Former Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has delivered a blunt assessment of Nigerian football, calling for a complete overhaul while praising the current crop of national team players as exceptionally gifted. Speaking on Brila FM’s breakfast show No Holds Barred, the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner did not hold back on the structural problems holding the game back or the baffling underperformance of one of the most talented Super Eagles squads in recent memory.

Onazi, a tireless box-to-box midfielder who rose from the My People academy and Nigerian lower leagues to European football, carved out a notable career that included a Coppa Italia triumph with Lazio in 2013 and a Turkish Cup with Trabzonspor. Internationally, he was a key figure in the Super Eagles’ golden generation under Stephen Keshi.

He earned over 50 caps, scored once for the national side, and featured in every match at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil before a serious injury against France in the Round of 16 cut short a strong individual display against Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi. He was also part of the squad that lifted the AFCON trophy in South Africa in 2013—Nigeria’s last continental title—and made the 2018 World Cup roster in Russia.

That experience of both glory and near-misses gives weight to his latest comments. Addressing the broader state of the game, Onazi insisted that incremental fixes are no longer enough.

“Our football needs total restructuring and total rehabilitation. That’s the best thing that can happen for our football to get in place,” he stated on the Brila FM show.

The former Lazio star painted a picture of a system in need of fundamental repair—from youth development and coaching pathways to administration, infrastructure, and the professional environment surrounding the national teams. Without that deep reset, he suggested, the cycle of promise followed by disappointment will continue.

Turning specifically to the current Super Eagles, Onazi offered high praise for the players while expressing clear frustration at their results. He described the present group as uniquely blessed with technical quality and potential, ranking them above even the squads of his own era.

“This Super Eagles team is one of the most talented groups of young players put together. Even in our time, we didn’t have this kind of talent. Something must be wrong somewhere,” Onazi said.

The contrast is striking. Nigeria’s recent campaigns have featured highly rated attackers and midfielders capable of starring in Europe’s top leagues, yet consistent success on the international stage has remained elusive. Qualification struggles, early tournament exits, and questions over team cohesion have left fans and analysts searching for answers.

Onazi’s remarks imply that the problem is not a shortage of ability but deeper issues—perhaps in preparation, selection consistency, tactical direction, leadership within the setup, or the overall football ecosystem that fails to convert individual brilliance into collective results.

His dual message—admiration for the talent pool and a demand for systemic change—resonates at a time when Nigerian football continues to produce stars who excel abroad while the national team’s trophy cabinet stays largely unchanged since 2013.

As a player who experienced both the highs of continental glory and the realities of European club football, Onazi’s call carries the authority of someone who has lived the system from the inside.

By speaking candidly on No Holds Barred, Onazi has added his voice to the growing conversation about what it will take for the Super Eagles and Nigerian football as a whole to match the talent that keeps emerging. Total restructuring, he argues, is not optional. It is the necessary foundation if that extraordinary pool of young players is finally to deliver on its promise.

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