Isah Ladan Bosso is the Head Coach of the National U.20 Men's Team. Bosso who hails from Bosso Local Government of Niger State is a grounded grassroots coach , graduating from the National Institute For Sports, Lagos with a Distinction at Diploma level. Bosso is  presently the President of Nigeria Football Coaches Association. Bosso has coached many local clubs at the league level. Teams  have benefited from the technical knowledge of Isah Ladan Bosso.

 

In 2007, Ladan Bosso was appointed the head coach of Nigeria national under-20 football team. He led the team to the quarter-final stage of the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In 2009, the Bosso led the U-20 team to finished as runner-up in the WAFU U20 Nation Cup. He was disengaged in 2009 following a third-place finish by the Flying Eagles at the 2009 African Youth Championship and Samson Siasia was appointed as his replacement. 

 

After leaving the Flying Eagles, Bosso joined Kano Pillars as head coach in January 2011. He left the position in November 2011. He moved to Wikki Tourists of Bauchi as the technical adviser in December 2011. A position he left in November 2012 to join the then-champion of Nigerian professional football league Bayelsa United. Bosso quit Bayelsa United and joined Nigeria Premier League side, Abia Warriors Football Club of Umuahia as the club's technical adviser in February 2014. In November 2015, the management of Abia Warriors decided not to renew Bosso's contract following the not too impressive performance of the team in the 2014/2015 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season. Ladan Bosso was appointed coach of Nigeria Premier League side El Kanemi Warriors in December 2015. He took over from Kelechi Emeteole, who ensured the club were not relegated that season. In September 2020, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) re-appointed Bosso as head coach of Nigeria national under-20 football team. His U-20 team could not qualify at WAFU B U-20 tournament in 2020. In 2022, he won the WAFU B qualifiers in Niger Republic and qualified for the FIFA U.20 World Cup in Argentina where they finished as quarter finalists. Bosso again, led the U20 team to the All African Games in Ghana, where his team failed to go beyond the preliminary stages. Losing to Uganda by a two goals to one, defeating South Sudan by a lone goal, and losing to Senegal by three goals to one.

 

 

Since, losing out of the All African Games football event,  Bosso has been in the eye of the storm. He has been called names, and various unsubstative allegations levelled against him. Some have accused Bosso of using his position as the President of Nigeria Football Coaches to curry favour to his side. Others have accused him of selecting his team based on tribal sentiments, that his teams are dominated by average players from a certain region of the country. There are others that accused him of corruption and lacking the technical depth needed to thinker any team to success.

 

In all, Bosso has remains unshaken as he is not new to controversy that is associated with the job.

 

Talking of controversies, Bosso  became famous following his racism allegation against England referee Howard Webb after Nigeria's Under-20s lost to Chile at the quarter-final stage of the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Speaking at a press conference after the game, Bosso accused Webb of racism. According to the FIFA disciplinary committee, Bosso was found guilty of "offensive behavior," resulting in a four-month ban and a fine of CHF 11,000. At the end, Bosso came out stronger. 

 

One thing that those who criticised Bosso  have failed to realised is the environment that coaches worked in. One can easily assumed that the best of Nigerian players are at the U.20  levels, but how many of such players are qualified to play any U20 tournament.

 

Unknown to many, most of the assumed U20 are players  have immigration related issues, which made them ineligible to take part in such tournaments. These players normally have  double passports and many of them have age discrepancies which normally disqualify them from participating in those tournaments. This makes it impossible for the coaches to select them, thereby limiting the chances of the coaches selecting the best for the country. Again, it is only in Nigeria that coaches are expected to build a national team in less than ten days for an international tournament. The authority that normally give Bosso the job, always expect him to perform the unexpected with little or no time. Little wonders why Bosso is always always the sacrificial lamb that comes to their mind whenever the fire brigade approach comes to play. This happens in a country like Nigeria that has no pool of young players,  where the coaches can draw their players from in cases of emergency. Our youth development structure is very faulty, and coaches of the national teams suffer it the most.

 

Bosso is in the eyes of the storm today, tomorrow it may be another coach. This will not stop until such a time when our Coaches will leave up to their responsibilities and refused to take those assignments that brings their reputation down. Hiwever, administrators will continue to use the coaches to cover their inepititude and the coaches will continue to be the sacrificial lamb, until they learn to say"NO" to any unfavourable working conditions.