by Prof. Sadiq A. Abdullahi: Episode 29:
President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Sees Football as a Threat to National Security.
Last week, the Presidency issued a directive to the National Sports Commission (NSC) headed by Mallam Shehu Dikko set up a “normalisation committee” to run the nation’s football affairs for three months after the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons failed to qualify for the 2026 and 2027 World Cup.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is a quasi- agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FG) created by the NFA Act to grow and promote football in Nigeria. The NFF gets a yearly FG budget allocation in billions of naira. No other sport federation gets a yearly funding support.
Mallam Dikko became the NSC chairman Oct 24, 2026, and since then he has vowed to transform sports through the Renewed Hope Initiative for Nigeria’s Sports Economy (RHINSE). This ambitious and bold plan is aimed at transforming the nation’s sports sector (sports industry) through the Reset, Refocus, and Relaunch (RRR) initiative which sought to reposition Nigerian’s Sports ecosystem.
Under this plan, football was identitied as the catayst or the engine for the transformation of the sports sector. The idea is that if we get rid of the corruption, of the nepotism, and abuses in the football administration and put in the right direction, other sports administration will follow suit. And that all the elements and pieaces of the sports development puzzle will fall in place within the next five years.
But Mallam Dikko’s administration faces daunting challenges such as the timely upgrade of sports Infrastructure (stadiums), the integration of sports with an improved economic growth, the creation of jobs, and the 1.5% to 3% contribution to the GDP etc. Other challenges include the creation of sports database for transparency and accountability to ensure those in trusted with public funds are held accountable and that up to 95% funds allocated go support for athletes and sports federations.
How did we get here?
In 2009, I was invited by Minister of Sports, Mallam Sani Ndanusa to discuss sports development in Nigeria. In 2019, I was identified by Minister of Sports Dr. Sunday Dare (under former President Buhari ) to assist in shaping the drafting of the Categorization of Sports from Recreation to Business and in helping in drafting the 2022-2026 National Sports Industry Policy. This sports policy document has been neglected but it is coming up for a review in November 2026.
Another significan accomplishment of Dr. Dare, who appointed as the Special Adviser on Public Communication and Orientation by President on October 23, 2024 was the publication of “The 10-Year Football Development Masterplan” in 2022, designed to enhance the country’s football infrastructure, grassroots programs, and player development from 2022 to 2032. This document too was neglected by the NFF administration.
When in 2023, Minister of Sports Senator (Dr.) John Enoh was appointed he initiated a comprehensive sports development plan that focused on Athletes Welfare, Grassroots Development, Sports Infrastructure Upgrade, and Funding of national Sports federations to transform and enhance the Nigeria’s sports landscape.
But last week, the EFCC and ICPC probes into how the NFF handled the ₦12 billion approved by President Tinubu to boost national teams morale and support national teams has been the highlight of social media discussions and national embarassment..
One of the lone mavericks, trailblazers, and pacesetters, Dr. Olusegun Odegbami, the proprietor of the successful
Segun Odegbami International College & Sports Academy (SOCA) a unique institution that is dedicated to developing scholar-athletes through a combination of academic excellence and world-class sports training. Dr. Odegbami has been advocating for a change in the NFA Act to reflect current realities and global best practices.
President Tinubu is considered by stakeholders as the best President ever and now kinown as Mr. Sports President. He brought back the National Sports Commission and increased the Presidential Intervention Fund and the annual budget for sports to a staggering N210 billion. He directed the NSC to set up to a Normalization Committee to run the NFF affairs for three months, according to Guardian Newspaper August 2026.
My take.
1. President Tinubu is a listening President. He has demonstrated unprecedented commitment athletes welfare and has instructed the NSC leadership to correct all lingering and protracting problems facing sports and national sports federations.
To Mallam Dikko, please:
1. “normalize and consolidate” the ideas and suggestions embedded in all sports development documents in his office.
2. invite “new and young, and experienced voices” into the execution/implementation of the Reset, Refocus and Relaunch” (the RRR). And add a fourth “R,” Realignment. The Reset, Refocus, Realign and Relaunch (RRRR) will kick start his third year in office.
3. invite Nigerians-in-Diaspora who are patriotic and who want invest sports developmet, improvement and sustainability in Nigeria to a guided discussion by the end of 2026.
To Nigerians and non-Nigerians, please:
Nigeria as a nation needs you. We need collaboration, partnership, and foreign investment. Nigeria belongs to ALL of us, not to any one individual or one group or one region.
Nigeria will be great again!
