Former Super Eagles winger Baldwin Bazuaye has laid out a detailed blueprint for the revival of Nigerian football, arguing that poor administration — not a shortage of talent — lies at the root of the country's national teams' recent failures.

Bazuaye, a gold medallist with the Dream Team I at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and a former player for Ethnikos Piraeus FC of Greece, made his remarks against a backdrop of mounting disappointment: the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Super Falcons missed out on the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil, and the Flying Eagles did not make it to the 2027 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations — ruling them out of the FIFA U-20 World Cup as well.

Administration, not ability

Speaking in his capacity as a representative of Edo South Senatorial District at the Edo State Sports Commission, Bazuaye argued that the rot begins long before a ball is kicked in competition.

"In the past, coaches were appointed well ahead of time for each competition," he said. "A team had six, seven, eight months to prepare for a tournament. In some cases, a coach got up to one or two years to prepare his team for a major tournament."

He described how coaches of his era would begin by calling up players from the domestic league before gradually introducing European-based talent in areas of need — a process sustained over months at dedicated camps such as Bembo Village and Afuze.

"But today, a coach is appointed barely weeks or months before the start of the qualification series," Bazuaye said. "Because of the short time for preparation, the coach decides to invite all manner of players from abroad to camp. And the result — the team is already knocked out even before the crucial stage of the qualification series."

The case for longer preparation windows

Bazuaye, the son of former Nigeria coach Willy Bazuaye and a former player for Bendel Insurance, Shooting Stars, and Concord FC, was blunt about what must change.

"We can't keep repeating the same approach and still expect a different result," he said. "Preparation is key to success. When a coach is given adequate time to prepare and gets proper support from his employers, he has no reason not to succeed."

A call for the 1985 Golden Eaglets to be recognised

Bazuaye also turned his attention to the players who put Nigeria on the global football map — the 1985 Golden Eaglets squad that won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in China, giving the country its first-ever world title in football.

He argued that members of that historic squad have been sidelined from the national football set-up, with almost no formal roles granted to them in the country's football administration or technical departments.

"These are the players that put the country on the map of world football by winning the first World Cup for the country," he said. "Ordinarily, they are supposed to take centre stage in the country's football set-up. But here we are — no one cares."

He cited Nduka Ugbade, who served with the U-17 team, and Imama Amapakabo, who worked as an assistant coach, as rare exceptions among that celebrated generation.

"Our 1985 Golden Eaglets players are like the proverbial chickens that laid the golden eggs and should not be forgotten just like that," Bazuaye said.