3 reasons why Super Eagles’ pre-Gabon strike is justified

The Super Eagles’ boycott of training in Rabat on Tuesday may have raised eyebrows across the continent, but for those who have followed Nigerian football closely, it was neither shocking nor new.

The players and officials, camped in Morocco ahead of Thursday’s 2026 World Cup playoff against Gabon, refused to train over unpaid bonuses, a familiar script that has replayed itself through multiple administrations, coaches, and tournaments.

The standoff came just two days before one of the Super Eagles' most important fixtures in recent years, yet it spoke to something much deeper than match preparation. For years, the players have carried the burden of promises made and broken by football administrators, from Amaju Pinnick’s tenure to the current leadership under Ibrahim Gusau. 

This is not the first time Nigeria’s national team has reached this boiling point. At various international tournaments, the incumbent squads have had to go to war with the footballing authorities over their entitlements, with perhaps the most infamous case, in 2002 at that year's Africa Cup of Nations, leading to the disbandment of the Super Eagles.

Here are three reasons why this current strike action is justified.

35 match bonuses owed since 2019

At the heart of the protest lies an astonishing backlog. 35 match bonuses owed to players and staff dating back to 2019. The arrears span multiple competitions and regimes, a trail of unfulfilled promises that stretches from the Amaju Pinnick era to the current Gusau-led administration.

That kind of neglect doesn’t just affect morale, it undermines trust. Many of these players have represented the country through difficult transitions and coaching changes, often paying their own way to camp or waiting months for basic entitlements.

The strike, in that context, feels less like rebellion and more like self-respect.

There is no such thing as a “right time”

Critics have pointed to the proximity of the Gabon clash as evidence that the players picked the wrong moment. But that argument ignores the pattern. When issues are raised quietly, they’re dismissed; when raised loudly, they’re deemed ill-timed.

The truth is, there is never a convenient moment to confront institutional failure. This is not about one bonus or one match, it’s about a culture of neglect that keeps resurfacing in Nigerian football.

What is happening in Rabat is the symptom of something much larger, a broken structure that the Super Eagles players, for once, have refused to let slide.

Too many promises to the Super Eagles have been broken

The players’ patience has run out because the words have stayed the same while the actions haven’t.

Each crisis is met with reassurances, yet nothing changes. Payment plans are announced, interventions promised, but months later, the cycle begins again. Trust has been stretched beyond its limit.

This latest Super Eagles protest isn’t just a reaction to debt; it’s a response to the erosion of faith in leadership. The players have drawn a line  not out of defiance, but necessity.