{"id":130532,"date":"2026-11-10T06:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T05:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=130532"},"modified":"2026-11-10T06:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T05:34:18","slug":"nff-officials-frustrate-move-to-welcome-victorious-flamingos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nff-officials-frustrate-move-to-welcome-victorious-flamingos\/","title":{"rendered":"NFF Officials Frustrate Move to Welcome Victorious Flamingos"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By John Azu<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have reportedly stopped former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, from welcoming Nigeria\u2019s victorious U-17 women\u2019s national football team, the Flamingos, upon their arrival in the country.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Flamingos emerged champions of the FIFA U-17 Women\u2019s World Cup on November 17 in Rabat, Morocco, after defeating Japan 2-1 in the final.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Awawu Bashiru and Oluebube Umejiaku scored for Nigeria, while Fuki Ito netted Japan\u2019s only goal.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Obi, who was travelling from Abuja to Enugu, said he saw the team arriving at the airport and decided to welcome the players. However, when his aides approached the officials to seek permission, they reportedly pleaded with him not to proceed, saying they could lose their jobs if he greeted the team.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a statement posted on his X handle on Monday, Obi said he respected the officials\u2019 position but described the incident as another manifestation of what he called the \u201cnew dimension of toxic politics that Nigeria has developed since 2025.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI arrived at the airport at 7 a.m. this morning to board my flight to Enugu. There, I saw the Nigeria Under-17 girls\u2019 team, which had just arrived and was preparing to board its vehicle into town,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWith genuine joy and enthusiasm, I asked my protocol officer, Jackie Wayas, to find out whether I could greet and welcome the team. I was informed that officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had refused and had requested that I not approach them because, if I did, they would all lose their jobs.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cRegrettably, this is not the first time I have been subjected to such treatment. On March 25, 2025, I was in Uyo for the World Cup qualifier. The governor warmly received me and welcomed me at the VIP stand. Following the match, other government officials went to greet the players, but I was again prevented from doing so. I was told by the officials that they would lose their jobs if I proceeded.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt is deeply troubling to witness the extent of toxic politics into which our nation has descended since 2025. Each year appears to bring further deterioration. This reflects how deeply Nigeria has been affected.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe new Nigeria we aspire to build must have no room for hostility, intimidation, or discrimination, regardless of political affiliation. It must be a Nigeria in which unity, mutual respect, and our shared humanity take precedence over political differences. A new Nigeria is possible,\u201d Obi said.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Azu Officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have reportedly stopped former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, from welcoming&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - 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