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Former Super Eagles striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has urged the Nigeria Football Federation to avoid returning to Samson Siasia or Augustine Eguavoen if a managerial change is made, Footynaija.com reports.
Aiyegbeni backs the appointment of a European coach for the Nigerian national team but insists that current handler Eric Chelle be allowed to oversee the Super Eagles’ challenge at the Africa Cup of Nations next month.
Malian tactician Eric Chelle, appointed at the start of the year, failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2026 World Cup despite remaining unbeaten in regulation time across eight games.
With the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations only weeks away, he believes sacking the Malian coach now would be destabilising.
Aiyegbeni questioned Nigeria’s long-running struggle to secure a stable, long-term manager.
“Why do we always find it difficult to get a decisive coach when it matters? We say we need a foreign coach, and I agree, we still need a foreign coach,” he said. “It’s too close (to the AFCON) to bring in another coach.“
The former Everton forward was equally firm about avoiding familiar indigenous names.
“I don’t think Siaisa or Eguavoen are needed anymore. We’ve gone past that era. I think we should try to sit together and look for whom to bring. It’s time to move forward, not backwards.”
Nigeria’s coaching instability remains a central theme. During the last World Cup and AFCON qualifying cycle, four coaches led the team — Jose Peseiro, Finidi George, Augustine Eguavoen and Chelle — each offering mixed results.
Eguavoen has held the role five times, more than any coach in the country’s history, while Siasia had stints in 2010 and 2016.
Aiyegbeni believes the NFF must now choose a clearer, forward-looking direction at the end of the AFCON in Morocco.
