Former Super Eagles Coach, Festus Onigbinde has expressed his disappointments on the state of things in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).


 According to Festus, the Nigerian League which was founded in 1972 was one of the best in the continent and has produced a lot of talented players but less concern for the Players has led to the Downfall of the league.

 “I was among the people that started the Nigerian league. At the beginning of the programme, the standard was all right and football-loving Nigerians at that period were always eager to watch the league because of the calibre of players in the various teams." Festus Onigbinde said in an Interview with The Guardian.

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 “These quality players were discovered in schools or had the privilege of working with coaches through the school system. But in this era, things have gone bad. There is no process of grooming players. Every player wants to play in the top-flight league for clubs that don’t have quality feeder teams to train players."

 “Recently, a national team coach said we don’t have quality players in the NPFL any more. This is a league that produced players like Segun Odegbami, Rasheedi Yekini, Okocha, Kanu, Amuneke and others."

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“The problem is that there is no organised process to nurture and groom players in place in the country and Nigerian coaches are seldom exposed to refresher courses abroad. We need quality coaches to work with players. FIFA and CAF policy directs that every country should aspire to develop their football from time to time,” He said.
 Also while Speaking on the Nigerian League,Former Assistant Head Coach of the Super Eagles, Joe Erico Further discusses on how the League has moved from being an interesting one to watch to one which barely has fans in the stadiums


 “When the Nigerian league started I was among the participants. It was exciting and competitive.When Julius Berger and Iwuanyanwu Nationale played, the stadium was usually filled with fans. Players from Ghana and other countries in Africa came to play in our league. It was one of the best in Africa in the 60s and 70s.” 

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“They stopped caring about players’ welfare and security issues such that fans could no longer go to stadiums to watch matches. These as well as bad pitches also affected the game."

 “At 30, the standard of Nigerian league is low and to get it right again, football authorities have to do something about it,” He concluded 

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Festus Onigbinde was coach of the Nigerian Super Eagles from 1981 - 1984 and then n 2002. He was among the First set of Home grown Coaches for the Super Eagles