The Nigeria Football Federation has dismissed former international, Tijani Babangida, from his recent post as personal assistant to Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh.
The NFF did not give reasons for Mr. Babangida’s sack. But the decision seemed in response to a recent outburst by Oliseh, who attacked his critics in the media.
Babangida had openly queued behind his boss in the wake of Oliseh’s outburst on issues bordering on the welfare of the Super Eagles in their build-up to the CHAN tournament in which Nigeria crashed out unceremoniously in the first round.
While Babangida was sacked, Coach Oliseh was given a strict warning by the NFF.
At the meeting of Executive Committee of Nigeria Football Federation held in Abuja, the decision to sack Babangida was ratified while new measures to curb the excesses of Oliseh were also reeled out.
“The immediate disengagement of Mr. Tijani Babangida as Personal Assistant to Super Eagles’ Coach, Sunday Oliseh, as recommended by the Technical and Development Committee, was unanimously approved and General Secretary was therefore mandated to follow the due process in effecting his disengagement,” part of the communiqué read.
For Oliseh, the committee reviewed the outing of the Super Eagles at the recently – concluded 4th African Nations Championship and the events that followed, and rebuked the head coach for his unwarranted statements on regular and social media.
While acknowledging Oliseh’s apology, the committee made it clear that similar infractions would not be tolerated in future.
The committee also stated that in line with global best practices, they have decided that Coach Oliseh must henceforth report to the NFF General Secretary and the Technical and Development Committee, and should be ready to defend his entire program before the committee, including invitation of players and training program.
The NFF was silent on whether Babangida would be replaced or whether Oliseh would have to continue his duties without a PA, which in the first place was alien to the national team.
