\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/IMG-20261108-WA0068.jpg\")
\nAkpabio spoke while receiving the world champions at the National Assembly in Abuja, where he personally distributed the N100 million cash reward approved by the Senate for the players and their officials.<\/p>\n
By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday said the Flamingos\u2019 historic triumph at the FIFA U-17 Women\u2019s World Cup signals victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
\n
\nAkpabio spoke while receiving the world champions at the National Assembly in Abuja, where he personally distributed the N100 million cash reward approved by the Senate for the players and their officials.<\/p>\n
The Senate had at plenary on Tuesday passed a resolution to give N100 million to the victorious Flamingos and their officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps, there is a special significance in the timing of your victory, particularly as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou brought this World Cup to us at this time, and we believe we have won the next election. For the President to receive you and welcome you in this manner means he will also receive a bigger trophy of re-election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu, who recently hosted the victorious team, would secure re-election in 2027, describing the timing of the Flamingos\u2019 triumph as significant for the ruling party.<\/p>\n
Akpabio disclosed that the National Assembly had committed N100 million to reward the players for their outstanding performance, while acknowledging President Tinubu\u2019s separate promise of N100 million bonds for each member of the victorious team.<\/p>\n
He described the President\u2019s bond initiative as an enduring form of financial support that would provide long-term benefits for the young footballers.<\/p>\n
The Senate President said the Flamingos\u2019 achievement was particularly significant because they recovered from their opening defeat to record six consecutive victories and emerge world champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you lost your first match, some of you could have become discouraged. But you demonstrated the Nigerian spirit. You refused to remain down, stood up and fought, winning the next six matches to become world champions. No champion stays down. A true champion gets up, fights again and wins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Recalling Nigeria\u2019s famous comeback victory in the Miracle of Dammam, Akpabio said the young footballers had demonstrated that setbacks should not define the destiny of individuals or nations.<\/p>\n
He said the Flamingos\u2019 triumph had restored smiles to Nigerians at a time when the country needed positive stories, after Nigeria\u2019s failure to qualify for recent major international competitions, including the men\u2019s FIFA World Cup and the Women\u2019s World Cup, had dampened enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
Akpabio urged the Nigeria Football Federation, the National Sports Commission and other relevant authorities to ensure that the victorious team remained together and received sustained technical, medical and educational support.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not allow this team to scatter. These girls are still very young, and the sky is not their limit. Regular training camps should be organised for them. Qualified and experienced coaches should be provided, alongside proper medical care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also challenged the NFF and sports administrators to establish more football academies across the country to identify and nurture young talents, disclosing that he had established an academy where children as young as nine and 10 receive free education, scholarships and football training.<\/p>\n
Beyond the financial rewards, Akpabio stressed the importance of education, urging the Federal Government to ensure that the educational opportunities promised to the players were fully implemented, and advising the footballers not to allow celebrations to distract them from their academic pursuits.<\/p>\n
He said Nigerians across ethnic, religious and geographical divides had celebrated the Flamingos\u2019 victory, demonstrating that sports remained a powerful instrument for national integration. \u201cOne Nigerian\u2019s success is a triumph for all Nigerians,\u201d he said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday said the Flamingos\u2019 historic triumph at the FIFA U-17 Women\u2019s World Cup signals victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections. Akpabio spoke while receiving the world champions at the National Assembly in Abuja, where he personally distributed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19718"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19720,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19718\/revisions\/19720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}