Following the Super Eagles’ stunning and humiliating 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau, waves of anger and frustration have swept through the Nigerian football community, with many fans pointing accusing fingers directly at the National Sports Commission (NSC).
However, former Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, has stepped in to redirect the narrative. In a passionately penned public note, the respected football administrator validated the heartbreak of millions of Nigerians but strongly cautioned against misdirecting the blame toward the current NSC leadership.
Akinwunmi began by acknowledging the deep wounds inflicted on the pride of Nigerian football fans, who have been forced to watch their beloved national team struggle against opponents they historically dominated.
“Your pain, frustration, and passion are entirely justified,” Akinwunmi stated. “Every Nigerian who watches our national teams struggle against sides we historically dominated shares that same pain. When a proud footballing nation like ours is reduced to calculating permutations and praying for other results, anger is natural.”
While agreeing with the public’s emotional response, the former NFF VP drew a firm line at laying the blame at the doorstep of the NSC. He argued that the embarrassing results on the pitch are merely symptoms of a much deeper, long-standing systemic rot that spans several decades.
He pointed to neglected facilities, non-existent grassroots pipelines, and deeply entrenched administrative deficiencies as the real culprits behind the steady decline of both the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons.
“Where you and I must diverge, is where you confuse the symptoms on the pitch with the root cause, mis-target the blame, and attack an administrator just at the time genuine structural reform appears to be finally underway,” Akinwunmi wrote. “Losing a match or jeopardizing qualification hurts deeply, but it is merely the symptom of that chronic neglect.”
He delivered a powerful metaphor to defend the ongoing efforts of the sports commission, warning that attacking the current leadership is tantamount to “mistaking the doctor treating the infection for the parasite itself.”
For years, Nigerian football has been plagued by “fire-brigade fixes” and short-term window dressing while successive governments ignored the underlying decay. According to Akinwunmi, the current NSC has broken away from this trend, taking deliberate and unprecedented steps to confront the institutional rot head-on.
He concluded his notes with a call to action for all stakeholders and fans: patience coupled with vigilance.
“It will take time,” he noted, “but if we simultaneously back the NSC on this journey yet hold it accountable to the reform it has commenced, the dark days of our football will gradually be a thing of the past.”
