There is a question that has weighed heavily on my heart for some time—one I believe we can no longer afford to ask in whispers. We must confront it openly, as a football family, before the well of our nation’s potential completely runs dry.

If the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) truly wants grassroots football to flourish, why have we failed to build a structured financial system to directly support the State Football Associations—the very institutions standing on the frontlines?

I do not ask this as a distant observer casting stones from an ivory tower. I ask as someone who lives this reality every single day at the state level.

I have looked into the eyes of fiercely talented children forced to chase their dreams in borrowed, threadbare boots. I have watched devoted coaches travel hundreds of miles to competitions on empty pockets and pure hope. State Football Associations are expected to organize leagues, discover raw talent, train referees, support women’s football, run youth tournaments, and maintain administrative structures—often with resources that are an absolute pittance compared to the massive weight placed on our shoulders.

Yet, when the next generation of Nigerian stars fails to emerge, the blame falls squarely on the grassroots.

When quality players are scarce, we blame the coaches. When local tournaments falter, we blame the State FAs. When brilliant young talents vanish into obscurity, we blame "the system."

But let us ask the uncomfortable, heartbreaking question: Have we ever truly funded the people we expect to perform miracles?

Look at FIFA. Through its FIFA Forward programme, global football’s governing body pours tangible resources directly into its 211 Member Associations. FIFA understands a fundamental truth: You cannot demand development while withholding the tools required to achieve it.

Look at CAF. The continental body has built structured financial mechanisms: grants, tournament distributions, and development funds, because it recognizes that member associations cannot carry enormous responsibilities on empty hands.

This brings us home. Where is the NFF’s grassroots financial distribution strategy?

The NFF relies on 37 State Football Associations, including the FCT. We are not competitors to the federation, nor are we mere administrative burden-bearers. We are the bedrock. We are where a child is first registered, where local passion is organized, where referees learn the whistle, and where talents are nurtured long before they ever taste professional football or put on a national jersey.

Why, then, is there no NFF–State FA Grassroots Development Fund?

Imagine a system where every State FA receives an annual, guaranteed development allocation tied to clear, measurable objectives.

 Hand us the target, set the standards, give us the resources, and then, hold us fiercely accountable. Let every single naira be accounted for. Performance without support is not development; it is abandonment.

You cannot hand a builder an empty toolbox and condemn him when the house collapses. You cannot ask us to groom a hundred young talents, elevate women’s football, and train world-class coaches while grassroots pitches across the country cry out for basic maintenance.

At the state level, we are forced daily into agonizing choices. Do we fund the local league or save the women’s competition? Do we train referees or buy basic equipment for youth teams?

It breaks my heart because the problem has never been a lack of talent. Nigeria overflows with gifted children. What we lack is a funded, compassionate system to protect, nurture, and elevate them.

Think of the young boy or girl waking up at dawn, dreaming of becoming the next Super Eagle or Super Falcon. They know nothing of federation politics, strained budgets, or administrative debates. They only know the fire burning in their feet.

Their only misfortune was being born in a community where the system lacks the resources to give their natural gift a chance. A child should never pay the price for our structural failures.

This is my plea to the NFF: Let us transform this relationship. Let us move away from ad-hoc assistance and move toward a structured, transparent financial compact. 

Grassroots football is not a charity case or a cost center. It is the heartbeat and the production line of the entire Nigerian football economy. Every naira invested at the bottom eventually builds a national team capable of conquering the world.

The next Victor Osimhen, Asisat Oshoala, Alex Iwobi, or Rasheedat Ajibade is out there right now, playing barefoot on a dusty pitch in Igbajo, Ikirun, Osogbo, Ede, or Ilesa.

Passion started this journey for millions of our children. But passion alone cannot carry them to the top. Only investment, structure, and institutional commitment can do that.

 If we truly want grassroots football to produce for Nigeria, then Nigeria’s football system must finally invest in the grassroots.

Sola Fanawopo is the Chairman of the Osun State Football Association. He writes from Osogbo.