Nigeria’s Minister of Sports, Senator John Enoh, has provided assurances to Nigerian football enthusiasts regarding the imminent appointment of a new head coach for the senior men’s national team, the Super Eagles.
With the team currently without a substantive coach since the conclusion of Jose Peseiro’s contract after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in February, Senator Enoh revealed that significant strides are being made to fill the vacant position within the next one or two weeks.
Addressing the void in coaching leadership, Senator Enoh highlighted the recent interim role of Finidi George, one of Jose Peseiro’s assistants, who oversaw the team during their last two friendly matches against Ghana and Mali.
However, he emphasized the need for a permanent coach to steer the Super Eagles forward, underscoring the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) responsibility in the recruitment process.
“Unfortunately, the senior national team doesn’t have a coach. We played two freindlies and had just Finidi George oversee those two matches,” Senator Enoh said in excusive interview on Channels Televisions Sports Tonight on Thursday.
“The first responsibility of getting a coach lies with the NFF and I have been in touch with the NFF because I think Nigerians didn’t expect that after AFCON and after the contract with coach Peseiro came to an end and wasn’t renewed, that it will take as long and not have a coach yet.
“But NFF is conscious and mindful that our next qualifiers in June, what I can assure is that in the next one or two weeks at the most that the senior national team will have a new coach.
“My engagement and interactions with NFF suggest to me that NFF is conscious of expectations of Nigerians, they are conscious that they cannot afford to lead the country to another non-appearance at the World Cup, the NFF knows what Nigeria lost by not being at the last World Cup and they are working very hard to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Acknowledging Nigeria’s disappointing absence from the last World Cup and their shaky start to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, drawing with Lesotho and Zimbabwe, the Senator Enoh emphasized the imperative of avoiding another setback.
He emphasized the need for a robust performance, considering the missed opportunities and national losses incurred by the team’s previous shortcomings.
“I think we have not had a tremendous start, it’s a shaky one and therefore there is a milage to cover given that we didn’t go for the last World Cup. We cannot afford not to go for the next and therefore everything needs to be done.
“Coming after AFCON and coming after we have had a tremendous show somewhat, I think everybody expects that we should be able to consolidate on that and take it from there,” Enoh said.
