How Nigerian Football Federation Owed Late Super Eagles Coach, Christian Chukwu For Over 19 Years After Leaving Role

A flashback interview has surfaced, showing how late Super Eagles coach Christian Chukwu confirmed that he was owed entitlements for 19 years, up until his death, by the very institution he served with distinction.

Chukwu, who died recently at 73, had in April 2024 granted an explosive interview to The Athletic Nigeria where he spoke bitterly about how he and several other local coaches had been abandoned by the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF after years of dedicated service.

The former Super Eagles handler, famously known as “Chairman,” coached Nigeria’s senior men’s national team between 2002 and 2005, leading them to a bronze medal at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. But his patriotic service was rewarded with silence and debt.

“They owe Nigerian coaches. They don’t owe foreign coaches. It is a problem because they know them,” Chukwu said bluntly during the interview. 

“You take on an indigenous coach who takes a cheap salary, and you owe him. Is it proper? Are you encouraging him to do his job? I am still owed up till today. They still owe me till tomorrow. My files are there with the NFF.”

The football icon, who also captained Nigeria to its first-ever AFCON title in 1980 and won the African Cup Winners Cup with Enugu Rangers in 1977, didn’t mince words as he called out the systemic bias against Nigerian coaches.

“What can I do? There is nothing I can do to get them to pay me. The file is there. Go to their office, and you will see how much they owe me. Not only me, but other indigenous coaches are being owed too. Some are late,” he added.

“They are owing us because we are Nigerians. When I was in Kenya, I was not owed. When I went to Lebanon, I was not owed there. And you can see the difference. We did our best and those people appreciated us.”

FLASHBACK VIDEO: How the Nigeria Football Federation @thenff Owed the Late Former Super Eagles Captain and Coach Christian Chukwu for Over 19 Years After He Left His Role - He Died About a Year After This Video pic.twitter.com/fgQkne2e1Z

— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) April 22, 2025

In the same interview, Chukwu made a heartfelt appeal to the current NFF president, Ibrahim Gusau, urging him to intervene and ensure he was paid what was due.

“It is my money lying down there for nothing. I will go and discuss everything with him (Gusau), and if he pays me, that is wonderful.”

Chukwu's plea was never answered. Instead, what followed was the usual bureaucracy, denials, and silence from the NFF.

In a weak attempt at damage control following viral social media claims that the NFF owed Chukwu $128,000, the football body, through its General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, denied the allegation.

“There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu,” Sanusi claimed. “During the first term of the Board headed by Mr. Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.”

In 2019, Chukwu’s health deteriorated due to prostate cancer. In a painful twist, his family had to open a GoFundMe page to raise money for his treatment abroad. It was only after billionaire businessman Femi Otedola intervened with an N18 million donation that Chukwu received proper medical care.

Despite all his sacrifices, Nigeria’s football authorities abandoned him in life, and now in death, they are attempting to erase the debt they never settled.

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