President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday announced cash rewards and national
\nhonours for the Golden Eaglets and their handlers who won the FIFA U-17
\nWorld Cup on Friday in the UAE.<\/p>\n
Jonathan made the announcement at a special reception in honour of the
\nvictorious Golden Eaglets, held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential
\nVilla in Abuja.<\/p>\n
The President announced a cash reward of N2 million to each of the team’s
\n19 players.<\/p>\n
Jonathan also gave N3 million to the head coach, Manu Garba, and N2.5
\nmillion each to the two assistant coaches, Nduka Ugbade and Emmanuel
\nAmunike.<\/p>\n
The team’s doctor, physiotherapist, secretary, and the Chief Technical
\nOfficer were rewarded with N500,000 each.<\/p>\n
Also, the Team Co-ordinator, Media Officer and Curator were given N300,000
\neach.<\/p>\n
The President also said that the players, all their handlers and some key
\nofficials of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club would be given national
\nhonours at a later date.<\/p>\n
Jonathan, who described the cash rewards as ”very very little tokens”
\nfrom the federal government, urged state governments, the private sector
\nand public-spirited individuals to follow the federal government’s step in
\nrewarding the Eaglets.<\/p>\n
The President extolled the team’s dedication, discipline and spirit of
\nsportsmanship, noting that they brought honour to the nation.<\/p>\n
He said ”with commitment and hard work, from being the second best in
\nAfrica, the Eaglets had transformed to the best in the world by winning
\nthe World Cup”.<\/p>\n
Jonathan noted that with the consistent winning of five major tournaments
\nin the last two years, Nigeria had recorded its golden era in sports.<\/p>\n
The President attributed the success in the sector to the pro-active
\nmeasures and policy action taken by his administration after the the
\ncountry’s disappointing performance at the 2012 London Olympics.<\/p>\n
He assured that his administration would continue to provide necessary
\nsupport in terms of facilities and funding to the sports sector.<\/p>\n
”The victory of the Eaglets was for the whole of Africa and the beginning
\nof the revival in the nation’s sorts sector,” Jonathan said.<\/p>\n
He also charged stakeholders in the sector to harness the potentials of
\nthe victorious Eaglets for greater successes.<\/p>\n
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, said that the
\nsuccess recorded by the team was not by accident but as a result of a
\nsystem reconstructed to deliver results.<\/p>\n
He said the process of selecting the victorious 19 players was rigorous
\nand competitive, devoid of favouritism.<\/p>\n
Abdullahi said the successes recorded so far in the sports sector in the
\nlast two years had placed Jonathan as the most successful President in
\nNigerian sports history.<\/p>\n
”The victorious Golden Eaglets team is not just a team but a project and
\ntheir winning will not be the end but a beginning of greater victory for
\nthe nation,” he said.<\/p>\n
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that before the President’s
\nspeech, the captain of the team, Musa Mohammed, had presented the cup to
\nAbdullahi, who in turn presented it to the President.<\/p>\n
The Ambassador of Mexico to Nigeria, whose country played the final match
\nwith the Eaglets, was also at the event.<\/p>\n
He presented the home and away jersies of his country’s national football
\nteam to the President in a show of spirit of sportsmanship.<\/p>\n
Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the Senate President, Sen. David Mark, and
\nhis Deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, were also at the reception.<\/p>\n
Others at the event included the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
\nHon. Aminu Tambuwal and his Deputy, Hon Emeka Ihedioha.<\/p>\n
Also at the event were state governors such as Godswill Akpabio of Akwa
\nIbom, Jonah Jang of Plateau, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Liyel Imoke of
\nCross Rivers, ministers and presidential aides<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday announced cash rewards and national honours for the Golden Eaglets and their handlers who won the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Friday in the UAE.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n