Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has renewed his call for the removal of those running Nigerian football, following the Golden Eaglets’ elimination from the WAFU B U17 Championship in Ouagadougou.

Nigeria lost 2-1 to Niger and drew 1-1 with Cote d’Ivoire, results that ended the team’s bid to qualify for the 2027 U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. The tournament served as the qualifier for the continental event.

Reacting, the former Chelsea midfielder blamed poor grassroots development and self-serving administration for the decline of the country’s male national teams, and said he has made the demand repeatedly.

“And the people running the game, the people in charge, I’ve said it so many times, they have to go,” Mikel said. “When you keep thinking about what comes into your pocket and you stop thinking about how to grow the game… the people that are sitting there right now, it’s what goes into their pocket. That’s all they’re thinking about.”

He said the problem “always starts from the top” and that neglected youth structures were to blame.

“When our academies and the youth is not working properly, which is where the under-17s are, that’s where you produce your players. That’s where the crop of the talent come from,” he said.

Mikel cited Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha and himself as products of the country’s youth system. “I came from there. Kanu Nwankwo came from there. Jay Jay Okocha, all of us, we all came from there,” he said.

He pointed to Morocco as a model. “You look at Morocco now, the setup that they have, the academies, they’re winning the under-17s, they’re winning. Everything is working out for them. And you have to start from the roots, from the under-17s. And we failed to do that,” he said.

Mikel urged authorities to give key roles to people with playing and administrative experience.

“We have to make changes. And those changes need to be run by people who know the game, play the game, know how to run the game. And that’s why I’ve talked about Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu. These guys have to, at some point, in some capacity, be involved,” he added.