Former Enyimba coach Kadiri Ikhana believes local coaches, especially women, have the quality to excel in the Super Falcons and has charged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to consider them for the vacant coaching role in the team.

Local coaches have previously led the Falcons to eight of their nine African titles.

The Super Falcons are without a substantive coach since Swede Thomas Dennerby left the team in October, with NFF president Amaju Pinnick stating recently that the federation is poised to hire a ‘world-class’ coach for the nine-time African champions.

But in an interview with Today FM in Port Harcourt, the former Super Falcons handler advised the NFF to give the job to local coaches long-term, which will equally prove cost-effective.

“Give them (local coaches) a long-term contract; say five years and see what will come out of it,” Ikhana, who guided Enyimba to their first CAF Champions League title in 2003, said.

“It’s like paying the white man almost N25m with which you can employ 25 coaches in Nigeria and pay them the same amount – N1m monthly.

“You and I believe that they are ripe enough, Nigerian coaches are ripe enough to handle the female team (Super Falcons) because the presumption is there, the results are there; they are very easy to see.

“So, I don’t see us going for any white coach.”

The 68-year-old former Kano Pillars and Sunshine Stars coach also highlighted some of the advantages the local coaches have over their foreign counterparts.

“Firstly, we will see that most of the players that grew up in the female team were brought up in this country. Secondly, they have the experience, the human experience to guide these girls because they know what they are up to,” Ikhana said.

Ikhana continued: “Thirdly, they have the technical ability, they’ve played the game to a stage whereby even without going for a coaching course, they can become a coach. And fourthly, they have good managers.

“You know I can name them, so many of them but this is not the time. We all know them (probably referring to the likes of Florence Omagbemi, Mercy AKhide-Udoh, Eucharia Uche etc). We have so many of them that can do the job.”

“So, why not call three or four of them to handle the job.”