After Amaju Pinnick was elected as the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) president in September 2014 and served for eight years, he visited players with dual nationality, including Eberechi Eze and Tammy Abraham, to hold talks about switching allegiance to Nigeria.

In September 2017, then-England Under-21 international striker Abraham denied reports he had agreed to switch.

“I can confirm I met the president of the NFF after our last game against Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday, given he is a friend of my father,” Abraham said in quotes reported at the time by The Guardian newspaper in the UK. “However, any suggestion I have made a decision to change my international representation is incorrect and wide of the mark. I have informed the (English) FA that I remain available for selection for England.”

The relationship between Abraham’s father and Pinnick is important to highlight. The NFF will often approach a player’s parents first. This is due to cultural practices in Nigeria, and they hope the player’s family will then emphasise the importance of them honouring their heritage.

Abraham spent time in Chelsea’s academy, along with Aina and Fikayo Tomori. The trio remain close friends and if things had worked out differently, could have been playing together at this AFCON. Tomori was born in Canada but is also eligible for Nigeria.

However, he never got approached by the NFF. “It’s not like I wouldn’t have played there, but they never called me,” the Milan defender told the Filthy Fellas podcast in November. “So I never had a choice to make.”

Abraham has been capped 11 times by England’s senior side but has not been in the squad since June 2022. Tomori was part of that victorious Under-20 World Cup side with Lookman and went on to make five appearances under Southgate, but he has not been called up since Thomas Tuchel started as head coach a year ago.

FIFA only allows players to switch nationalities if they have never represented another country at senior level, as was the case with Lookman, or if they earned fewer than three caps before they turned 21 and none of those appearances came at a major tournament. Real Madrid’s Diaz took advantage of this rule to represent Morocco after making one appearance for Spain, in a friendly against Lithuania in June 2021.

There are some signs of progress in the way Nigeria are now operating.

Ryan Alebiosu made his debut in their final AFCON group game against Uganda just over a week ago. The 24-year-old, a defender with Blackburn Rovers of the Championship who featured in The Radar on The Athletic, was born in London.

Nigeria were monitoring Alebiosu before he moved to Blackburn in July after he spent the second half of last season with St Mirren in Scotland, on loan from Belgian side Kortrijk. Head coach Eric Chelle contacted the full-back for the first time in August and offered words of encouragement. Injuries to fellow defenders Aina and Benjamin Fredrick opened the door for Alebiosu, who made a strong impression on the coaching staff in starting all of Blackburn’s league games this season before leaving for AFCON duty in mid-December.

One issue that threatens to hold Nigeria back.

Multiple sources interviewed for this article, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, have suggested that some players are reluctant to represent them because of repeated off-field issues and a lack of professionalism. In November, the squad boycotted training before a World Cup play-off semi-final against Gabon due to a financial dispute with the NFF. It was reported that the players and backroom staff had not been paid for previous performances and were frustrated as they felt the federation and national government had broken promises.

Only on Wednesday, local media reported that Nigeria’s squad and staff were owed bonuses for their first four games at this AFCON. Twenty-four hours later, the country’s minister of state finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, said the issue was close to being resolved, with delays caused by “foreign-exchange processing”.

Dr Uzoka-Anite added: “Going forward, the process will be fully streamlined to ensure faster, more predictable disbursements aligned with international best practice.” It was an unnecessary distraction before their quarter-final against Algeria.

One source close to the dressing room – speaking before this week’s developments and doing so anonymously to protect relationships – said some senior players can return from international duty feeling emotionally and mentally drained by the drama.

There is another important factor to consider – nobody in the AFCON squad plays for a Nigerian top-flight club.

“Nigeria have to bring in foreign-born players because their league is not producing enough talent,” Calister Enejele, a Nigerian journalist covering the ongoing tournament in Morocco, says.

“Most of South Africa’s squad are playing in their domestic league. They have one of the best leagues in Africa, along with Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The Nigerian league is bad, and needs more investment. If the league is better, more players (from its clubs) will go into the national team. It’s a big issue for the federation.”

Prominent academies in the country are owned and run by individuals instead of clubs. Fredrick, who is on loan to Belgian club Dender from Brentford of the Premier League, started his career at the Simoiben academy, which is run by his international team-mate Moses Simon.

Victor Osimhen, Nigeria’s second-highest all-time goal-scorer behind Rashidi Yekini, was playing for the Ultimate Strikers academy when he starred as Nigeria won the Under-17 World Cup in 2015, leading to a move to German club Wolfsburg.

“Beyond Limits is another private academy, and the co-owner (Kunle Soname) runs Remo Stars (who won the Nigerian league title for the first time in 2024-25),” adds Enejele. “They sell their best players and the money is invested back into the infrastructure, coaching and scouting staff. They are a good example of what we should be doing.

“But selecting foreign-born players brings them closer to the culture, our traditions and helps us to connect with them more. It has been positive. The problem is when you depend on them to always come and help you.”

• A Tell Media report / Adapts from The Athletic