Former Super Eagles of Nigeria head coach, Samson Siasia has revealed how Nigerian coaches are being ill-treated by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Samson Siasia who was the captain of the national team during his playing days has coached all national team levels except the under-17 side.
Before he was banned from football activities due to alleged match-fixing issues, Siasia led Nigeria to win the African Youth Championship in 2005 and also led the same team to finish second at the 2005 under-20 World Cup in The Netherlands.
The 56-year-old Nigerian tactician went on to win Olympic silver and bronze medals while in charge of the Under-23 team in 2008 and 2016 respectively.
Samson Siasia who is seen as one of the most successful local coaches in Nigeria was expected to apply for the vacant Super Eagles coaching job but he couldn’t due to his ban which will expire later this month.
While the NFF is busy hunting for a new coach, Siasia made an appearance on a podcast alongside ex-international Emmanuel Babayaro and journalist Matthew Edafe on Saturday. During the podcast, Siasia lamented how the NFF hardly gives local coaches time to prepare for tournaments and how the coaches are often paid very low compared to how the football federation pay foreign coaches.
He said, “They didn’t give me Super Eagles from the beginning and give me four years.
“They didn’t give Nigeria people four years, you lose one match, they fire you. That’s the truth. The white people will come, you give them more time, you pay them more money.”
Samson Siasia continued, “And we (local coaches), they won’t send us anywhere and they want us to be better.
“They will pay the white man $50,000 monthly, and pay local hires one million naira. From the on million naira, the coaching staff will also take you inside, and you also have to feed your family.”
Siasia who has coached almost all the levels of football in Nigeria said the only side which is relatively easier to coach is the senior national team.
The Bayelsa state-born tactician noted that coaches in the under-age levels mostly have to use their star power to get some things sorted on behalf of the NFF.
“Trust me the easiest team to coach (in Nigeria) is the Super Eagles because they will give you everything that you need,” Siasia said.
“But U-20, U-23 and the U-16 are even worse because you won’t see food to eat. The U-20 is a big problem because if you don’t know people who can help you, you are in trouble. After all, the truth is if you don’t start on time there is no way you can qualify for a tournament.
“All those times that I qualified for tournaments are not a joke, I know people that own hotels. I will go to them and beg them to allow us to lodge and that we will pay later. They will give you a job one month to play a game and you want to screen players and select the best. How do you do that?”
He continued, “We have to go and look for accommodation because they will put us in Goal Project where there is nothing. Do you know how these people (NFF) deal with the national team coaches? That is why most of them cannot qualify because if you don’t have a name you cannot go to the hotel owners to keep rooms for you for free.
“I qualified the country for the Olympics twice, how many other coaches have been able to do that?”