Chief of Staff to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Federal Republic, President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), Alhaji Abba Kyari, was at the head of a delegation of prominent Nigerians and top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation that received the Super Falcons on arrival in Abuja on Sunday evening.
Nine –time African champions, Super Falcons, flew into the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport minutes before 4pm, aboard an ASKY Airline flight from Accra, and were received by Alhaji Kyari, NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, as well as other officials of the NFF.
On Sunday, at the Accra Sports Stadium, the golden girls prevailed over a resilient South African Banyana Banyana side 4-3 on penalties after a scoreless 120 minutes, to lift the top African women football diadem for the third successive time and ninth time overall.
Holding aloft the Women AFCON trophy, the Falcons were wildly cheered by Nigerians at the airport and responded gracefully before they entered the bus that conveyed them to their hotel in the Federal Capital.
At the Starview Hotel, Alhaji Kyari commended the girls for a job well done, praising them for their tenacity, energy, determination and patriotic fervour.
“On behalf of Mr. President, who is not in the country at the moment, we say welcome and well done to you. We are proud of you and your representation of the country. Infact, as we were leaving the airport, two eminent Nigerians called and donated the sum of N50million and N25 million respectively to your team. Please rest very well. We will get back to you with the activities lined up for you in the coming days.”
Thenff.com learnt that the two eminent Nigerians who donated money are Alhaji Aliko Dangote (Chairman of Dangote Group) and Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu (Chairman of BUA company). It was also learnt that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Mohammed Musa Bello, will host the team on Monday, 3rd December 2018.
Also at the hotel to receive the Super Falcons was the Honourable Minister for Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar.
General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said: “On behalf of the leadership of the NFF, we are grateful for the support from the Nigerian Government which has seen the team excel at the Cup of Nations. The girls have promised to do their best to represent the country very well at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
