President Bola Tinubu has rewarded the Flamingos, Nigeria’s U-17 women’s football team, with N100 million each after their victory at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, announced the rewards on behalf of the President on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at a reception for the team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Under the package, each player will receive a N100 million Federal Government Savings Bond tied to GTBank. Head coach Bankole Olowookere (also named in reports as Hakeem Busari) will get N100 million in cash, while each member of the technical crew will receive N50 million cash.
The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, said the decision to issue bonds instead of cash was deliberate, aimed at protecting the long-term interests of the players, most of whom are teenagers.
“There is no need to flood them with money that can distort their career. So we are now giving them what we call an FGN savings bond for like five years. That savings bond comes at like 14 per cent interest annually, meaning each of them will be adding like N1.1m plus monthly for the next five years,” Dikko said.
The reward follows the Flamingos’ historic triumph on Saturday, November 7, 2026, when they beat Japan 2-1 in the final at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Rabat, Morocco. The win made Nigeria the first African nation to win a FIFA women’s world trophy.
Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring in the 39th minute, and Oluebube Umejiaku doubled the lead in the 47th. Japan pulled one back through Fuki Ito in the 80th minute.
The Flamingos lost their opening match 2-1 to Poland but recovered to win six straight games, including victories over defending champions North Korea, Mexico and Venezuela, and a 3-1 semi-final win over Brazil. Umejiaku won the Golden Ball with four goals.
The team arrived in Abuja on Monday. The Senate had earlier pledged N100 million to the Flamingos.
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