Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West, has insinuated that his former teammate Finidi George, fell into the Nigeria Football Federation’s trap of being scapegoated for its failure and incompetence.
Finidi resigned his appointment as the head coach of the senior national team last weekend, after the federation revealed its decision to employ the services of a foreign technical adviser, following Nigeria’s underwhelming performance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers so far.
The NFF arrived at Finidi as its choice to replace Jose Peseiro in April, after about two months of search. The Nigeria football legend was then presented to the media las month.
However, he failed to win any of the two crucial matches in the qualifying campaign, which the federation claimed is the reason for its search of a foreign coach, to salvage the situation.
The ex-Real Betis threw in the towel when he got knowledge of the development which the NFF did not inform him about.
The poor results had stirred angry reactions from Nigerians who had called for Finidi’s dismissal after the draw against South Africa and defeat to Benin Republic, which leave Nigeria in further terrible situation regarding qualification for the next mundial in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Reacting in an interview on Brila FM on Tuesday, West who won 42 caps for Nigeria, said though Nigeria is a massive platform but anyone must be careful about those who are the king makers.
“I think the problem we have is the NFF that has not been sincere to itself. Apart from this blame, nobody is coming out from the NFF to take responsibility.
Nobody is coming out. They are just blaming Finidi but Finidi is not the major thing in Nigerian football. They are blaming Osimhen, Osimhen is not the major problem in our football. We have problem with the Glass House which has refused to do things the right way.
“Sometimes, they will transfer the bulk to ex-internationals. Everybody wants to coach Nigeria because it is a big platform but someone needs to be careful because sometimes, that platform can be a trap. It can be a trap and that is how I see this Finidi thing. We have been in this valley for years. When we were playing, we were still preaching this same thing but nobody listened to us and nobody wants to turn it around,” he said.
