Former Chairman of the Ekiti State Football Association and Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Athletics Sports Limited, Bayo Olanlege, has called for a fundamental shift in the way football administrators are appointed and elected in Nigeria, insisting that competence must take precedence over personal and political loyalty.
Olanlege made the call on Friday while featuring on Adamimogo 105.1FM Ibadan’s current affairs programme, First Take, where he spoke extensively on the challenges confronting Nigerian football administration and the need for institutional reforms.
The foremost football administrator argued that Nigerian football could not develop sustainably if leadership positions continued to be treated as rewards for political supporters, friends and loyalists rather than responsibilities requiring specialised knowledge, experience and administrative capacity.
According to him, modern football has evolved beyond the organisation of matches and the provision of sporting equipment, describing it as a sophisticated global industry involving finance, marketing, broadcasting, technology, infrastructure, scouting, player development, data analytics, sports science, commercial partnerships, governance and international relations.
He therefore questioned the continued practice of appointing people to manage football primarily on the basis of their loyalty to influential individuals.
“Competence must come before loyalty,” Olanlege said, stressing that while loyalty had a place in any organisation, it should be loyalty to the system and its ideals rather than to an individual.
“You’re not supposed to be loyal to one person. You’re supposed to be loyal to the system,” he added.
Olanlege also criticised the idea that success in business or general administration automatically qualified an individual to manage football.
He was responding to a suggestion by former Nigerian international Obafemi Martins that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, could be suitable to lead the Nigeria Football Federation if he was interested in the position.
Olanlege said he believed Martins may have been misunderstood, but maintained that football administration required specialised knowledge that could not simply be transferred from managing other businesses or personal affairs.
He argued that football management had its own principles, structures and technical requirements, adding that administrators must either acquire the necessary education and certification or gain sufficient practical experience within the football ecosystem.
According to him, one of the major problems confronting Nigerian football is that many people occupying administrative positions lack adequate knowledge of the intricacies of football management.
He said competence was particularly important because the Nigerian football ecosystem was part of a larger global industry whose standards and practices continued to evolve.
Gusau Should Have Resigned After World Cup Failure
The former Ekiti FA chairman also said the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, should have resigned immediately after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Olanlege described the national team as the flagship of Nigerian football and said failure to qualify for the World Cup should ordinarily have triggered leadership accountability.
He, however, acknowledged that Gusau’s eventual resignation was still a positive development.
According to him, leaders entrusted with major responsibilities should be willing to accept responsibility when they fail to meet expectations rather than waiting to be forced out of office.
“I’m sorry I failed, I resign. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
Olanlege rejected the argument that the resignation of football administrators following the recent controversies was solely linked to allegations surrounding the management of about N17 billion.
He said the public outrage generated by the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time since 1991 was, in his view, the major trigger.
He described the development as unprecedented and said the reaction from Nigerians became too strong for the authorities to ignore.
‘Nigeria Lacks Accountability in Football Administration’
Olanlege further raised concerns about accountability within the NFF, recalling his experience as a member of the NFF Congress between 2019 and 2022.
He alleged that some delegates were sometimes provided with instructions on how to vote or what to say during discussions on budgets, raising questions about the independence of decision-making within the football governing body.
According to him, genuine accountability requires delegates and administrators to scrutinise budgets and decisions independently rather than simply endorsing predetermined positions.
He said financial records and proper scrutiny of expenditure should play a central role in determining whether football administrators had performed their responsibilities effectively.
Olanlege maintained that Nigeria should move away from a system where leaders remain in office despite persistent failures and instead establish a culture in which performance, transparency and responsibility determine the continued occupation of public or sporting positions.
Elections Must Be About Vision, Not Loyalty
He also called for reforms in the conduct of elections into football administration, saying delegates should vote based on programmes, experience, integrity, vision and the ability of candidates to build sustainable institutions.
He warned against allowing personal relationships, regional interests and political alliances to determine who manages Nigerian football.
Olanlege said political loyalty might have relevance within political structures, but should never be allowed to substitute for professional competence in managing a complex sporting industry.
He argued that the future of Nigerian football depends not only on the quality of players on the pitch but also on the competence of those managing the structures behind them.
The football administrator therefore urged stakeholders at the local, state and national levels to prioritise professional capacity, institutional loyalty and measurable performance when selecting people to manage the game.
He said Nigeria could only build a sustainable football system when administrators became accountable to the institutions they served rather than individuals who helped them attain their positions.
