National Teams
Profile: Who is Justin Madugu and is he qualified to lead Super Falcons?
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Following Justin Madugu’s promotion from an assistant role to the interim managerial post of the Nigeria senior women’s national team, NigeriaFootball.ng closely examines his career.
Rising to the head coach role on an interim basis after the exit of Randy Waldrum, Madugu oversaw four games, including the Paris 2024 Olympics Qualifiers against Ethiopia and Cape Verde in the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Qualifiers in November/December.
Under the 60-year-old initial caretaker reign, the West African’s goal-scoring prowess has been reignited. After a 1-1 draw with Ethiopia in Madugu’s inaugural game in charge, the nine-time African champions scored 10 goals in three games, with nine of them coming in the last two matches against Ethiopia and Cape Verde.
With recent performance trends sparking enthusiasm among football enthusiasts, there’s a growing clamor for the credentials of Madugu, who is currently enjoying success leading the Super Falcons.
In response to this, NigeriaFootball.ng delves into the profile of the experienced manager and former professional footballer, examining his qualifications and experiences. The pivotal question arises:
Justin Madugu – interim Super Falcons coach
Is Justin Madugu qualified to lead the Super Falcons?
In terms of qualification, Madugu is a CAF A and B licensed coach and has attended different coaching courses like NFF/CAF Football Coaching Course, Tiki Taka Football Development Course, National Football Coach Seminar, and Globacom Premier League International Seminar.
The Adamawa State born tactician holds a distinction from the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Lagos after the completion of a Diploma in coaching certificate in 1995.
Madugu has Masters in Science (Msc.) in Sports Psychology at the El-Roi London University, Msc in Sports Management from the same university, Msc in Public Administration from the National Open University (NOUN), Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Administration at Adamawa State Polytechnic, Advance Diploma in Public Administration, and Diploma in Library Science from Bayero University Kano.
On working experience, he has worked for teams such as Flying Makwada FC Numan (Chief Coach), Makwada FC (Chief/ Head/Assistant Coach), Adamawa United FC (Technical Adviser), Makwada Warriors and Makwada Queens (Technical Adviser/ Team Manager), and FC Taraba (Technical Adviser).
For the national team, the former WRECA Football Club of Kano player was appointed the Assistant Coach of the national women’s U-20 team (Falconets) from April 2007 to December 2008, Assistant Coach of Nigeria’s senior national team (Super Eagles home-based) from 14th May 2009 to December 2009, and Assistant Coach of National U-17 team (Flamingos) from December 2009 to October 2010.
He has been the Assistant Coach of the Super Falcons since January 2012, and not being in that position only in 2016, 2017, and 2020.
Justin Madugu – interim Super Falcons coach
What was Justin Madugu’s early coaching career?
At the grassroots and youth team level, Madugu started as part-time coach in 1987 with youth club in Numan, Fashanu Babes FC, won second position with the team at Numan Youth Cup, won first position at Numan Youth League, qualified to play in Gongola State Division III League with Fashanu Babes in 1987 after emerging as winner of the qualifying games, won Gongola State Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) Felix Egogo Memorial Cup for U-13 in 1990, won first position at Gongola State Governor’s Cup for U-13 in the same year, won the first position at Gongola State NITEL Cup for U-13, won second position at Zonal NITEL Cup in Bauchi in 1990, won first position at YSFON Egogo Memorial Cup in 1991 with Flying Makwada Football Club Numan, won first position at YSFON Felix Egogo Memorial Cup in 1992 with Flying Makwada Football Club, and won second position at International Friendship Cup (IFC) for U-16 at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 1991 and 1992 with Flying Makwada Football Club.
In charge of different teams, Madugu has groomed and exposed players to national and international prominence from Makwada Warriors FC, Makwada Queens, Adamawa United, Adamawa Queens, and FC Taraba.
They include Francisca Ordega, Sarah Nnodim, Ayila Loveth, Aenyi Sandra, Victor Esther, Philips Lola, Henry Chisom, Idoko Vera, Helen Emmanuel, Joseph Sidi, Ramat Kareem, Alheri Ayuba, Blessing George, Pascal Naftali, Kalunga Sunday, Rotimi Mustapha, Minisu Buba, Sadiq Abubakar, Romanus Orjinta, Kenan Felix, Daniel Nanushi, Abbas Gazali, Osunde Oshade, Ike Obilo, Bulus Pwadadi, and Abubakar Idris to mention just a few.
Former players like Festus Murealewe, Gibson Godwin, Ibrahim Bello, Stephen Joshua, Morrison Komri, Esthon Sylvester, Heman Dadeino, Bariki Audu, Nickson Hirishi, Ibrahim Bariki, Jacon Vandi, Abbo Ahmed, Anderika Iyakson, Bilham Gati, Bawa Abbas, Dickson Danlami, Abubakar Mcmanaman, Steve Kokrift, and Aromen Achiumugu are now coaches after playing under the tutelage of Madugu.
Justin Madugu – interim coach (right) with former head coach Randy Waldrum (middle) and goalkeeper trainer (left)
What is Madugu’s international record as a coach?
Overall, the coach has attended four WAFCON (two gold medals and two fourth-placed finishes), 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago Nigeria reached the quarter-final, 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile where Nigeria got to the quarter-final, 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups, 2018 African Mini-Football Championship in Libya where Nigeria qualified for the Mini-World Cup in Perth, Australia 2019, won WAFU-B Cup in 2019, and 2015 All African Games.
Having visited 36 countries around the world with experience in the Civil Service, it is left to be seen if the NFF will look towards Madugu in case Waldrum refuse to extend his contract with the Super Falcons.
