By Jacob Ajom
The Chairman Advocacy for Nigeria Football Reforms Initiative, Prince Harrison Jalla has called on the National Sports Commission, the Senate and House of Representative Committees on Sports to arrest the rapid decline of Nigerian football through their statutory oversight functions.
Reacting to the Super Falcons’ embarrassing defeat to the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in the ongoing Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), Jala said, all indicators were pointing to a gloomy picture for the future of Nigerian football, a development he blamed on, “administrative ineptitude”.
Surprisingly, he observed that while negative results were being churned out by Nigerian teams, at all levels, “the gladiators remain engrossed and fixated on an election scheduled for September 27, 2026.”
Jalla, whose organization had secured several court rulings against the NFF, insisted that the planned “NFF election is already prejudice before the Court of Appeal in Suit No. CA/ABJ/CV/1120/2026 and the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1755/2026, with demands for reforms and the enforcement of jpending court judgments.”
He made a clarion call to “both the National Sports Commission (NSC), which is the supervisory body of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Sports and the Senate Committee on Sports, which have constitutional oversight functions over the activities of the NFF to live up to their constitutional demands.
He remarked, “Unfortunately, they are watching from the sidelines as Nigerian football is being led to the slaughterhouse.”
Jalla, a top official of the players union also recalled, “there are also two pending Presidential directives on comprehensive reforms,” asking, “What more evidence does the NSC and the two chambers of the National Assembly need to perform their statutory functions, when our football is already heading towards the abyss?”
He remarked that “The group that hijacked Nigerian football since 2008—the State Football Association chairmen—has shown clearly over the years that they lack the capacity to move Nigerian football forward, simply because they cannot give what they do not have.”
Jalla described the planned election as a farce. “Who would participate in an election that is predetermined? It is only the beneficiaries of such a skewed process.” He called on the Federal Government to “understand that football is a huge industry that can be central to Nigeria’s economic growth if it is placed in the right hands.
The earlier the Federal Government and relevant agencies intervene in the administrative crisis and entrenched corruption within Nigerian football, the better for the country.”
