Nigerian lawmakers donate ₦100 million to victorious Flamingos

The Senate on Tuesday announced a donation of N100 million to Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national football team, the Flamingos, following their historic victory at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who announced the donation during plenary, also congratulated President Bola Tinubu, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the players for their contributions to the team’s success.

Mr Akpabio announced while lawmakers debated a motion seeking national recognition for the team and adequate rewards for the players. The motion was sponsored by Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central).

The Senate President said the donation was intended to support the players and would be disbursed immediately.

“From the National Assembly, even if we don’t have anything to give these children, we will make a token of N100 million to them immediately,” he said.

Mr Akpabio also urged wealthy Nigerians, including businesspeople and philanthropists, to support the team financially to encourage the players and inspire other aspiring footballers.

Nigeria defeated Japan 2-1 in Saturday’s final at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat to become the first African country to win the competition.

Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring in the 39th minute before Oluebube Umejiaku doubled Nigeria’s lead shortly after the restart. Japan’s Fuki Ito reduced the deficit in the 80th minute, but the Flamingos held on to secure the title.

The Flamingos lost their opening group match 2-1 to Poland but recovered, winning six consecutive matches to lift the trophy. They became the first team in the competition’s history to lose their opening fixture and still win the tournament.

They defeated Puerto Rico 2-0 and defending champions Korea DPR 3-1 in the group stage before overcoming Mexico 2-1 in the round of 16. They subsequently edged Venezuela in the quarter-finals and defeated Brazil 3-1 in the semi-finals to reach their first final.

The victory also made Nigeria the first African country to win both the men’s and women’s FIFA U-17 World Cup titles.

President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, and many other government officials have congratulated the Flamingos on their achievement.

The motion

Mr Ningi, while presenting the motion, said the team’s achievement had not received sufficient national recognition and urged the government to adequately reward the players for bringing honour to the country.

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He commended President Tinubu for his support for sports development and praised the leadership of the National Sports Commission and the NFF, particularly its chairman, Shehu Dikko.

The senator said the victory came at a time when the morale of Nigerian football supporters had been affected by the country’s recent disappointments on the international stage.

He noted that the young players had exceeded expectations by defeating highly rated opponents to win the competition, demonstrating the enormous potential of Nigerian sporting talents when given the necessary support.