Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, has criticized the Nigeria Football Federation for the problems coaches face when they handle the national teams.
Onigbinde was reacting to Sunday Oliseh’s decision to resign as Super Eagles coach on Friday, barely eight months into the job.
Oliseh cited unpaid salaries, lack of cooperation, among other factors as reasons for his decision to quit.
In an interview with Goal, Onigbinde who has coached the Eagles in the past, admitted that it was not a new trend and claimed the problem was administrative, not technical.
“It is not a new thing,” Onigbinde said.
“I was the first coach to be directly appointed, though some acted before me, but this was as head coach of the Super Eagles in 1983.
“And I went through hell, but thank God I am alive today. My annual salary then was about 10,000 naira. My official vehicle was a [Volkwagen Beetle] car.
“Throughout my three years stay, I did not have an official room as a residence. For a whole year, I was not supplied with balls, from January to December in 1983.
“With all modesty, if you see it as a national service, you must be able to endure some things to make some sacrifice.
“I requested for 30 balls but the then chairman of NFA wanted to beat me up for requesting for more than two balls.
“The painful aspect of it was that if I were a white man requesting for 30 balls, he would send someone to Germany to bring 100 balls.
“In one word, each time, I’m saying the problem with our football is administrative, people tend to think I want to abuse them or expose them.
“What has been happening all through are they technical issues? No, they are administrative. And this is where it has gotten us to.
“So, what we need to do now is to learn from the past and improve, knowing that the beginning of lunacy is doing the same thing the same way all over and over and expecting a different result. We cannot get a different result.”
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