President Bola Tinubu has rewarded each player of the victorious Flamingos with a N100 million five-year Federal Government savings bond for the team’s historic FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup triumph in Morocco.
The first lady, Oluremi Tinubu, announced the reward on Wednesday while representing the president at a reception honouring the team at the State House Banquet, Abuja.
The N100 million savings bond reward for each player is a measure designed to secure their financial future and prevent the young footballers, many of whom are minors, from being overwhelmed by immediate access to large sums of money.
Shehu Dikko, chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), said the bonds would attract between 12 and 14 per cent annual interest, with each player expected to receive approximately N1.1 million monthly over the five years.
He added that by the time the bonds mature, the players would have attained adulthood and would be better positioned to make informed financial decisions.
“These are young kids, under 17. There is no need to flood them with money. That can destroy their career. So we are now giving them what we call an FGN savings bond for like five years,” Dikko said.
“By the time those bonds mature, they are already adults. They can make a clear decision on what to do with their own money.”
Members of the team’s technical crew are also rewarded with N50 million each.
Flamingos defeated Japan 2-1 on Saturday to become the first African side to clinch the women’s U17 world title. The victory was also Nigeria’s first-ever global trophy in women’s football.
Oluebube Umejiaku was named the player of the tournament. The 16-year-old won multiple player-of-the-match awards throughout the tournament and scored four goals, including the decisive one against Japan.
The girls returned to the country on Monday with the trophy.
On Tuesday, the senate also donated N100 million to the team as a reward for their World Cup victory.
