Nigeria’s Sports Minister, John Enoh, has questioned the desire and commitment of Super Eagles players, who were born abroad.
Following Nigeria’s 1-1 draw with South Africa and 2-1 loss to Benin Republic in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, fans and pundits have questioned the hunger and commitment of some players to the national cause.
Answering questions during an interview on Eagle 7 Radio, Senator Enoh said several of the players in the Super Eagles were not born in Nigeria and questioned if they had the spirit and fire of a Nigerian player born in Nigeria.
He then asserted that there are some players in the team who are not good enough.
The Sports Minister said many talk of the quality of the coach, but ignore the quality of the players in the team.
Reacting to calls for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen to be punished for his recent social media outburst against former Head Coach Finidi George, the Sports Minister deacribed the reigning African Footballer of the year as a real trojan for the team.
He said he has told the Nigeria Football Federation not to make a pronouncement on the issue before they have engaged Osimhen.
He said although what Osimhen did was a low for him, these are not the best of times for Nigerian football and the country needs to manage a lot of things.
He said the NFF has to be focused and not be distracted by calls from some quarters for the player to be banned from the national team.