Nigeria took a tentative step in the right direction during the September international break after their shambolic start to World Cup qualification.
A 2-1 defeat to Benin in June left the Super Eagles with a mountain to climb in their bid to reach the 2026 World Cup.
However, an assured 3-0 win over the same opponents gained a measure of revenge last weekend, with Ballon d’Or nominee Ademola Lookman bagging a brace either side of a Victor Osimhen goal to mark a winning start to Africa Cup of Nations qualification.
A goalless draw in Rwanda followed, after which Nigeria’s head coach saga took another twist.
Is Augustine Eguavoen Nigeria head coach?
NFF technical director Augustine Eguavoen stepped in for his fourth spell in interim charge of the Super Eagles after the poor start to World Cup qualifying hastened the end of Finidi George’s brief tenure.
Following the stalemate with Rwanda, reports emerged that Eguavoen had stepped down from his position — reports the man himself was forced to deny.
“Whatever people are reading out there is not correct, I am still in charge,” the 59-year-old said, as reported by Nigerian publication Vanguard.
“I am the technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation and it is my responsibility to manage the Super Eagles at this moment. That is where we stand.
“I only mentioned that I would sit down with the hierarchy of the federation after these two games to discuss our approach for the next matches.”
Is Bruno Labbadia going to be Nigeria coach?
The plan was always for Eguavoen to take charge of the home and away October AFCON qualifiers against Libya. The NFF thought they had a Finidi’s successor in place from November onwards but it was not to be.
In late August, former Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen head coach Bruno Labbadia agreed to become Nigeria boss.
However, the deal collapsed as the NFF blamed “tax details”.
President Ibrahim Musa Gusau said: "The NFF and Mr. Labbadia reached an agreement in principle before we made the announcement that he would become the head coach of the Super Eagles.
"The tax details were never part of our discussions, and he had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up.
"We were doing our best to be flexible in the discussions, but he was adamant that the NFF had to pay the full tax amount as well. We simply cannot do that."
Why did Finidi George resign from Nigeria job?
Finidi George initially took charge on an interim basis when Jose Peseiro departed after Nigeria’s loss to Ivory Coast in February’s AFCON final.
He oversaw a 2-1 win over Ghana in his first game in charge — the Super Eagles' first victory over the Black Stars in 18 years. They then suffered a 2-0 loss to Mali, with both friendlies taking place in Morocco.
He was then given the full-time role despite concern among fans that he was ill-equipped for such a high-profile position. His only two competitive games in charge were those World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin, which left him with a record of one win, one draw, and two defeats from four games.
Candidates to be next Nigeria head coach
The NFF reached its deal with Labbadia after failing to secure agreements with former Sweden coach Janne Andersson and two-time AFCON winner Herve Renard.
Andersson and Renard remain out of work and therefore presumably still on the NFF’s radar.
Nigeria were also linked with Steve McClaren before the former England boss took charge of Jamaica.
