The Senate on Wednesday asked for the prompt payment of Nigerian female football team, the Super Falcons, of all salaries and allowances due to them.
The lawmakers lamented the trend of maltreatment of Nigerian athletes going for international competitions.
The Super Falcons players had won the African Women Cup of Nations for the record eighth time in Cameroon on Saturday.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Sports, Senator Obinna Ogba, while moving a motion by raising a point of order, decried the treatment metted out on the victorious Falcons, who were now stranded and couldn’t return home.
He condemned “the unfair treatment” on the girls despite breaking continental record at the competition.
In his remarks, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce criticised the Federal Government and sports administrators in the country.
He said, ”We care about structures, we don’t care about people. It is a disgrace what is happening to our Super Falcons, boxers and other athletes. Governments in Nigeria do not care about human being, they only care about awarding contracts.”
Also decrying the condition of the footballers at the plenary were Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central); Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio; and Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North), who all called for urgent intervention to ease the burden on the players.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary congratulated the Super Falcons, while asking the Nigeria Football Federation and the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalong, “to do the needful so as to encourage a winning habit.”
The fact is that NFF is broke. Recession has affected the football ruling house. The only organ that appears not to be affected by recession is the national assembly. You can bail out NFF by donating just a small percentage of your outrageous salaries nd allowances. Thank you.
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