Robo International chairman Emmanuel Osahon has delivered a powerful and damning assessment of the state of Nigeria’s football development, calling for an urgent reset of the national team structure and a return to the merit-based system that once made the Super Eagles feared across the continent.
Speaking passionately about the failures that have plagued Nigerian football in recent years, Osahon said the time has come for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to stop relying on shortcuts and cosmetic solutions.
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Instead, he urged a return to a development-driven strategy that blends home-based talent with foreign-based stars, similar to the system deployed by iconic coach Clemens Westerhof during Nigeria’s golden era.
“We once had a perfect balance — now the structure is broken, and it must be fixed,” Osahon declared.
He praised the current approach of Super Falcons coach Justine Madugu, who has actively combined local and overseas talent in a manner that mirrors Nigeria’s most successful football periods. Osahon said the women’s national team is demonstrating what proper team-building looks like and challenged the men’s side to follow suit.
But the Robo chairman didn’t stop there. He expressed deep frustration over what he described as the decline of youth development, arguing that Nigeria is no longer producing elite talent at the rate it once did.
The reason?
“Agents now influence selections at youth levels. It is killing progression and destroying meritocracy,” he lamented.
Osahon said this unhealthy trend has made it increasingly difficult for genuine young talents to rise from academies into the U-17 and U-20 national teams — pathways that once produced global superstars like Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, and Kelechi Iheanacho.
He insisted that the NFF must step aside and allow coaches the total freedom to select players only on performance and merit if Nigeria is to reclaim its respected position in world football.
“Only a transparent, merit-based system can restore trust. Without it, Nigeria will continue to drift,” Osahon warned.
His message is a call to action:
Fix the foundation, restore merit, empower coaches — and Nigerian football will rise again.
