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Nigeria’s football supporters’ organisation, the Authentic Nigeria Football and Allied Sports Supporters Club (ANFASSC), has formally appealed to President Bola Tinubu for direct engagement to address what it describes as a sustained decline in the country’s football fortunes.
In a letter addressed to the President and copied to Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila and National Sports Commission Chairman Shehu Dikko, the group — which is recognised by CAF and endorsed by FIFA — asked the Presidency to convene a structured dialogue involving the Sports Commission, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and stakeholders such as ANFASSC itself.
The group stressed it was not seeking government interference in the NFF’s FIFA- and CAF-protected autonomy, but rather a partnership-driven conversation on reform, along with a timeline for when such talks might begin.
President of ANFASSC, Prince Ogunjimi traces a string of setbacks since Amaju Pinnick took over as NFF president in 2014, continuing under his successor Ibrahim Musa Gusau. These include the Super Eagles’ failure to qualify for the 2015 and 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the U-23 team missing the 2024 Paris Olympics, the CHAN Eagles’ absence from the 2022 tournament, and the Flying Eagles’ recent elimination from 2027 AFCON qualifying.
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The letter also notes Nigeria’s U-17 side missed qualification for next year’s Africa U-17 Cup of Nations and the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Most notably, the group highlighted that both the Super Eagles and Super Falcons will miss their respective FIFA World Cups in the same cycle for the first time in the nation’s history — the men’s team eliminated by DR Congo in November’s African play-off final, and the women’s team failing to reach the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
ANFASSC said it was not seeking to assign blame but to press for renewed investment in grassroots and youth development, stronger coaching structures, improved player welfare, and greater transparency in governance. The group offered to serve as a partner in any reform process aimed at restoring Nigeria’s national teams to continental and global competitiveness.
