Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on Friday announced a cash gift of N54.5m to members of the Super Eagles of Nigeria for clinching the 29th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy.
The excited governor made the announcement when he hosted the team in his Lagos House office at Alausa, Ikeja. In addition to the gift, he announced another donation of N2.5m to Coach Stephen Keshi.
Keshi’s immediate assistant, Daniel Amokachi received N2m while each of the other four assistant coaches got the sum of N1.5m. Captain of the team, Joseph Yobo also got an extra N1.5 million.
The governor gave each of the players who scored the team’s 11 goals at the tournament the sum of N1.5m each while others got N1 million each. Also, Governor Fashola gave the backroom staff of the team a total sum of N15m while the supporters’ club received another N4.5m.
Describing the gesture as a token, he commended the team for lifting the spirit of the country and its citizens through its excellent performance at the tournament. He described the successful outing as a victory for the country and its sports, especially considering the team’s latest position on the FIFA ranking.
Fashola urged them against relenting, saying they should rather build on the recorded success as they prepare to meet Kenya next month in a World Cup qualifier.
“Let us remind ourselves that Zambia, the immediate defending champions of the tournament, did not make it to the second round,” he said reminding the team of the forthcoming Confederations Cup which is to begin in June.
“The Confederations Cup provides us with an opportunity to improve on our performance. Yes, we have moved from very abysmal ranking to 4th in Africa and 30th in the world but we must remember that the ranking used to be better because in 1994, we were ranked 5th in the world.”
He implored them to always be conscious of the fact that the job is far from completion, saying “We must begin to plan ahead and do all the right things to ensure the team performs better.”
While using the opportunity to call for the improvement of the local league and grassroots football since they both have prospect for the country’s performance in international competitions, he urged sport officials to desist from interfering with coaching matters in the national teams.
