Public Reactions to Super Falcons’ Rewards Exaggerated

After making it through the preliminary round, Nigeria’s Super Falcons defeated Zambia to go to the quarterfinals of the Women’s African Cup of Nation (WAFCON) football tournament. In the semifinals, they defeated South Africa, and in the final, they defeated the hosts, Morocco.

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 turning around the Flying Eagles after falling behind four goals.

They were given a penalty kick first, which Esther Okoronkwo converted into a goal. Subsequently, Folashade Ijamilusi scored the second equalizing goal. President Bola Tinubu and other Nigerians erupted in joyful excitement when Jennifer Echegini scored the game-winning third goal.

Engulfed in the joy of the triumph over Morocco on its own land, Nigerians, who had before been split into as many political groups as there are presidential candidates, abruptly returned to being one nation, albeit a temporary one. That could be the reason why President Tinubu overflowed with the Super Falcons’ reward.

A three-bedroom home in Renewed Hope Estate, Abuja, and a tantalizing $100,000 (N15 million at a N1,500 exchange rate) were presented to each player by the President, together with the national honor of being named an Officer of the Order of the Niger. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum awarded each player N10 million through its chairman, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

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Naturally, team managers also received exceptional compensation for leading the team to outstanding performance. Furthermore, when a grateful nation’s team wins a trophy for the tenth time, nobody can condemn them! We applaud the Tinubu-led administration for taking the time to honor the Super Falcons in this way.

However, the presents of over N4.4 billion from the federal and state governments to 24 players and 11 handlers are thought to be out of proportion given the nation’s current economic situation. Deteriorating infrastructure, such as roads and hospitals, might have been fixed, and the enormous amount could have been used to combat famine and malnutrition.

In accordance with 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. Normally, each athlete who gained prominence through the opportunity the nation gave may receive sufficient remuneration for their efforts. In our view, the President ought to have waited to decide how much money to pay the winning girls after presenting them with the honors and the residences, and instead asked to be told about the compensation from WAFCON.

Before the extravagant expenditure on the squad, we can’t help but ask if President Tinubu was aware of the statutory payments. This is particularly problematic for a government that wants Nigerians to put up with the tightening of the belt and the high cost of living that come with its economic policies, which eliminated subsidies for power, gasoline, and foreign exchange. A country that has been hit by massive socioeconomic challenges, including crippling debt, should behave responsibly with its money.

The Feder­al Government lavishly rewarded the Super Eagles, who won silver at the most recent AF­CON in Cote d’Ivoire, as we remember. What would have been the compensation if the winning team had won the event, given that a team that finished second in a competition (despite perhaps performing below expectations) could receive such extravagant rewards?

The former Finance Minister and current National Chairman of the opposition Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Sambo, offers a unique perspective on the presidential extravaganza of interest. The President’s decision to use the dollar, a foreign currency, rather than Nigeria’s native currency, the naira, to financially reward the ladies and their handlers is beyond her comprehension.

“The symbolic elevation of the dollar over our national currency… is a damning indictment of the administration’s economic mindset,” she contends, 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.

“The administration appears to have thrown in the tow­el after overseeing the naira’s free fall from an already unstable N500 to over N1,500 to the dollar,” she added. The degree of contempt and lack of trust this government has for the naira, the very representation of our economic sovereignty, is evident from this. Maybe we may anticipate that the national budget will soon be published in dollars, or worse, in a basket of fiat money!

A blueprint for rewards should be in place for future champions, even though it seems too late to undo the President’s and Nigeria Governors’ Forum’s acts.