued, a number of caveats was going to emerge, and Emeka who was part of the WC '94 campaign has come out to say that the departure of Finidi was just one of the many reforms that needs to take place and that 'the trajectory of Nigerian football needs to change' if the country will even qualify for the mundial.

Bear in mind that the pair of results the Super Eagles picked up during the past international break, a 1-1 drab affair against South Africa in Uyo two weeks ago before Benin pulled up in Abidjan few days later to snatch a 2-1 victory, their first ever against Nigeria, more or less, leaves them rooted to the bottom of their world cup qualification table just shy of basement country Zimbabwe.

Ezeugo on the NFF management

However, Ezeugo believes the malaise the team is currently embroiled in isn't difficult to deduce, and the fixation should start with a massive clear-out that doesn't exonerate even the NFF president Ibrahim Gusau and the Sports minister Senator John Owan.

"I will say it again, that the problem is well more than Finidi. His leaving doesn't change much. The sad thing is that wrong people are running Nigerian football and nothing will ever get better, we're barely reaping what we've sowed", Ezeugo told SportsBoom.

"I want to talk to President Tinubu directly for he alone can change the trajectory of Nigerian football and it starts with the sports ministry. It will begin with getting the right sports minister, filling NFF with people with sports management expertise and employing coaches with great leadership qualities, technical and tactical know-how. He doesn't have to be ignorant of what football means to Nigerians. That's why I must enlighten him first."

"Most Nigerians are ignorant of the fact that football is our country's favorite thing, the sole uniting force of nature."

On how capable Finidi was for the team

While Emeka feels the installation of the former Enyimba gaffer Finidi George to lead the national team reeked of incompetence on the part of the NFF, he reiterated that they are no good and it was merely a case of Finidi accepting the proverbial poisoned chalice.

"No doubt. Finidi showed up through the backdoor like the foreign and local coaches of the past. His severe lack of leadership quality has let him down big time. Watch him again when he was actively playing and you will notice immediately that he lacked leadership quality. That shit let him down. I was in the Green Eagles eight years before Finidi, Taribo West, Jay Jay Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh, Emmanuel Amunike, Victor Ikpeba all came into the national team. I took these players under my wing.

"But let's not forget that he [Finidi] didn't choose himself. Crooked and grossly corrupt football administrators selected him and the consequences of their actions remain theirs."

While Nigeria only return to action March 2025, there have been unconfirmed speculations in the media even before Finidi's departure that the NFF is currently flirting with the idea of hiring a foreign technical adviser for the national team. Following the newest development, that is essentially the case now.