Ernest Osogbue.
Gennaro Gattuso is a well known name in world football, due to his exploits as a no-nonsense defensive midfielder in the colors of Italian giants, AC Milan. He earned 73 caps for the Italian national team, the Azzurri’s, and helped them win the 2006 World Cup. In June 2025, he was appointed manager of the Italian national team, but recently resigned after only 10 months in office, following Italy’s failed 2026 World Cup qualification.
Before Gattuso threw in the towel, however, another illustrious Italian footballer, Gianluigi Buffon, one of Italy’s most recognizable goalkeepers of the modern era, with a record 176 caps for the national team, 657 appearances in the Serie A, and 5 World Cup appearances, had earlier resigned his position as the team manager of the Italian national team. In like manner, the president of the Italian football federation, Gabriele Gravina, also quit his position, as a result of Italy failing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The resignations of the trio, will pave the way for new hands to take over the management of Italian football come June this year.
The string of resignations in Italian football, as a fallout of the failure to grab a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, contrasts sharply with the situation in Nigeria, where after failing to qualify for the World Cup, those in charge of Nigerian football are sitting pretty, and instead, are busy strengthening their positions and looking for more power. This scenario prompted a colleague to question why resignations after failure, is not a trend in Nigeria.
Across the world, and on a regular basis, we hear of people resigning their positions in different countries, either due failure in office, or as a result of one scandal or the other. In Nigeria, however, this has never been the case, instead, people ride on scandals and incompetence to strengthen their positions in office. Take for example, the scandal involving the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, where the latter accused the former, of sexual harassment. Rather than resign and pave way for an independent investigation of the matter, the senate president, sat tight, and refused to budge, and has since consolidated his position, and could be said to have even become more powerful since the incident.
Also recently, the minister of works, Dave Umahi, was accused of sexual harassment, and indebtedness, by one Mrs. Tracy Ohiri, rather than pave the way for an independent inquiry into the matter, the minister instead, used his powers to uproot the lady from her home to Abuja, and as at the time of this report, the matter is neither here nor there, with the minister waxing stronger in office and continuing to award billion dollar contracts. Across Nigeria, from local governments, to states, and at the federal level, this has been the pattern, not only in the current administration, but for as far back as one could remember. Government officials do not resign from office, except they wish to take up bigger responsibilities, like contesting elections. Take the case of the immediate past minister of the FCT, Mohammed Musa Bello, as an example. The man became minister of the FCT on 11th November 2015, and left office on May 29th 2023, meaning that he was in office for abount 8 years. Ask any FCT resident, especially in relation to what is currently going on in the FCT, and he’ll tell you that Mohammed Musa Bello, would go down in history as the worst ministers of the FCT, in recent memory. Under his watch, the FCT deteriorated, became a den of criminals, roads became dilapidated, and residents lived in fear. Did the minister resign? No, he didn’t. Instead, he was rewarded with a second tenure after the first tenure expired. This is always the pattern in Nigeria, failure is usually rewarded.
A careful inquiry into why this is so, reveals that most of the countries Nigeria is in competition with in the world, are organic nations, made up of one peoples. These are nations who have one history, and have been together for centuries. In these countries, all citizens pull together in the same direction. In Nigeria, this is not so. The nation is inorganic, and is made up of a mishmash of different peoples. Nigeria is not a natural country, but was artificially created by Sir Frederick Luggard, who forcibly dragged peoples of diverse backgrounds into one unwieldy country. This has resulted in Nigeria being her own worst enemy, as the different peoples pull in different directions and the center cannot hold. Nigeria has been in constant search of unity and oneness, and this leads to compromises in many areas. In Japan, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, and in many other nations of the world, the oneness of the people is taken for granted, and so, to be appointed to any position, is usually on self-recognition. You are therefore, expected to serve to the best of your abilities. If you you fail, you get the boot, without any extraneous considerations. Before people get sacked in Nigeria, extraneous issues like; how would Christians react, how would Muslims react, does his ethnic group have another representative, etc.? Come into play. The divisions, cracks, and faultlines within Nigeria are responsible for some of the problems of Nigeria. Nigerians are first loyal to their tribe, their religion, their ethnic group, and some other considerations, before being loyal to Nigeria. This issue of divided loyalty, which the Constitution tacitly upholds, is at the bottom of why we are the way we are.
For instance, Chapter 6, Part 1, Section 147, subsection 3, of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, states inter alia; the president shall appoint at least one minister from each state, who shall be an indigene of such state. Section 14, subsection 3, of the same Constitution, further warns the president; to avoid the predominance of persons from one state, in his appointments. And as if that is not enough, Section 171, subsection 5, of the same Constitution, re-emphasizes the adherence to the federal character principles. Despite all these provisions, a Federal Character Commission, FCC, established by Act 34 of 1996, is in place, to monitor, and ensure compliance with relevant sections of the Constitution on federal character.
The above laws, and their implementation in Nigeria, therefore, ensure that when a person is appointed into office, that individual is not representing himself alone, as in other climes. In Nigeria, when you are elected into a position, or appointed into an office, you represent a religion, an ethnic group, a community, a tribe, and sometimes, even an entire state. It follows therefore, that when accusations of incompetence or a scandal breaks out, it is beyond your personal decision to suddenly throw in the towel. Your religious group, your tribe, your ethnic group, your local government, your traditional ruler, and even your entire state, must be a part of that decision. When an official is accused of incompetence or corruption, his tribal people, his religious group, or his ethnic group, will rise up in his defense. That is why a man could be corrupt in the south, and be a hero in the north, and vice versa.
Nigeria despite being one country, has different destinies, and different agendas. What the north desires is different from what the south desires. The east wants one thing, and the west wants another. A man could be a hero in the east and be a villain in west. Despite having all the statutory positions occupied by its people, the east constantly complains of marginalization, simply because a child of that region is yet to be elected president of the country. That is Nigeria for you, a country governed more by emotions than by laws.
This is the dilemma of Nigeria, and which has given credence to incompetence and corruption. People are not appointed into offices due to their self-recognition as being competent, they are appointed to satisfy extraneous principles in the quest for unity, and so, may not necessarily quit such offices on accusations of corruption or incompetence. Nigerians sit down to compute how many Christians are in government in relation to Muslims, how many Igbos are in positions in relation to Yorubas, and so on. The competence and the abilities of these individuals on the job, remains irrelevant.
In Italy and other homogeneous nations, the above considerations do not arise at all. For instance, Gattuso managed 8 games as the national team manager, he won 6, drew 1, and lost 1. This is a fantastic record on paper. Were he a Nigerian, the question of quitting would never arise. Back home however, despite overseeing a failed World Cup qualifying series, Eric Chelle, despite not being Nigerian, was robustly defended by his protectors. They said Jose Peseiro, and Finidi George, were responsible for the failed World Cup qualification. Forgetting that when Chelle took over, Nigeria still had a mathematical chance of qualifying. As a result, Chelle has been emboldened, he recently sent out a 19 point demand for his contract renewal, and salary increment. At the NFF, the president, Ibrahim Gusau, is sitting pretty, and inaugurating different bodies for the upcoming federation elections, where he hopes to renew his mandate. Other principal officers in the federation, like the Secretary General, Mohamed Sanusi, Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, and many others, are carrying on their jobs as if nothing is amiss. This is Nigeria, these officers, represent different extraneous groups in the NFF, their positions are beyond sports administration. They represent religious interests, regional interests, tribal, ethnic, state, and other interests that go beyond their individual positions. That is the reason why resignation is completely out of the question.
It becomes clear, therefore, that when next you see people resigning their positions in other countries, remember that those are homogeneous countries, where only competence can get you into office. In Nigeria, however, competence is not the reason why people are appointed into positions, people are appointed to represent various interests, and other extraneous factors, and that is a reason why incompetence and corruption will continue to reign supreme in Nigeria.
