A former head coach at Heartland of Owerri and Abia Warriors of Umuahia, Chijioke Gabriel Osuagwu has sent a clarion call to egg heads of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to quickly appoint grassroots scouts to fish out hidden talents across the country, Sports247 reports.
Speaking against the background of the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup kicking off in Qatar without Nigeria in attendance and set to even miss the next edition in the same country, Coach Chijioke stressed that it is a wake up call that the NFF must not take for granted.
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The highly acclaimed youth football zealot, who was part of the technical crew that performed wonders with the now defunct National Grassroots Dream Team from 1998 to 2009, put himself forward among other experts of the terrain to set in motion a revolutionary approach that will revive Nigeria’s lost glory in global youth football.
Osuagwu, who was until recently an assistant to Finidi George at Enyimba of Aba, before which he served as head coach at three Lagos-based clubs – Flaming Flamingoes, Stationary Stores and AS Racines – as well as Bussdor FC and Police FC of Owerri, added in an exclusive chat with Sports247 that his credentials qualify him to be part of an adhoc panel the NFF should set up to salvage Nigeria’s lost glory in youth football.
He stated at length: “I am now presently based in Abia State, but my most recent impact on football was in the 2023/2024 season when I joined Enyimba as an assistant coach. I enjoyed working at the best club in Nigeria.
“I had an option to rejoin Abia Warriors, which I coached to gain promotion in 2013 to the Nigeria Premier League. I opted instead to join Enyimba in order to beef up my CV, and I helped them secure a continental ticket.”
Coach Chijioke then took a look into the future and declared emphatically that he still has lofty dreams of playing a key role in the revival of Nigeria’s youth sector, just as he did during his days in the technical committee of Nigeria Grassroots Football Federation (NGFF), ably led by Alhaji Agboola Dabiri.
The former technical director at Diamond Football Academy of Umuahia added; “I am now managing an NLO team named Ahudiyannem FC, based in Abiriba. They are the current Abia State FA Cup champions.
“I want to help them retain the cup or at least play in the finals. I also want to promote the team to the NNL, which is a task that must be done by God’s grace. As I do that, though, I’m not forgetting about my first love … which is grassroots football.
“So, my appeal goes to the NFF to create more opportunities and jobs for coaches who have paid their quarters in the growth of Nigeria’s youth sector.
“They should appoint us as scouts, consultants and assessors in different states … to go about picking young talented players ranging from the ages of 16, 17, 18 and 20 years.”
He concluded with a look at the ongoing Cadet Mundial and stressed: “Nigeria should not be absent at the U17 World Cup, because this country is blessed with abundant talents.
“I recently got a good example in a boy named Love Taiwo, who a scout from Lagos helped me get among eight very good young players. He’s a midfielder who I consider is blessed with huge talent.
“That reminds me of my achievements with Grassroots Dream Team, where we produced the likes of Femi Ajilore, Ayo Makinwa, Charlibe Okolie, Ifeanyi Emeghara, Nnamdi Oduamadi, Abiola Dauda, Kazeem Ayila, Chima Uchechi, Phillip Onyemah and Dafe Omonigho, among many others.”
