Former Nigeria striker Henry Makinwa has urged the Nigeria Football Federation not to employ foreign coaches to lead the national teams.

He stated that Nigerian coaches were good and only needed time and support from Nigerians. He spoke in Ilorin on Wednesday after he was unveiled as the new head coach of Abubakar Bukola Saraki FC.

He added that the welfare of players and payment of their entitlements should not be delayed.

"I will never subscribe to foreign coaches for the national teams because Nigerian coaches are good enough. (Stephen) Keshi did it before and he won the African Cup of Nations," the ex-Vitoria Setubal striker said.

"(Sunday) Oliseh was there and he lost just one competitive game in 14 matches. That is a pass mark. What we need is time and support. We should give time to managers. They have to educate the crowd. You do not get results in a day; this is the national team. We had time with (Clemens) Westerhof and we did well and later things went down.

"We have to improve on many things. The question I ask is, 'why can't we play at night?' You see Real Madrid play at night. Like when you bring an overseas-based player to the country, these guys are used to a good system, their welfare should be taken care of. You do not bring them and begin to tell them that you do not have money. The managers need to be empowered."

The former Al Ahly forward said he wants the Super Eagles to defeat the Pharaohs of Egypt during their encounter in Kaduna on Friday.

Makinwa said, "I want Nigeria to win and I am going to pray for the country to win. We all know that football is 90 minutes. In international football, you do not have home and away. I want Nigeria to win."