Nigeria’s Super Falcons advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s African Cup of Nation (WAFCON) football tournament after defeating Zambia in the preliminary round. They defeated South Africa in the semi-finals and then defeated the hosts, Morocco, to win the championship game.
At the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia, the Super Falcons, who were behind Morocco by two goals, pulled off the Dammam Miracle by defeating the USSR’s Under-20 squad in the second half with the same tenacity that had lifted the Flying Eagles from a four-goal deficit.
First, they were awarded a penalty kick, which Esther Okoronkwo turned into a goal. The second goal that equalized the score was then scored by Folashade Ijamilusi. When Jennifer Echegini finally scored the game-winning third goal, Nigerians, including President Bola Tinubu, erupted in wild excitement.
The joy of defeating Morocco on its own turf caused Nigerians, who had previously been split into as many political factions as there are presidential candidates, to abruptly reunite as a single nation, although a temporary one. That could be the reason why President Tinubu overreached himself in paying the Super Falcons.
The President awarded each player a three-bedroom home in Renewed Hope Estate, Abuja, along with the national honor of Officer of the Order of the Niger and a tantalizing $100,000 (N15 million at a N1,500 exchange rate). Each player received N10 million from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, which was represented by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State as its chairman.
Naturally, team managers received exceptional compensation for leading the team to accomplish the exceptional performance. And when a grateful country’s team wins a trophy for the tenth time, nobody can blame them! In this sense, we applaud the Tinubu-led administration for paying tribute to the Super Falcons.
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The federal and state governments’ presents of over N4.4 billion to 24 players and 11 handlers, however, are thought to be out of proportion given the nation’s current economic situation. This enormous amount might have been utilized to address malnutrition and hunger as well as to repair deteriorating infrastructure, such as hospitals and roadways.
According to WAFCON regulations, each player would have received $2,000 during the group stage of the competition, $3,000 during the quarterfinals, $4,000 during the semifinals, and an incredible $5,000 during the final. Additionally, each player would have received a share of 33% of the $1 million prize that the winning team received. For any player who gained prominence through the opportunity the nation offered, this may normally be sufficient recompense. We believe that after awarding the mansions and honors to the winning girls, the president ought to have waited and asked to be informed about the compensation from WAFCON before determining how much money to pay them.
We can’t help but question if President Tinubu was aware of the statutory payments prior to the team’s extravagant expenditure. It is much worse for a government that asks Nigerians to put up with the high cost of living and tightening belts that come with its economic policies, which eliminated subsidies for power, gasoline, and foreign exchange. A country that has experienced severe socioeconomic challenges, including crippling debt, should manage its money carefully.
We recall that at the last AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, the Super Eagles, who won silver, were handsomely honored by the Federal Government. If a team that finished second in a competition after a performance that was considered subpar could receive extravagant rewards, what would have been the payout if the team had won?
Former Finance Minister and current National Chairman of the opposition Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Sambo, has a unique and intriguing perspective on the presidential extravaganza. She finds it incomprehensible that rather than using Nigeria’s own currency, the naira, to financially reward the girls and their managers, the president decided to use the dollar, a foreign currency.
She contends that “the symbolic elevation of the dollar over our national currency… is a damning indictment of the administration’s economic mindset,” despite acknowledging that the President stated that the cash gift would be paid in the naira equivalent of $100,000 to each player and $50,000 to each coach.
She went on to say: “The administration seems to have thrown up the towel after overseeing the naira’s wild collapse from an already unstable N500 to almost N1,500 to the dollar. This demonstrates the extent of this government’s contempt and lack of confidence in the naira, which is the very representation of our economic sovereignty. The national budget might soon be published in dollars, or worse, in a basket of foreign currencies, as we might have anticipated.
There should be a compensation model for future champions, even though it seems too late to undo the President and Nigeria Governors’ Forum’s acts.
