- Naira ‘rain’, other gifts from an appreciative president and country
SPORTS is a global elixir and unifier. When it comes to football globally, which is referred to as the beautiful game, the excitement for teams, countries and fans can be electric.
So, for Nigerian female football team, the Super Falcons, winning the 2025 Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) was as exciting as it was historic.
This is the tenth victory for the 10 times gallant Nigerian team.
The 2025 WAFCON was hosted by Morocco. The final was a stunning phoenix-like comeback for Nigeria in the second half of the game, having been behind the host nation by two goals at the end of the first half.
Nigerians as always were united in celebrating the success of the young ladies who put in everything to succeed. There was an amazing display of unity, determination, strength and patriotism. All the teams that played came prepared to lift the cup, but as it turned out, the Super Falcons were determined to again stamp their superiority in Africa for the 10th time. Permutation about the Nigerian team losing at the finals was rife but in the end, the ladies affirmed their superiority resoundingly by lifting the coveted trophy.
On July 28, they brought the cup back to the country and were received by an excited President Bola Tinubu and a very supportive First lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, at the State House. Then came the gifts; a hundred thousand dollars each for the players, fifty thousand dollars for the technical team, a national honour for the team and their managers, a three-bedroom apartment at the Renewed Hope Estate in Abuja for the players and their handlers.
Also, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, announced a donation of ₦10 million to each of the players and technical team members on behalf of the 36 state governors.
As expected, there have been commendations and condemnations for the presidential gesture. While some applaud, others believe the gifts were too much given that the girls received their allowances and the Nigerian Football Federation received the FIFA $1million dollars price money.
Beyond the gifts, we rejoice and congratulate the team for this victory and continued history of excellence. They are steadily inspiring both governments and the people across Africa, that sports need extra investment, especially female football, given a culture that often excludes women in several sectors. There are millions of other young girls across the country that more investment in the game can encourage to use their talents in that game.
We equally believe that the political class has many lessons to take away from the young ladies. Their sense of unity and patriotism is unparalleled. The team is a cocktail of different ethnicities and religious beliefs but they believe that personal excellence must manifest in team work, and showcase the love of the game and the people who are entertained globally through the game. Each of the team members is super qualified for the game.
Most of them are professionals in other human fields. A player like Michelle Alozie is a Yale graduate, Molecular Biologist and a cancer researcher. Some others are excelling and combining other duties beyond football. On the contrary, most Nigerian politicians are in it for economic expediency and influence peddling alone. They are often less concerned about success either on a personal or team levels. Merit often matters less to an average politician, reason most of them are not putting their best to the offices they hold in trust for the people.
Divisive rhetoric that whittles down performances has not stood in the way of team spirit and patriotic zeal. The ability of women to excel in fields that merit is the criterion can be seen from the brilliant performance of the Super Falcons. They have a record of 10 victories on a continental level and have shown more presence at the FIFA Women’s World Cup than the Super Eagles in their own category.
However, the female team has not gotten an equal support from the Nigerian Football Federation and many governments in the past. This is where the President Tinubu gifts serve as a form of restitution for women footballers. He has set the bar high for future teams and governments.
On a continental level, Morocco must be commended for their efforts in improving facilities that are putting them on the same scale with many advanced countries. Their more than 10 years investment in football has seen them doing very well in scaling up their standing in football infrastructure and both male and female football performances. They did very well in Qatar 2022, they have been hosting many FIFA competitions and are in line to co-host the World Cup in a few years. This shows that investing in the beautiful game as a country ought not to end at providing funds during or after competitions.
Beyond football, many Nigerian athletes have had to switch allegiance to other countries due to the tacky handling of their issues by our sporting bodies like the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) whose latest loss of Favour Ofili to Turkey was widely reported. She cited the neglect shown by the AFN at both the Japan 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics to her affairs and that of 14 other athletes as very distressing not just to her but an embarrassment to the country in global terms. Government must escalate the supervision of these federations more effectively.
The Moroccan effort must be very financially rewarding and we recommend that Nigeria take a cue and do all it takes to invest in all sports as nothing unites like sports. It would be mere rhetoric to always talk of unity while neglecting the greatest unifier – sports of any kind. There is no racial, tribal or religious bigotry in teams across the world on the scale seen in politics. We expect that just like no one bothers about who scores the goals as far as the person is playing for Nigeria, that ought to be replicated in politics where often the most incompetent get offices they don’t deserve, based on mundane considerations.
As for the gifts given to the team and managers, we advise that they manage them properly with the help of financial advisors to avoid what now seems like an epidemic amongst former sportsmen who in times of illnesses and old age infirmities often cry out for public help.
We congratulate the team and their managers for the victory and Miracle of Rabat.
