By Ghazali Ibrahim
President Bola Tinubu has rewarded members of Nigeria’s Under-17 women’s national football team, the Flamingos, with ₦100 million each following their historic victory at the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
However, rather than give the teenage players the money in cash, the Federal Government has placed their rewards in five-year savings bonds, a decision officials say is intended to protect their financial future.
The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, announced the rewards on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, during a reception organised for the victorious team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where she represented the President.
According to the announcement, each player will receive a Federal Government Savings Bond worth ₦100 million, while head coach Hakeem Busari will receive a savings certificate of the same value.
Members of the technical crew will each receive ₦50 million in cash.
Explaining why the players would receive bonds instead of immediate cash payments, Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, said the arrangement was designed to prevent the large financial reward from negatively affecting the young players’ careers.
Dikko said the government considered the players’ ages and decided that investing the money would serve their long-term interests better than handing them ₦100 million each.
He explained that the five-year bonds would yield annual interest of between 12 and 14 per cent, with each player expected to receive more than ₦1.1 million monthly from the investment returns.
According to him, the income would help the players meet expenses relating to their education, football training and other needs while they continue developing their careers.
Dikko added that by the time the bonds mature, most of the players would be adults and better positioned to make financial decisions about the money.
The decision comes after the Flamingos made history on Saturday, November 7, by defeating Japan 2-1 in the final of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Rabat, Morocco.
Awawu Bashiru opened the scoring for Nigeria in the 39th minute before Oluebube Umejiaku doubled the advantage shortly after the restart.
Japan pulled one goal back through Fuki Ito in the 80th minute, but Nigeria held on to secure the victory and become the first African country to win the competition.
The triumph also marked Nigeria’s first title at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
Despite their historic achievement, the Flamingos are not entitled to prize money from FIFA, as the governing body treats its Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups as developmental competitions rather than tournaments with performance-based financial rewards.
However, the team has received financial recognition from other sources.
A private sponsor, Alhaji Saleh Ahmadu, earlier presented the players with a $50,000 cash reward at a reception organised in Morocco following their victory.
The Presidency also said outstanding bonuses and allowances owed to the players and officials throughout their qualifying campaign and World Cup participation would be paid.
The Nigerian Senate had separately pledged ₦100 million to the team following a motion moved by Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi on November 10.
Tinubu’s latest reward therefore adds to the growing recognition of the young footballers, whose victory has been widely celebrated as a major achievement for Nigerian and African women’s football.
